Chartwell
Family home and garden of Sir Winston Churchill
Coronavirus update
From end of Tuesday 24 March, we closed all our car parks to further restrict the spread of coronavirus. This followed the decision to close our parks and gardens in addition to our houses, shops and cafes. We urge people to stay local and observe social distancing. Please do not travel.
Virtual spring highlights
Signs of spring
Chartwell is now completely closed to our visitors, including the beautiful and varied gardens that surround the home of Sir Winston Churchill and his family - just as they start to come fully into bloom. As you can't visit us in person, why not come on a virtual tour with us instead, as we highlight some of the many different flowers and plants emerging this spring.
Daffodils
The daffodils are blooming all across Chartwell, from the car park to the Walled Garden and everywhere in-between. A full 29,000 daffodils show off their sunny petals throughout the gardens in an amazing display of different varieties from Narcissus 'Rapture' to Narcissus 'Mount Hood', and even the Sir Winston Churchill daffodil as well!
Snowdrops
The snowdrop is one of the first flowers to emerge after the winter chill, appearing as early as January as a prelude to the full symphony of spring. If you get close enough, you’ll find they're deliciously honey-scented too. Around the Gavin Jones waterfalls, we have a special 'summer snowflake' snowdrop, which is a larger flower than you might expect, and named as such as they bloom slightly later, all the way into April.
Helleborus
Is there a more beautiful perennial in the early spring garden than the helleborus? They look particularly stunning on a sunny day when they glow translucent and bright. There's a few different hybrids throughout the borders to create a rich display of pink, purple, white and green blooms.
Daphne Bholua 'Jacqueline Postill'
These flowers are some of the most richly-scented blooms in the garden, but a sweet aroma is not all that is on offer. The flowers are very pretty too, with petals white on the inside and deep mauve-prink on the reverse. They're usually tricky to grow but fortunately they have flourished in the acidic soil here at Chartwell.
Magnolia
With vivid pink or white blooms framing the pathways on the approach to the house, the magnolia trees in full flower are an stunning display of spring at its finest every year at Chartwell. Reaching high into the sky, each extravagant flower is individually beautiful and combined together, makes a subtle but powerful burst of colour that's truly magical.
Blossom
Blossom comes bright and beautiful to Chartwell each spring, smelling sweet on the branches and soon covering the paths with the delicate leaves. From cherry trees on the walk down from the Visitor Centre and high up on the top terrace, to the orchard blooming with apple blossom and down to the Walled Garden with step-over apples.
Cut flower beds
As the garden wakes up with spring the cut flower bed comes to life with colour. Tulips in all shapes and hues unfurl, such as the 'Angelique', believed to have been a favourite of Clementine, and a range of cheerful daffodils - including the 'Winston Churchill', all opening up to greet the sleepy sun. When the house is open, these blooms will be picked and taken up to the house where our volunteers expertly arrange them for the display rooms.
