By Lyn Funnell
Chartwell was Winston Churchill’s home. It was donated to the National Trust in 1946 at the time when Churchill was financially hard up, on condition that the Churchills had a lifelong tenancy. But after Churchill’s death his wife Clementine gave up her rights to the house.
The National Trust opened it as a museum in 1966. It’s a Grade 1 building and it’s a very popular place to visit.
See our previous article by Isabella Schembri-Adams.
As Chartwell is on the National Trust Christmas-themed list, we decided to go and have a look.
We got there at 10.30 but we were given a slot at 11.20.
Luckily the gardens are worth seeing and there are gorgeous views over the Weald of Kent, which Churchill described as ‘The most beautiful and charming’ that he’d ever seen, and the main reason why he bought the house.
The Christmas theme was Jock, the ginger cat, who was Churchill’s cat.
When Lady Churchill gave up the house, she said that she was leaving Jock there, and that he had to be looked after.
Since then, there has always been a ginger cat at Chartwell called Jock.
At the moment, Jock No 7 lives there.
Children were given a piece of paper at Reception and they have to follow all the clues around the garden, which are easy, and get stamps when they find them.
There’s a small prize when they’ve found them all.
Churchill was a very talented man. He built a playhouse in the garden for his children, and he apparently built the wall around his walled garden. It really is an amazing achievement.
I was interested to see the amount of vegetables that are growing there in December, including a selection of lettuces.
There are many ponds and lakes in the grounds, several of them are full of fish. Churchill built a lot of them. And Churchill’s studio is there, with his paintings on display.
We didn’t see inside as it doesn’t open until 11.30.
The house is filled with Churchill’s paintings, and wartime charts.
And the theme in there was his love of animals and all living creatures, including fish.
I must say that the staff, who are all volunteers, were all friendly, enthusiastic and helpful.
My one complaint is, the upstairs was closed.
National Trust properties have to close off rooms for cleaning and necessary maintenance.
But we weren’t told this in advance at all.
If anyone plans to re-visit any properties because they have a favourite room there that they want to see again, it’s not fair if they find it closed off with no explanation.
Our daughter had been before and she wanted to see Churchill’s daughter’s bedroom that had lots of information about the children.
Apart from that, we will pay a return visit in the late Spring to see the garden, and the upstairs.
CHARTWELL,
Mapleton Rd, Westerham, Kent TN16 1PS
chartwell@nationaltrust.org.uk
