Back to category: Arts

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.

Chartwell, the house of Winston Churchill

Chartwell House


Chartwell will always be linked with one particular person, namely Winston Churchill. England’s Prime Minister during World War II bought the house in 1922 and occupied it from 1924. He would live there for 41 years till his death in 1965.

When Churchill bought the house in 1922, it was a rather gloomy Victorian mansion. He was especially captivated by the setting: a shallow valley enclosed to the west by Crockham Hill, to the east by Toys Hill, both clothed in ancient beech trees. In the lap of the valley was a modest lake fed by the Chart Well, from which the house set into the western hillside took its name. But what he liked the most, was the magnificent view over the Weald of Kent he had there.

He then asked architect Philip Tilden to renovate the house. He added an extra wing to the house which he called his “promontory”. This wing contains three contains three of the largest and most attractive rooms in the house. On the top floor is a barrel-va...

Posted by: Rebecca Wyant

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.