Half term at Chartwell 2021

Join us this autumn half term to learn about some of Chartwell’s unsung wartime guardians and find out how they kept Chartwell ticking over whilst the family was in London.
Wartime Gardens at Chartwell 2021
Saturday 16 October - Sunday 31 October; 10am-4pm
The war-time team at Chartwell need your help to look after the gardens and wider estate this autumn half term.
Meet the various characters who kept Chartwell running whilst the Churchill family headed to London for the war. Discover the different tasks they carried out over the years such as the family secretaries who would help collect fruit and veg from our Walled Garden, sending it all up to London and Downing Street to feed the family.
Head out around the gardens and parkland to take part in various activities and help us keep Chartwell running. Help the secretaries transport the produce around the Walled Garden, or try your hand at some of the gardening yourself with different seeds to plant (and keep at the end too!).
How much?
The trail will be £2.00 per person (including National Trust members). Normal site admission applies.
Suitable for ages 3-15 years. The route is buggy friendly, though families wanting to visit the wider woods should be aware that there are steps in places and steep inclines. The woods can also get pretty muddy when it rains, so you might want to pack the wellies!
Chartwell in the 1940s
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Churchills left Chartwell for London.
The house was mothballed; the furniture covered up, the serving staff moved on, and the hubbub of political life followed Churchill to the capital.
Chartwell was not left entirely alone, however. A small number of individuals remained both living and working at Chartwell throughout the war - and the few years following - helping to keep watch over the estate.
One of the characters who came to help and who you’ll meet along the trail was called Hilda, a member of the Women’s Land Army that was brought in to look after the Jersey Cows that the Churchills kept on their estate, even shampooing their tails. Mrs Churchill even called the cows ‘Hilda’s Glamour Girls’.
This autumn half term, come and meet all these different characters and find out about the vital work that they carried out to keep Chartwell running.