Chartwell
The land now known as Chartwell first appeared in written records on the 2nd of May 1362, when a man named William At-Well sold it. The name itself derives from an Old English phrase meaning rough ground near a spring called Chart Well. By the 1500s, a Tudor house stood on the site, and Henry VIII reportedly stayed there while courting Anne Boleyn at nearby Hever Castle. Elements of that early brickwork remain visible today within the external walls of the current building. During the 1600s and 1700s, the property served primarily as a farmhouse with ownership changing frequently.
On the 22nd of September 1836, the estate was auctioned at Cheapside under the description of a suitable abode for a genteel family. John Campbell Colquhoun purchased it four years later in 1848. His Scottish family enlarged the original structure significantly, adding stepped gables that reflected their ancestral heritage. By the time Churchill bought the place, critics described the result as Victorian architecture at its least attractive. Philip Tilden later recalled creating Chartwell out of what he termed drabness and Victorian umbrageousness.
Winston Churchill first saw the property in July 1921 just before the scheduled auction. He returned that same month with his wife Clementine, who initially found the location appealing despite her enthusiasm cooling during subsequent visits. The house failed to sell at auction, so Churchill received an offer of £5,500 in September 1922. He negotiated the price down to £5,000 after rejecting his initial bid of £4,800 due to serious concerns about dry rot and extensive rebuilding needs.
The seller was Captain Archibald John Campbell Colquhoun, a former Harrow School contemporary of Churchill from the 1880s. Churchill wrote to him immediately after the sale concluded on the 11th of November 1922, stating he had been searching for two years for a country home and found this site the most beautiful and charming he had ever seen. Philip Tilden began work on the house in 1922 while the Churchills rented a nearby farmhouse. The building program lasted two years but costs escalated dramatically from an estimated £7,000 to over £18,000.
Construction difficulties involving dampness soured relations between architect and client by 1924. Legal arguments continued until 1927 as Churchill moved into the finished house in April 1924. Clementine's anxieties about the rising expenses persisted throughout the process. In September 1923, Churchill wrote to her begging her not to worry about money or feel insecure since Chartwell would be their home for many years.
During the 1930s when Churchill held no political office, Chartwell became the center of his world. At his dining table he gathered individuals who could assist his campaign against German rearmament and the British government's policy of appeasement. Robin Fedden later described the house as the most important country house in Europe and called it a little Foreign Office serving as the hub of resistance. A stream of friends, colleagues, disgruntled civil servants, concerned military officers, and foreign envoys visited to provide information supporting Churchill's struggle.
The visitors' book maintained meticulously from 1922 records 780 house guests who were all grist to Churchill's mill. Sir Maurice Hankey, Clerk of the Privy Council, dined there in April 1936 and subsequently noted points that indicated Churchill's likely line on future parliamentary debates regarding munitions and supply. Reginald Leeper, a senior Foreign Office official, visited a week later to convey views on using the League of Nations to counter German aggression. Desmond Morton and Ralph Wigram also provided confidential governmental data at some risk to their careers since sharing such information breached the Official Secrets Act.
In October 1939, after being reappointed First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill suggested an improvement for anti-aircraft shells at Chartwell. He demonstrated how zinc ethyl could fill shells to catch fire spontaneously with just a fraction of an ounce. The Russian Ambassador Ivan Maisky visited in September 1938 and recorded impressions of a two-storey house with large ponds containing goldfish of varying sizes. Maisky noted Churchill's hatred of Berlin had gone beyond all limits when asked about drinking a bottle of wine dating from 1793.
Chartwell remained mostly unused during the Second World War due to its exposed position near German-occupied France making it vulnerable to airstrike or commando raid. Lakes were covered with brushwood to make the house less identifiable from the air. A rare visit occurred in July 1940 when Churchill inspected aircraft batteries in Kent. His Principal Private Secretary Eric Seal recorded that the Prime Minister loved feeding the immense goldfish stocked in the series of ponds.
The Churchills spent weekends at Ditchley House until security improvements completed at Chequers. Churchill returned to Chartwell on the 20th of June 1941 after Operation Battleaxe failed to relieve Tobruk. John Colville recorded him ruminating deeply about the fate of Tobruk while contemplating means of resuming the offensive. On the 24th of June 1944, shortly after the Normandy landings, his secretary described the house as shut up and rather desolate.
Following VE Day, the Churchills first returned on the 18th of May 1945 to be greeted by what garden historian Stefan Buczacki called the biggest crowd Westerham had ever seen. Military victory was rapidly followed by political defeat as Churchill lost the July 1945 general election. He almost immediately went abroad while Clementine began opening the house for his return. A group organized by Lord Camrose raised £55,000 allowing the National Trust to buy the house from Churchill for £43,800. The sale concluded on the 29th of November with a 50-year lease allowing them to live there until death.
In 1953, Chartwell became Churchill's refuge once more when he suffered a debilitating stroke while serving again as prime minister. After collapsing at dinner on the 23rd of June at 10 Downing Street, he was driven to Chartwell where his condition deteriorated further. Lord Moran stated that he did not think the Prime Minister could possibly live over the weekend. Colville summoned closest friends including Lord Beaverbrook, Lord Camrose, and Brendan Bracken who agreed to ensure a press blackout.
They achieved the all but incredible success of gagging Fleet Street since no word of the stroke appeared until Churchill casually mentioned it in the House of Commons a year later. Secluded and protected at Chartwell, Churchill made a remarkable recovery and thoughts of retirement receded. During recuperation he completed work on Triumph and Tragedy, the sixth volume of his war memoirs. On the 5th of April 1955, Churchill chaired his last cabinet almost fifty years after first sitting in the Cabinet Room as President of the Board of Trade in 1908.
For the next ten years, Churchill spent much time at Chartwell though both he and Lady Churchill also traveled extensively. His daughter Mary Soames recalled that in the two summers left to him he would lie in his wheelbarrow chair contemplating the view of the valley he had loved for so long. On the 13th of October 1964, his last dinner guests were Sir Leslie Rowan and his wife. The following week, increasingly incapacitated, Churchill left the house for the last time never to see it again.
The highest point of the estate sits approximately 650 feet above sea level commanding views across the Weald of Kent. Churchill remarked years later that he bought Chartwell specifically for that view. Philip Tilden worked from 1922 to 1924 to modernize and extend the house using vernacular architectural style with red brick construction spanning two storeys plus a basement and extensive attics. The garden front features a large three-storey extension called my promontory containing the dining room, drawing room, and Lady Churchill's bedroom described as a magnificent aerial bower.
The interior has been reconstructed since the National Trust took over in 1966 to accommodate visitors while preserving principal rooms as they appeared in the 1920s and 1930s. The library contains memorabilia including a 1942 siren suit portrait by Frank O. Salisbury and a wall-mounted model of Port Arromanches depicting the Normandy landing site on D-Day plus 109 which fell on the 23rd of September 1944. The dining room holds original furniture designed by Heal's to Churchill's exacting requirements along with an early study for Breakfast at Chartwell by William Nicholson.
Churchill depicted the dining room in his own painting Tea at Chartwell dated the 29th of August 1927 showing family and guests including Thérèse Sickert and Walter Richard Sickert. The study served as his workshop for over 40 years where he planned budgets composed speeches dictated books and articles that paid bills. Tilden exposed early roof beams by removing the late-Victorian ceiling and inserting a Tudor doorcase. Three banners hang from the beams including standards as Knight of the Garter and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
The gardens surrounding the house comprise significant acreage with further parkland extending beyond. They are predominantly the creation of the Churchills with later input from Lanning Roper who served as Gardens Adviser to the National Trust. Victorian conifers and rhododendrons were removed while retaining woodlands beyond. Within the garden proper almost all landscape architectural and water features seen today were created by the Churchills themselves.
To the north lies the rose garden laid out by Lady Churchill and her cousin Venetia Stanley. Beyond it sits the water garden constructed by the Churchills including the golden orfe pond where Churchill fed his fish and the swimming pool built during the 1930s. He sought advice from Professor Lindemann on optimal methods for heating and cleaning the pool. South of the terrace lawn are upper and lower lakes which became scenes of Churchill's most ambitious landscaping schemes.
On the 1st of January 1935, while Lady Churchill cruised off Sumatra, Churchill described arranging for a great mechanical digger capable of doing more work in one week than 40 men could do. Excavation proved challenging since the caterpillar tracks moved only with greatest difficulty on wet ground. The lakes hosted large collections of wildfowl including black swans gifted by the Australian Government which restocked them in 1975. Violet Bonham Carter recalled seeing two Red Admirals alighting on Buddleia bushes he had planted to attract them.
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Common questions
When was Chartwell first recorded in written history?
The land now known as Chartwell first appeared in written records on the 2nd of May 1362, when a man named William At-Well sold it. The name itself derives from an Old English phrase meaning rough ground near a spring called Chart Well.
Who purchased Chartwell for Winston Churchill and when did he buy it?
Winston Churchill bought Chartwell from Captain Archibald John Campbell Colquhoun after negotiating the price down to £5,000 in September 1922. The sale concluded officially on the 11th of November 1922 following an auction that had failed to sell the property earlier that year.
What role did Chartwell play during the 1930s political crisis?
During the 1930s when Churchill held no political office, Chartwell became the center of his world where he gathered individuals to assist his campaign against German rearmament. Robin Fedden later described the house as the most important country house in Europe and called it a little Foreign Office serving as the hub of resistance.
Why was Chartwell mostly unused during the Second World War?
Chartwell remained mostly unused during the Second World War due to its exposed position near German-occupied France making it vulnerable to airstrike or commando raid. Lakes were covered with brushwood to make the house less identifiable from the air while security improvements were completed at Chequers.
When did Winston Churchill suffer a stroke and how long did he stay at Chartwell for recovery?
Winston Churchill suffered a debilitating stroke on the 23rd of June 1953 after collapsing at dinner on 10 Downing Street and was driven immediately to Chartwell. He made a remarkable recovery there before chairing his last cabinet on the 5th of April 1955.
Who designed the gardens at Chartwell and what features do they include today?
The gardens surrounding Chartwell are predominantly the creation of the Churchills themselves with later input from Lanning Roper who served as Gardens Adviser to the National Trust. Features include the rose garden laid out by Lady Churchill, the water garden with the golden orfe pond, and upper and lower lakes created through ambitious landscaping schemes starting in 1935.