Chartwell

About the museum

Chartwell is a country house near Westerham in Kent, and from 1924 it was the much-loved home of Winston Churchill and his family. Churchill wrote, painted and entertained here, and the house became a quiet retreat for a very public man. It was also a playground for his children. The house has been arranged and decorated as it looked in the 1930s, and rooms such as the sitting room, library and study are shown as though the family had just left them.

The house was always expensive to run, and after the Second World War the family again considered selling it. A group of friends and admirers bought Chartwell and gave it to the National Trust, on condition that Winston and Clementine could live there for as long as they wished. Churchill left Chartwell in October 1964 and died in January 1965. Lady Churchill then moved to London, and the Trust opened the house and garden to the public in the summer of 1966, working with the family on the display.

Today visitors can tour the rooms, with museum rooms that hold gifts to the Churchills and personal belongings, as well as the Uniform Room with conserved items of Churchill's clothing. Outdoors there are 80 acres of grounds with a hillside garden, the walled garden, Churchill's painting studio, the estate woodland and play areas for children.

Highlights

• Churchill's study, library and sitting room, displayed as in the 1930s
• Painting studio with Churchill's own pictures
• Uniform Room with conserved items of Churchill's clothing
• Pink Terrace with views over the Weald of Kent
• Walled garden and 80 acres of grounds
• Treehouse and woodland play areas for children

Permanent exhibitions

• The house at Chartwell – Rooms arranged as in the 1930s, including the sitting room, library and study, and museum rooms with gifts to the Churchills.
• Churchill: Image and Power, the Uniform Room – A restored room showing conserved items of Churchill's clothing, some never before displayed in the UK.
• Churchill's studio – The painting studio in the grounds, where Churchill worked on his pictures.

Founded

1966

Operated by

National Trust

Admission & discounts

Prices shown are for tickets without Gift Aid (with Gift Aid the House, Garden and Studio adult ticket is £26.40). National Trust members visit for free. A timed ticket is needed for the house; house tickets are sold from 10:00 on the day at the Visitor Centre, and in the main season a limited number of afternoon slots can be pre-booked online. Car parking costs £6 per car (£10 per minibus or coach) and is free for National Trust members.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Chartwell stands on a hillside with steps and slopes, and the garden is only partly accessible; it is unsuitable for mobility scooters. The car park is 250 metres from the house up a steep path with 24 shallow steps, and a volunteer-run mobility taxi, which cannot carry scooters or electric wheelchairs, runs from the car park to the house; visitors can also be dropped off at the house by car. The ground-floor rooms of the house are wheelchair accessible and a wheelchair is available on the upper floor, with no more than two wheelchairs allowed in the house at once. A few manual wheelchairs can be borrowed at the Visitor Centre. There are 15 accessible parking spaces near the Visitor Centre. Accessible toilets are next to the Visitor Centre and in the garden. Induction loops are fitted in the Visitor Centre, café, shop and second-hand bookshop. A Braille guide, large print guides and a virtual house tour are available. Assistance dogs are welcome everywhere.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Playground / play area

The 80 acres of grounds have woodland play areas with a two-storey treehouse, swings and balance beams and other outdoor play at Canadian Camp. Seasonal family trails are offered, for example a Halloween trail (free with admission) in October half-term and a paid festive trail in winter, as well as storytelling and workshops at set dates. The café serves children's lunch boxes. A map shows suggested pushchair and wheelchair routes.

Getting there & parking

Take the A25 to Westerham and follow the B2026 (Hosey Hill) for 1 1/2 miles, then fork left onto Mapleton Road; Chartwell is a short way down on the left. Sat nav postcode TN16 1PS; what3words for the car park entrance: grand.coast.bond.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Lockers

Landemare Café with hot and cold lunches, snacks and cakes, the Garden Cottage coffee shop in the busy summer period, a shop, a plant shop and a second-hand bookshop. Large bags and rucksacks must be left in lockers by the toilets (£1). Picnic areas are near the overflow car park.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit