Hever Castle launches hands-on falconry experience for families

Hever Castle is putting a more hands-on falconry session on select dates from June 27 through November 19, 2026, giving small groups a two-hour slot with Willow’s Birds of Prey Centre on the estate grounds. The experience runs from 13:00 to 15:00, is capped at six people, and is open only to children over eight, who must be accompanied by an adult.

The setup is more structured than a standard birds-of-prey show. Guests meet at the Information Hut, then staff escort them to the Event Field, where the birds are handled at close range and the group is led through the basics of hawks, owls and eagles. Hever says participants will watch the birds dive and swoop, see them fly to a glove, observe their natural behaviours, handle them safely, and get a photo opportunity with the birds. The current price is £66.95 per person plus a booking fee, with garden admission included and an option to upgrade to castle entry on the day.

That package is the main reason the experience stands apart from Hever’s shorter falconry displays. The castle has already scheduled Willow’s Birds of Prey Centre displays on selected days in July and August 2026, with the 20-minute shows included in admission and run twice daily. Those displays still give visitors a look at the birds in action, and Hever says there is a chance to see them up close afterward, but the two-hour experience goes further by building in instruction and direct handling rather than leaving the encounter at demonstration level. The Events Field can be difficult to access with wheelchairs or buggies because the ground is uneven, so the practical side of the visit matters as much as the spectacle.

Willow’s Birds of Prey Centre is based in Sevenoaks, Kent, and says it has more than 30 years of falconry experience. Its own material describes a six-acre nature trail in the Kent countryside, which fits the way Hever is positioning this as a specialist wildlife encounter rather than a generic castle add-on. That pairing with Hever Castle & Gardens is deliberate: the estate says it has hosted important events for more than 600 years and was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, and its summer programme also highlights 40 years of jousting. For newcomers, that gives the session a polished setting and enough contact to feel like real falconry, not just a ring-side look at it.