Winston Churchill's family home
Chartwell, Winston and Clementine's family home can be found near the town of Westerham in Kent. Winston went to look at the house in 1921, he fell in love with the views over the Weald of Kent but the house was quite dilapidated. He came back a year later with his wife and they decided to buy the estate. It then took another 2 years to renovate the house before they could move in with their family.
The property now belongs to the English National Trust, after the war Winston found himself in some financial distress and so he sold the estate to the National Trust. He retained a life time tenancy for himself and his wife, after he died in 1965 Lady Churchill decided to give up her right to the tenancy and the National Trust took possession and opened Chartwell to visitors in 1966.
The National Trust has added a large visitors centre and cafe as you enter from the carpark. Get there early as Chartwell is very popular and the carpark fills up very quickly. There is a charge for parking, but if you're a National Trust member, parking is free.
There is a fee to enter the grounds and tickets to the house are timed. The Churchills wanted the house to remained as they left it, the National Trust have converted some guest bedrooms to exhibition rooms.
Lady Churchill's bedroom
Chartwell is a popular location for visitors. So even with the timed tickets, the house does get very crowded, the garden areas however are so vast that there's plenty of space and that makes for a more relaxing visit.
Chartwell is well worth visiting, especially on a lovely sunny day. There are long walks that can be taken to other parts of the estate. And cafes to have some lunch while you're there.
Comments
Post a Comment