Chartwell House

Chartwell House

Because I'm a subscriber to a couple of national newspapers, occasionally I get offers for tickets to places of interest; one came up recently for free day tickets to National Trust properties. One that really took our fancy was Chartwell House, near Westerham, the house Winston Churchill fell in love with in the 1920s, and which he bought - rather without his wife Clementine's wholehearted approval - in 1922.

Weald View

After visiting the property, we could see why she may well have had reservations. Apparently, at the time when Winston Churchill first saw it, the house itself was a wreck, and the land extensive, and heavily overgrown; a lot of hard work would be involved, and a huge amount of money required, to bring it up to a habitable standard. 

 

On a day when the weather was clement, we made the journey down to Kent - it was a lovely drive, and a great day out. Again, I was a bit worried about my stamina, with all the various terraces and steps to climb in the garden - not to mention during the tour of the house itself! - but I managed everything extremely well.

Energetic (?) visitors!

One of my first memories about Winston Churchill's writing was when we lived in Dar-es-Salaam, and hearing people talk enthusiastically about the publication of Churchill's latest book, "History of the English-Speaking Peoples." I was only ten, and although I was an avid reader, at that time it was a bit beyond my interests, but I recall how everyone spoke of it so highly and saying what a great work it was. 

Churchill had also been a journalist of course, and in 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, so he was a highly respected author; but I have still not yet read "History of the English-Speaking Peoples." Between 1956 AND 1958, Churchill published a total of four volumes on this subject; along with James Joyce's "Dubliners" and "Ulysses," and "War and Peace," which remain on my "to read" list, I clearly have some literary catching up to do!

Our wanderings around the grounds of Chartwell also took us to the Studio, where Churchill indulged his passion for painting, producing over 500 pictures. We really love his work, and knowing he had submitted anonymously, one painting to the Royal Academy, and that it had been accepted, I think proves he had a genuine talent.

There are so many benches to sit on, to rest awhile and take in the beautiful views

The house is also interesting; the earliest part dates from the Tudor era, with additions built over the centuries. When Churchill bought it, it was very dilapidated, and I could well understand Clementine Churchill's initial lack of enthusiasm for the project, but in the end it was turned into a magnificent home, and Clementine's creation of a beautiful rose garden, with delicate pastel-coloured white and pink flowers, was a triumph. 

When he found the stairs too much to manage, Churchill had a lift installed - one with metal doors, just like those I remember in a lift leading up to offices in a building in Dar. You had to pull both sets of gates apart, step into the lift and then close each set before pressing the button to set the lift in motion. I was fascinated by it! and my Mum explained it was a safety measure to keep passengers from falling out of the lift, during transit between floors. 

I also remember using in one lift in Vienna, installed in a block of flats where a dear friend of ours lived up on the fourth floor; we used to ride in the lift whenever we visited her. However, in that system,  there was no such inner door; once the outer door was shut, as the lift ascended, you could see all the walls of the lift shaft passing by on the way up. Anyone could easily have put out a hand to touch the walls, which might have resulted in a nasty accident.

Winston Churchill's lift 

The gardens at Chartwell are beautifully manicured, and we enjoyed watching a pair of black swans "necking" on one of the  lakes. They had just swum apart as I took this photograph!

Winston Churchill had a favourite spot to sit by one of the ponds:

A beautiful place to just "be," and think!

Wendy also in need of a space for some contemplation!

When he lived there, Churchill had a marmalade cat called Jock; he had a white bib and 4 white socks, and one of the conditions that still applies to the custodians of Chartwell House is that there must always be a marmalade cat called Jock in residence. The current incumbent is No 7 in the long line of "Jocks;" Jock No 6 is still alive, but sadly he went blind, and so has been adopted by a member of the National Trust staff. He now lives in comfortable retirement.  We so hoped we would be lucky enough during our visit to see Jock No 7 wandering around the grounds, but alas, that was not to be. We are thinking of a return visit in the summer, when the weather will be much warmer, and hope to have better luck then.

And this picture, I think, is the most evocative of the beauty of Chartwell