Gardens to visit in spring and summer – Chartwell

Chartwell in Kent is probably most famous because it was once the home of Sir Winston Churchill. He bought the property in 1922 and retained it until his death in 1965, employing architect Philip Tilden to modernise and extend the somewhat featureless brick house - working in the gently vernacular tradition that is familiar in the early houses of Edwin Lutyens, retaining multiple gables with stepped gable-ends, and windows in strips set in expanses of warm pink brick hung with climbers, the house is a beautifully romantic rendition of an older period.

The grounds near the house were shaped into overlapping formal terraces and garden beds that combined lawn and mixed herbaceous gardens in the Lutyens-Jekyll manner. These were linked by steps descending to lakes that Churchill had insisted be created by building a series of small dams; these areas include the water garden where Churchill fed his fish, Lady Churchill's Rose Garden, and the Golden Rose Walk, a Golden Wedding anniversary gift from their children. The garden areas provided inspiration for Churchill's paintings, many of which are on display in the house's garden studio.

In the Second World War the house was mostly unused. Its relatively exposed position so near German-occupied France meant it was potentially vulnerable to a German air attack or even a commando-style raid to carry off Britain’s Prime Minister!

The property is currently under the administration of the National Trust. Chartwell was bought by a group of Churchill's friends in 1947, with the family paying a nominal rent, but was not open to the public until it was presented to the nation in 1966, the year after Churchill's death. Recent additions include the restoration of the kitchen garden, which – as well as supplying produce for the house - was also a source of recreation for Churchill. Over a period of seven years he built parts of the surrounding brick walls himself. The gardens now provide produce for Chartwell’s restaurant.

Chartwell photograph by luxpim, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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