Hever, Kent Hever, Kent Hever village is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the River Eden, a tributary of the River Medway, east of Edenbridge. It is by in extent, and in area. The parish includes the villages of Four Elms, Hever itself, and Markbeech, and has a population of 1,136, increasing to 1,231 at the 2011 Census. The place-name 'Hever' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 814, where it appears as 'Heanyfre'; the name means 'high edge'. Hever contains Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second
Hever Castle death of Anne's father, Thomas Boleyn, in 1539. He bestowed it upon Anne of Cleves in 1540 as part of the settlement following the annulment of their marriage. Hever Castle still has one of Henry VIII's private locks, taken with him on his various visits to noblemen's houses and fitted to every door for his security. The property subsequently passed through various owners, including the Waldegrave family from 1557 to 1715, the Humfreys family to 1749 and the Meade Waldo family from 1749 to 1903. During this latter period of ownership, the castle fell into a poor state of repair,