People and Places

The National Trust acts as custodian of a fair share of the historic architectural gems of the British Isles; properties such as Fountains Abbey, Kedleston and Florence Court, apart from those dealt with in detail in this issue. But the attraction of a number of other buildings in the Trust's care lies not so much in the intrinsic interest of the architecture or contents, but in their having been variously homes, sanctuaries and inspirations to some of the key figures in Britain's political and cultural history.

Of nowhere is this truer than of Chartwell, Winston Churchill's home in the Weald of Kent for nearly forty years until his death in 1965. Churchill bought the mid-Victorian mansion with its surrounding 80 acres in 1922, and had its rather stolid appearance lightened by the addition of a garden wing by the architect Philip Tilden.