A new exhibition tracing the development of Hever Castle's gardens from Tudor times has been opened.

Celebrating the creation of the gardens by American multi-millionaire, William Waldorf Astor, at the turn of the 20th century through to the present day, Astor's Garden Legacy was opened by gardener and TV presenter Rachel de Thame in the Loggia.

She said: "It’s perfect. It really will add greatly to the experience of visiting the garden. There’s masses of information, but it’s accessible; there’s something for all ages, for all levels of expertise."

Launched to coincide with VisitEngland's Year of the English Garden, it is housed in a refurbished potting shed and features archive images and vintage magazine articles dating back to the early 1900s.

The Grade I listed gardens were laid out between 1904 and 1908, turning 125 acres of marshland and rough meadow into classical gardens and natural landscapes.

Close to the romantic double-moated castle is the Tudor Garden, designed to look much as it would have when Anne Boleyn lived at the Castle with her family. It is said that King Henry VIII first set eyes on Anne in her father’s garden at Hever and it is where he came courting her in the early years of their ill-fated relationship.

Rachel praised the way the displays bring history to life. "The exhibition is brilliant for showing how that was achieved – so much in such a short time. It highlights the extraordinary feats of engineering and the efforts involved. Not since Capability Brown moved hills and re-routed rivers has such an ambitious reordering of nature taken place to become a reality."

Visitors will be able to scroll through evocative then and now images on iPads, and browse magazine articles about the castle and gardens, learn facts about what Astor’s "grand design" cost and involved, and an activity bench featuring a maze puzzle and wooden topiary peg jigsaw will keep the kids entertained.

Entrance to the garden exhibition is included in the normal entry price. For details visit hevercastle.co.uk or call 01732 865224.