08-05-2025
My visit to Anne Boleyn's inspiring orchard
This is a tale of two orchards. One is the ultimate in romantic, a parcel of land dotted with gnarled and twisted trees. This week the apple blossom has billowed and blown as if one of the gods had decided to throw a wild confetti party. The ground dazzles with daffodils. Here grow apples and pears, medlars and quince. It is an orchard fit for a king or, more aptly as this was Anne Boleyn's home, a queen.
It's quite the regal setting. I have to say, as I stand in it, that though it isn't required for an orchard to be bordered by a moat, with the small but perfect castle that is Hever in the background, it does give it that certain something.
