Hever Castle, to which allusion has been made, is an example of the
transition between the old fortress and the more comfortable mansion
of a country squire or magnate. Times were less dangerous, the country
more peaceful when Sir Geoffrey Boleyn transformed and rebuilt the
castle built in the reign of Edward III by William de Hever, but the
strong entrance-gate flanked by towers, embattled and machicolated,
and defended by stout doors and three portcullises and the surrounding
moat, shows that the need of defence had not quite passed away. The
gates lead into a courtyard around which the hall, chapel, and
domestic chambers are grouped. The long gallery Anne Boleyn so often
traversed with impatience still seems to re-echo her steps, and her
bedchamber, which used to contain some of the original furniture, has
always a pathetic interest. The story of the courtship of Henry VIII
with "the brown girl with a perthroat and an extra finger," as
Margaret More described her, is well known. Her old home, which was
much in decay, has passed into the possession of a wealthy American
gentleman, and has been recently greatly restored and transformed.
Sussex can boast of many a lordly castle, and in its day Bodiam must
have been very magnificent. Even in its decay and ruin it is one of
the most beautiful in England.
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