Chartwell
Chartwell, now owned by the National Trust, is famous for being the home Of Sir Winston Churchill. Bought Churchill for its magnificent views over the Weald of Kent, Chartwell was his home and the place from which he often watched the Battle of Britain unfolding in the skies over southern England. The rooms remain much as they were when he lived here, with pictures, books and personal mementoes evoking the career and wide-ranging interests of this great statesman.
The hillside gardens reflect Churchill's love of the landscape and nature. They include the lakes he created, Lady Churchill's Rose Garden and the kitchen garden. Many of Churchill's paintings can be seen in the studio.
Churchill had a lifelong secret passion for butterflies which began as a young boy when he went ‘butterflying' in the fields near to his school in Sussex. Churchill created a butterfly house that in the 1940s. 2010 saw the emergence of the first butterflies since the 1950s with the beautiful peacocks and painted ladies stretching their wings and fluttering into the garden at Chartwell. Six peacocks emerged in July and painted ladies during August.
Butterflies, including small tortoiseshells, swallowtails, peacocks and speckled woods, were bred in cages seated on the summer house benches, and Churchill often sat there and watched them emerge, releasing them into the garden when ready to fly.
Wildlife highlights: Butterflies,
Location: 2 miles south of Westerham, fork left off B2026 after 1½ miles; leave M25 at exit 5 or 6.
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