Day Trips From London
Northern Kent including Chartwell, Home of Sir Winston Churchill.

The county of Kent (see map) starts in the southern suburbs of Greater London is very accessible for visitors to the capital who want to also experience something of the English countryside and villages. The added bonus is that it is also the location of Chartwell, home of Sir Winston Churchill for many years.

Spitfires Over London
John Young
Buy This Art Print At AllPosters.com

Westerham
Just to the south of Biggin Hill, you can visit Westerham, a pretty village that boasts numerous antique shops. This was the birthplace of General Wolfe in 1727 and you can see Quebec House, is home for the first eleven years of his life. Wolfe was famous for his defeat of the French in Canada but was killed on the Heights of Abraham at the very moment of his victory. Quebec House is now owned by the National Trust and has been restored to its 17th century appearance.

Chartwell
Just 2 miles south of Westerham, you can see Chartwell, home, for more than 40 years, of Sir Winston Churchill, Britain's greatest war leader. Now owned by the National Trust, the views from the house across the Kent countryside are lovely. There are six doors from the house in to the garden, perhaps indicating its importance to the residents. In the garden you can see the fishpond where Churchill fed his fish daily and his wife's rose garden.

The house has been kept much as it was in Sir Winston's day. You can see many of the pictures he painted, his papers, family photographs, uniforms, medals and cigars. Most of the house is open to the public and so there is the opportunity to see the rooms where Churchill wrote his inspiring wartime speeches and famous books.

Knole
East of Chartwell and the town of Sevenoaks, you can visit Knole, a 15th century mansion set in a beautiful 1000 acre deer park. The house, another National Trust property, was built by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, and remained the property of the Archbishops until Thomas Cranmer was forced to give it to King Henry VIII. Later it was given to Thomas Sackville by Queen Elizabeth I, his family, first the Earls then the Dukes of Dorset, have lived there ever since. Knole's wonderful treasure house of furnishings can be attributed to the sixth Earl who was Lord Chamberlain to King William III and as such was entitled to take any discarded furnishings from royal palaces.

Ightham Mote
Finally, there is nearby Ightham Mote, one of the most complete medieval moated manor houses in the country. Again a National Trust property, this early 14th century house standing in a wooded valley, has half-timbered upper storeys and steeply pitched gables. Alterations made through the centuries do not detract from its appearance as local stone was used and the changes were in keeping with the style of the house.

Buy the The Complete Churchill Biography DVD set from the History Channel.

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