Table of Content
Those are great, but I’m so excited to see a building again such as the one I want to talk about today, which is Chartwell. Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile with an obsession for Britain that borders on psychosis. Anglotopia is his passionate side-gig and he's always dreaming of his next trip to England, wishing he lived there - specifically Dorset. In his study of Churchill and his son Randolph, Churchill & Son, Josh Ireland records the running costs of Chartwell in the mid-1930s as being £10,000 per year.
Churchill recorded Morton and Wigram's contributions in The Gathering Storm, the first volume of his history of the Second World War. To plan your visit or for more information on current exhibitions, tickets and opening hours, please visit the Chartwell page at the National Trust website. Chartwell was Churchill’s house in Kent and is now preserved as an historic property by the National Trust. Volunteering is a rewarding way to get involved with your favourite place and make some new friends. Read some first-hand accounts of what it’s like to volunteer here. The greenhouses have played an important role in gardening at Chartwell, and a project in 2018 saw them restored to become energy efficient and more sustainable.
Writing, Articles & Books
His studio showcases that – it’s set up just as it was when he was painting. The easel is set up as if he just popped out for a cigar and will be back to paint shortly. If one had to describe his style, it would be impressionistic. It’s fascinating to think that a man who could speak and write with such fire and force, command armies of men, administer a global war, could manage the patience and gentleness required to paint sedate landscapes .
Churchill set about remodelling and extending the house straight away, enlisting the help of a young architect, Philip Tilden. As Churchill was too unwell to travel to the United States to receive his honorary citizenship, it was accepted on his behalf by his son, Randolph. In his reply, Churchill spoke of the wartime alliance between Britain and the USA; "Our comradeship and our brotherhood in war were unexampled. We stood together, and because of that fact the free world now stands".
The legacy of Churchill’s Chartwell Appeal
Chartwell made him happy and inspired him during World War II when his political career was resurrected. The nearest town to Chartwell is Westerham and it’s worth stopping off there if you have time. There’s a statue of Churchill on the green and there are some lovely independent shops and cafes to explore. Westerham is mentioned in the Domesday book and St. Mary’s Church at the corner of the green is more than 800 years old. The wall around the kitchen garden was built by Churchill himself.
It was mad by a member of the public and apparently meant so much to the family. There was also a painting of Churchill hung in Lady Churchill’s bedroom, right above a photo of their beloved, but lost daughter, Marigold. Both are still in the house, exactly where they have always been. His Private BedroomAfter you’ve explored the house and the grounds, you must take the time to visit Churchill’s Studio, which is also open to the public . Churchill was a politician, but he saw himself as a professional writer. Painting was his hobby, his most favorite past time; a tool he used to battle his ‘black dog’ – bouts of depression.
Coffee shop
There are around 130 of Churchill’s paintings, often described as Impressionist in style, hung on the various walls of Chartwell and Churchill’s beloved studio has been left just as he left it, with easel and palette in place. Chartwell GroundsThe house is crammed with memorabilia from Churchill’s life and the walls are lined with photographs of the famous faces Churchill met during his time as prime minister and into his retirement. While much of Chartwell is shrine-like, each room a museum exhibition of Churchill’s incredible legacy, there are traces of the real life lived within its walls. Churchill’s wife Clemintine’s beloved Rose Garden, the dining room where Churchill used to show after-dinner films and, of course, Churchill’s art studio offer a little more than typical house-museums can. Catherine Snelling served Churchill as one his last secretaries. In the oral histories of a number of such secretaries compiled by the Churchill Archive, she recalled the dwindling number of visitors Churchill received at the house in his later years.
Churchill described his life at Chartwell in the later 1930s in the first volume of his history of the Second World War, The Gathering Storm. "I had much to amuse me. I built ... two cottages, ... and walls and made ... a large swimming pool which ... could be heated to supplement our fickle sunshine. Thus I ... dwelt at peace within my habitation". Bill Deakin, one of Churchill's research assistants, recalled his working routine. As Hoare's presence indicated, Churchill's holidays were very rarely pure vacations. Roy Jenkins, in his study, The Chancellors, contrasted Churchill's approach to holidaying with that of his then boss, Stanley Baldwin. On 26 September 1927, Churchill composed the first of his Chartwell Bulletins, which were lengthy letters to Clementine, written to her while she was abroad.
Planning your visit
Winston Churchill helping to lay roof tiles on a new cottage at Chartwell in 1939. Thank you to the Royal Oak Foundation who arranged for me to have a special behind the scenes tour and for the staff at Chartwell for taking the time to show me around. You'll receive family travel news, offers and competitions. Once you sign up you can download my tips for saving money on family travel.
Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine had five children and Chartwell is presented today as the family home that it was when the children were growing up. Touring the house is fascinating and there are children’s trails to follow inside – but if you’re visiting with kids it’s the gardens and grounds which they’ll really enjoy. The 82-acre estate includes a 20-acre formal garden, lakes and woodland to explore and there are idyllic views across the Weald of Kent countryside. Every winter, the National Trust puts on temporary exhibitions to explore Churchill and his life in more detail. An important part of the appeal is to acquire for the nation hundreds of precious heirlooms, many of international significance, that have been on long-term loan to Chartwell. Sir Winston’s family home is the only place in the world where objects that belonged to Churchill can be seen in their original domestic setting and they are intrinsic to his life and achievements.
The floor is covered with a Khorassan carpet, a 69th birthday gift to Churchill from the Shah of Iran at the Teheran Conference in 1943. In the opinion of Robin Fedden, a diplomat, and later Deputy General Secretary of the National Trust and author of the Trust's first guidebook for Chartwell, the house became "the most important country house in Europe". A stream of friends, colleagues, disgruntled civil servants and concerned military officers came to the house to provide information to support Churchill's struggle against appeasement. At Chartwell, he developed what Fedden calls, his own "little Foreign Office ... the hub of resistance".
He was not afraid to muck in – the brick walls in the kitchen garden were built brick by brick by Churchill himself, who laid so many bricks he gained membership into the bricklayers union. At the back of the walled garden is a little brick play cottage which Churchill built for his daughter Mary. It’s called the Marycot and when interviewed as an adult Mary remembered it having blue check curtains and a chandelier and a working mini Aga where she made drop scones for Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein who were guests at Chartwell! Today the play house still has blue check curtains and play food and crockery but no chandelier or working Aga. It’s a lovely, welcoming place for children to play and it’s amazing to think of Churchill and his children there. Today Chartwell is owned by the National Trust and you can visit the house and its extensive grounds.
