SEPTEMBER 2024
Chartwell was the number one surprise on our Southern England itinerary. I didn’t go in with high expectations and I absolutely fell in love. Chartwell is a relatively small National Trust property, but it is absolutely picture-perfect from every angle. The gardens come together beautifully, the colors and flowers match each other so well. I have seldom seen such a well designed garden. Who knew that Winston Churchill would provide so much garden and design inspiration?
Practical information
Chartwell is a National Trust property, so if you are a member you can get in for free. Otherwise the entrance fee is 20 pounds. The property is relatively small, but it is so interesting that you can still stay for a few hours. The house is only open for a limited amount of time. The number of visitors is also being controlled, so it doesn’t get too crowded in the house. You can book a timeslot for the house visit upon arrival. We visited on a Saturday in July and it wasn’t too busy, still many timeslots available, despite what National Trust says on the website. You do have the possibility to pre-book your timeslot on the website, but we didn’t find that it was necessary.
Chartwell gardens
The gardens already start with a very interesting path to the house, this path is surrounded by gunnera plants, which have enormous leaves. A very mysterious and exotic entry! The main garden part is the walled garden that surrounds the house. It was so incredibly pretty, with the best combinations of plants together, you seldom see a place so majestic! In April there is a gigantic wisteria climbing the house, must be so lovely as well! I can totally see why Winston Churchill must have loved his gardens so much.
There is also a lower part of the garden, that features the kitchen garden and a cut flower garden. Definitely very interesting as well. The sky got really dark when we visited, which provided such an interesting color pop.
The House
The house felt impeccably designed as well. The interior is quintessential British, with lots of patterned wallpapers throughout. I had no idea that Winston Churchill was such a good painter, but he painted many paintings in the house itself! Definitely a man of many talents. Sometimes these National Trust houses come off very stiff, but this wasn’t the case at Chartwell at all. It felt warm, inviting, actually lived in, of course it was also more recently inhabited than most National Trust houses. The house also features a museum part, which was very interesting, but we had to skim through as the toddler was getting fussy.
The Art Studio/Gallery
In the lower part of the garden you can find the art studio, where Churchill loved to paint. They still have many of his paintings. It reminded me a bit of the studio of Monet in Giverny.
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