PUBLIC PLACES
Aerial view of Hever Castle showing Astor’s yew maze
men worked on the construction of 125 acres of natural and classical landscapes. It took 800 just to dig out the 38-acre lake, now such a feature of the Castle setting. The planting of a challenging and visually impressive yew maze was another major feature of their work.
One of the most striking achievements was the creation of the Italian Garden, designed to show off Astor’s collection of Italian sculptures. Other features that countless visitors enjoy include a Tudor garden with giant chess set in golden yew topiary, and a walled garden with over 4,000 rose bushes. Even in winter, it’s a feast of lawns, eye-catching greenery and borders. The gardens at Hever, and trees planted over a hundred years ago, are only now
reaching full maturity, providing wonderful colour and interest around the calendar. The man in charge of all of this is Head Gardener Neil Miller who, getting on for thirty years ago, switched from the world of insurance brokerage to professional gardening. He first ran his own horticultural business, then, by chance, in 2002 landed a job on the Hever gardening team. In 2006, he was appointed to the top post and leads a team of experienced professionals and trainees responsible for maintaining all of the gardens.
In November, Hever Castle and its gardens featured in the first episode of ITV’s Paul O’Grady’s Great British Escape, a 6-part series exploring the scenery and history of Kent. On camera in the Tudor garden, Neil
Waldorf Astor was a keen golfer and, in the 1920s, he had a private 9-hole
”
course constructed for his own personal use. This survived until the Second World War, when it was abandoned
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