We took a country drive today and ended up at Chartwell, which isn’t too far from us. Chartwell was Winston Churchill’s family home. He bought it in 1922 and it now is being taken care of by the National Trust. It’s just down the road from us and we’ve been meaning to get there to have a look since we got the car last year.
There are two main bits to see when you go – the house and the garden. The gardens were definitely the highlight. The house was ok, but not fabulous.
Perhaps it was because it was really busy that I was put off a bit. Entry is by timed ticket, which means you have a fifteen minute window to get into the house. Then you can stay in as long as you want – and boy were people sticking around. Getting in wasn’t the problem, it was moving around once you were in. People just were not moving along. Slow shuffle was definitely the speed of the day. There wasn’t much in the way of “house” to see inside, there were a couple dressed rooms, but then the rest was set up as a sort of museum to Churchill. I might have been more appreciative of it had there not been so many people. I thought the gardens were much better.
The amount of space and land was what struck you as you drove in to the place. That was what I liked about 
Knole Park as well. But not only did Chartwell have space, it was also beautifully landscaped, with other smaller garden areas throughout. My favorite bit was Lady Churchill’s Rose Garden. Not to mention the swimming pool, which is one of the first things you see as you walk into the property.
As big as the space was, it did seem rather homely. It wasn’t nearly as ostentatious as you would think. In fact, the interior was quite humble, and one of the gardens actually had – gasp! – vegetables in it! That was nice to see, considering I haven’t seen a proper growing garden in long long time.
I enjoyed it. If only there weren’t so many people!
Some more pictures from the gardens:
There are further pictures in the gallery.
