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| Chartwell |
We have just come back from a quick trip around the South
and Midlands, taking in some cultural experiences and meeting some old friends.
En route we visited two National Trust properties, both of which
are the former homes of two Conservative Prime Ministers. The first of these was Chartwell , close to Edenbridge
in Kent, where Sir Winston Churchill lived from the 1920’s until his death. I have long wanted to visit the house, not
least because a former window cleaner of ours who now lives in Chilton worked
there as a gardener many years ago. He
told me how Sir Winston would don blue overalls (which they all wore) and
enthusiastically work alongside the gardeners for hours in the extensive grounds.
The gardens at Chartwell are still managed for wildlife,
(butterflies were one of Sir Winston's passions) and are filled with buddleia,
lavender and other insect loving plants. This is in strong contrast to the gardens
of Benjamin Disraeli’s country home, Hughenden Manor, near to High Wycombe. Here
the gardens were remodelled in the second half of the nineteenth century by his
wife Mary Anne. At the age of 74 she
directed a gang of some 24 ‘navies’ in constructing a terrace and parterre, now
used by the local croquet club. Of course
the planting here is much more in the formal high Victorian style: pelargoniums and similar bedding specimens
that are not much support for the insect world!
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| Hughenden Manor |
Neither man could really afford to live in his country
home. Disraeli’s purchase of Hughenden
in 1848 was ‘facilitated’ by his supporters who thought that he should have a
stately home that reflected his status.
In any event, as a ‘country member’ he needed to be a landowner. Similarly, Chartwell was purchased from
Churchill in 1946 and rented back to him for his lifetime when it became
apparent that he could not afford to keep it up after the War.
Both houses are well worth a visit, and are very reminiscent
of their former owners. Their studies in
particular feel as though the great man has just left, and, unsurprisingly
perhaps were the least altered rooms in both houses.
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| Insect friendly gardens at Chartwell |
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