Fundraiser launched for Anne Boleyn memorial

A fundraising campaign has been launched to create what supporters say will be the first permanent memorial to Anne Boleyn in her childhood village.

The tribute is planned for St Peter's Church in Hever, Kent, where Boleyn is believed to have worshipped with her family before becoming the second wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England.

Organisers said they hoped to raise more than £85,000 for a marble medallion featuring a portrait of Boleyn, almost 500 years after her execution in 1536.

Hever Castle historian Dr Owen Emmerson said that the memorial would give visitors "somewhere to pause and reflect" on a woman whose influence extended far beyond the Tudor court.

About 500,000 people visit Hever Castle each year, according to the attraction, while St Peter's Church stands a short distance away beside the historic Bullen Chapel.

The chapel contains the tomb of Anne Boleyn's father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, and other members of the family.

The memorial has been designed by award-winning stonemason James Elliott and stone carver Lucy Churchill.

Emmerson said that plans for a memorial had been under discussion for a decade.

He said: "What we are trying to do is not think of her through that awful day in May 1536 when her life was taken, but to try and remember the live that she lived.

"She changed the course of English history and it's about time that that importance and the power that she exuded was memorialised in a place that she loved and worshipped."

Emmerson added that Boleyn's time at Hever was "the most important part" of its history, as she lived there during what was known as the Kings Great Matter when he was trying to annul his marriage from Katherine of Aragon to marry Boleyn.

St Peter's Church warden Mandy Yarnold said: "I think her story chimes with a lot of people, and we get a lot of people coming to the church to know more about her."

Best known for her marriage to Henry VIII, Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London in May 1536.

Her daughter, Elizabeth I, went on to reign during what became known as the Elizabethan Age.

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