Haunted Isles -in the company of spirits

Anne Boleyn's family moved to Hever Castle, Kent in 1505, Anne spent her childhood at Hever and continued to visit throughout her life. In 1528 Henry VIII's love letters to Anne were sent to Hever. Anne Boleyn is said to haunt the area under the old oak tree where Henry courted her. Her ghost also visits Hever at Christmas time. Local legend tells that the ghost of Anne Boleyn can be seen on Christmas Eve walking in the grounds across a wooden bridge over the River Eden. Some say that she stops on the bridge to drop a sprig of holly into the water below. In the late 19th century Ada Coralie Meade Waldo, wife of the famous ornithologist Edmund Gustavus Meade Waldo who owned Hever at that time, complained that the ghost of Anne Boleyn made Hever Castle unpleasant. The Meade Waldo's didn't live at Hever and eventually sold it to William Waldorf Astor. In recent years photographs taken by visitors to Hever castle have feature orbs and other unusual images...

Catherine of Aragon was buried on 29th January 1536 at Peterborough Cathedral Her body was interred with all pomp and ceremony due, not to the Queen of England, wife of Henry VIII, but, to that of Dowager Princess of Wales, the title she had refused to accept during her lifetime along with Henry's annulment of their marriage. Today Catherine's name and title, "Katharine Queen of England", are displayed in gold lettering on an iron grill beside her tomb in Peterborough Cathedral along with a wooden plaque reading, "A queen cherished by the English people for her loyalty, piety, courage and compassion." Catherine of Aragon does not haunt Peterborough Cathedral but Peterborough is a short distance from both Buckden and Kimbolton both of which she is said to haunt and the grave will be of interest to those in search of Catherine. If you're able to visit around the anniversary of her burial, 29th January, there's a Katherine of Aragon Festiva...