The History of Hever

Hever Hotel began its life as a dairy farm, supplying the Hever Estate and surrounding villages with milk.  The Hever Estate used to consist of the castle, church and farmland. At the main gates there was a dip in the driveway that contained disinfectant. No one was allowed to enter or leave the grounds without going through it, due to foot and mouth being rife at the time.

 Hotel Reception

The reception building used to be the old fire station for the Hever Estate, which stretched from the farm to the castle. Behind the reception building, is a water tower which held the supply for the fire engine. At the far end of the reception building is where the corn was dried. Upon leaving reception and turning right, you may notice a metal plate on the ground next to the oak tree; this was the weighbridge for the milkman.

 Rooms 1 –13

Rooms one to six were the gamekeeper’s bungalows and the others were used as the kennels for the hunting dogs.

 Rooms 14 – 31

These rooms used to be the calf pens, apart from rooms 19 and 20. Room 31 used to be the home of ‘Angus’ the 100 stone Aberdeen Angus bull.

 Rooms 32 – 34 (Dairy Cottages)

These rooms combined together used to be an old cottage where the farm manager and head cowman lived. As you walk around the back of the rooms, have a look through the hole in the curved wall located behind the golf club and you will see a circular covered grass area with a path going around it.  This was the show ring for the cattle when being paraded for sale.

 Elizabethan Apartments (Rooms 35 – 64)

This building used to be the milking parlors and cow sheds. If you look at the back of the building, there is a raised concrete plinth, originally the viewing area for the local children.

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