The garden at Chartwell

View towards the house from the tulips in the cut flower beds in the Walled Garden at Chartwell, Kent — View towards the house from the Walled Garden at Chartwell, Kent | © National Trust Images/Megan Taylor

Born from the keen amateur, creative gardening minds of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill, the garden at Chartwell is as varied as it is beautiful all year round. History and nature merge seamlessly across the estate, from Clementine's Rose Garden to the walls of the Kitchen Garden that Sir Winston helped to build.

Spring in the garden at Chartwell

The gardens at Chartwell are strikingly beautiful in springtime. Magnolia trees underplanted with daffodils frame the path on the approach to the house and delicate pink and white cherry blossom blows in the spring breeze.

Around 30 different varieties of camellia provide the garden with a profusion of extravagant blooms. Around the Golden Orfe ponds, azaleas and rhododendrons are a feast for the eyes, as are the vibrant green shuttlecock ferns unfurling by The Gavin Jones cascade.

In the Walled Garden, spot rhubarb and other seasonal veg as well as a variety of cheerful daffodils including the ‘Winston Churchill’. The cut flower beds are teeming with tulips in Clementine Churchill’s preferred pastel shades.

In May the Orchard is a spring spectacle with apple blossom on the trees and the wildflower meadow bursting back to life with buttercups, alliums and camassia. The Eddie’s White Wonder also begins to look amazing at this time of year, standing tall over the Croquet Lawn. Don’t miss the fantastic display of bearded iris along the Iris Walk.

Water features

As you enter Chartwell, heading up from the northern end of the estate along the paved pathways, the views soon open up to the wide lawns and lakes.

Swimming pool

The first feature you’ll see is the swimming pool, once a favourite of the Churchill family and now a favourite of the resident black swans and visiting geese. One of the most captivating areas here is the Gavin Jones Cascade which trickles steadily down into the swimming pool. Please be aware that is not suitable for swimming as it is now managed for the wildlife.

The lakes

When Winston Churchill first saw Chartwell in July 1921, he was captivated by the views and the beautiful valley cascading down to the lake. Inspired, the Churchills purchased the estate the following year and immediately began enhancing its natural features.

Preserving the lakes

To preserve the historic 1930s headwall, we are undertaking essential conservation works. A temporary dam has been installed to allow us to inspect the area over several seasons whilst continuing to protect the lake’s importance as a wildlife habitat. We appreciate your patience and understanding whilst the path remains closed.

The Gavin Jones Cascade

The Gavin Jones Cascade and surrounding garden is made up of several different areas, each with its own unique character and fascinating history. Originally displayed as part of the 1948 Chelsea Flower Show where Clementine Churchill first saw it, she liked it so much that the designer Gavin Jones gave it to her as a gift.

Golden Orfe Pond

Just before you reach Lady Churchill’s Rose Garden, you’ll come to a series of ponds. There are three interlinked ponds here that form the upper part of the Gavin Jones Cascade. The lower of the three ponds is called the Golden Orfe Pond and is filled with descendants of the exotic fish that Churchill bought from Harrods after seeing them in the 1930s.

Lady Churchill's Rose Garden

Sitting behind the wall near the Golden Orfe Pond, you’ll find the Rose Garden, designed by Clementine herself. The Garden Team have planted this area with Hybrid Tea roses of the style that was used by Lady Churchill. Varieties to look out for include Rosa ‘Ice Cream’, Rosa ‘Lovely Lady’ and Rosa ‘Savoy Hotel’.

The centrepiece of the garden is formed by four standard wisteria trees that bloom purple in the spring. Although these are the common Wisteria sinensis variety, what makes them special is they’ve been planted upright as a ‘standard’ rather than more recognisable and traditional wall-trained displays.

Enjoy this sun trap surrounded by intense colours and fragrances in what is perhaps the most quintessentially English feature of the garden at Chartwell.

Terrace lawn

With panoramic vistas over the Chartwell estate and Weald of Kent, the terrace is the perfect place to enjoy the view, no matter the season.

At the north end of the terrace lawn, is the distinctive Marlborough Pavilion, named for the man who inspired its decoration and Churchill’s ancestor, John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough.

A view towards the house in early spring in the garden at Chartwell, Kent. — Early spring in the gardens at Chartwell. | © National Trust Images/Megan Taylor

The orchards

A wide variety of apple trees grow in the orchard, many of which are the same varieties that the Churchills would have also grown whilst living here at Chartwell. There's a selection of culinary, dessert, and crab apples including 'Bramley's Seedling', 'Kerry Pippin', 'John Downie', 'Newton Wonder', and 'Lord Derby'. We also planted a 'Winston' apple tree in the main orchard, and we can’t wait for it to really get growing!

The orchards were important to Churchill, and they’re important to us, too. For most of the year, we manage the grass throughout the orchard just as the Churchills did, as a meadow. This allows a variety of wildflower species to flourish. This in turn ensures that we offer a consistently rich habitat for local wildlife. After the September harvest, you can buy delicious Chartwell apple juice in the shop.

The Walled Garden

From fruit and vegetables, beautiful cut-flower beds to the Golden Rose Avenue – and not forgetting the chickens – the Walled Garden has a bit of everything. The present Walled Garden dates from the mid-1920s when the surrounding brick wall was built. A plaque states, 'The greater part of this wall was built between the years 1925 & 1932 by Sir Winston Churchill with his own hands.'

Whilst you're exploring the Walled Garden, pop into the Marycot, a little brick house that Sir Winston Churchill built himself for his daughter Mary.

The Golden Rose Avenue

A walk to the farthest reaches of the garden is well worth it for the Golden Rose Avenue that awaits you. The avenue was a gift to Winston and Clementine from their children and grandchildren on the occasion of their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1958. This area is full of colour, sounds and fragrance, with over 200 golden roses all underplanted with catmint (Nepeta × faassenii) and lambs-ears (Stachys byzantina). Garden birds make the beech hedges their home. See if you can spot the inscription on the plinth reading 'Here lies the Bali Dove', Clementine’s beloved pet dove that she brought to Chartwell from Bali in 1936.

A view of the gardens at Chartwell and the Weald of Kent from the tulips planted on the Pink Terrace — A view of the gardens at Chartwell and the Weald of Kent from the Pink Terrace. | © National Trust Images/Megan Taylor

Wildlife to spot in the garden at Chartwell

Black swans

Black swans, originally native to Australia, were first kept at Chartwell in the 1920s after they were gifted to Sir Winston. Please help us take care of the swans by giving them some distance and not feeding them. Wildfowl are sensitive and may peck if they feel uncomfortable.

Chickens

In the Walled Garden is ‘Chickenham Palace’, home to a variety of bantam chickens, each with their unique colouring and feathering. Which one will be your favourite?

Butterflies

Sir Winston had a true passion for nature and spent time attempting to reintroduce lost butterflies. The Garden Team share this passion for butterflies and have an entire border dedicated to plants that are perfect for these winged insects. This border can be found sandwiched between the croquet lawn, the orchard, and the Butterfly House.

Bees

Keeping Churchill’s beekeeping tradition alive, there are six beehives in the private orchard tended to by trained volunteers. There are also some feral bee colonies living out in the woodland. Surplus honey is harvested by volunteers at the end of August and has won several awards from the British Beekeepers Association.