Editing Chartwell (section)

==== 1922 to 1939 ====
[[File:Chartwell House.JPG|thumb|right|Chartwell – Clementine Churchill's "magnificent aerial bower" to the left]]
Churchill first saw Chartwell in July 1921, shortly before the house and estate were to be auctioned.{{sfn|Buczacki|2007|p=100}} He returned the same month with his wife Clementine, who was initially attracted to the property, although her enthusiasm cooled during subsequent visits.{{sfn|Buczacki|2007|p=101}} In September 1922, when the house had failed to sell at auction, he was offered it for £5,500. He paid £5,000, after his first offer of £4,800, made because "the house will have to be very largely rebuilt, and the presence of dry rot is a very serious adverse factor", was rejected.{{sfn|Gilbert|1975|p=793}} The seller was Captain Archibald John Campbell Colquhoun, who had inherited the house in June 1922 on the death of his brother.{{sfn|Gilbert|1977|p=2027}} Campbell Colquhoun had been a contemporary of Churchill's at [[Harrow School]] in the 1880s. On completion of the sale in September 1922, Churchill wrote to him; "I am very glad indeed to have become the possessor of "Chartwell".<ref name="listed" /> I have been searching for two years for a home in the country and the site is the most beautiful and charming I have ever seen".{{sfn|Gilbert|1977|p=2027}} The sale was concluded on 11 November 1922.{{sfn|Garnett|2008|p=11}}

The previous 15 months had been personally and professionally calamitous. In June 1921, [[Lady Randolph Churchill|Churchill's mother]] had died, followed three months later by his youngest child, Marigold.{{sfn|Garnett|2008|p=11}} In late 1922, he fell ill with appendicitis and at the end of the year lost his Scottish parliamentary seat at [[Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)|Dundee]].{{sfn|Soames|1998|pp=263–265}}

[[Philip Tilden]], Churchill's architect, began work on the house in 1922 and the Churchills rented a farmhouse near Westerham, Churchill frequently visiting the site to observe progress.{{sfn|Soames|1998|p=269}} The two-year building programme, the ever-rising costs, which escalated from the initial estimate of £7,000 to over £18,000, and a series of construction difficulties, particularly relating to damp, soured relations between architect and client,{{sfn|Bettley|1987|p=15}} and by 1924 Churchill and Tilden were barely on speaking terms.{{sfn|Garnett|2008|p=18}}{{efn|Tilden's relations with Clementine were no warmer; in 1923, after they had fallen out over the installation of a kitchen range, Clementine suggested Tilden might move to [[Tokyo]] to assist in its reconstruction after an [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|earthquake]].{{sfn|Tinniswood|2016|p=351}}}}{{efn|Tilden’s undoubted skills did not prevent him making practical mistakes, and falling out with many of his clients. [[Thomas Jones (civil servant)|Thomas Jones]], visiting [[Bron-y-de]], the Surrey country house Tilden designed for [[David Lloyd George]] in 1926, noted; “Tilden forgot to put a [[scullery]] at Churt: what he forgot at Chartwell I did not discover because he was a subject to be avoided.”{{sfn|Toye|2007|p=232}}}} Legal arguments, conducted through their respective lawyers, continued until 1927.{{sfn|Buczacki|2007|p=152}} Clementine's anxieties about the costs, both of building and subsequently living at Chartwell also continued. In September 1923 Churchill wrote to her, "My beloved, I beg you not to worry about money, or to feel insecure. Chartwell is to be our ''home'' (and) we must endeavour to live there for many years."{{sfn|Soames|1998|p=273}} Churchill finally moved into the house in April 1924; a letter dated 17 April to Clementine begins, "This is the first letter I have ever written from this place, and it is right that it should be to you".{{sfn|Soames|1998|p=281}}

In February 1926, Churchill's political colleague [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Sir Samuel Hoare]] described a visit in a letter to the [[Media proprietor|press baron]] [[Lord Beaverbrook]]; "I have never seen Winston before in the role of landed proprietor,&nbsp;... the engineering works on which he is engaged consist of making a series of ponds in a valley and Winston appeared to be a great deal more interested in them than in anything else in the world".{{sfn|Gilbert|1976|p=145}} As Hoare's presence indicated, Churchill's holidays were very rarely pure vacations. [[Roy Jenkins]], in his study, ''The Chancellors'', contrasted Churchill's approach to holidaying with that of his then boss, [[Stanley Baldwin]]. "Churchill went to Chartwell or elsewhere to lengthen the stride of his political work, but not greatly to reduce its quantity; far from shutting himself off, he persuaded as many as possible of his colleagues and henchmen to visit him, to receive his ever-generous hospitality."{{sfn|Jenkins|1999|p=324}} In January 1928, [[James Lees-Milne]] stayed as a guest of Churchill's son [[Randolph Churchill|Randolph]]. He described an evening after dinner; "We remained at that round table till after midnight. Mr Churchill spent a blissful two hours demonstrating with decanters and wine glasses how the [[Battle of Jutland]] was fought. He got worked up like a schoolboy, making barking noises in imitation of gunfire, and blowing cigar smoke across the battle scene in imitation of gun smoke".{{sfn|Gilbert|1976|p=265}} On 26 September 1927, Churchill composed the first of his ''Chartwell Bulletins'', which were lengthy letters to Clementine, written to her while she was abroad. In the bulletins, Churchill described in great detail the ongoing works on the house and the gardens, and aspects of his life there. The 26 September letter opens with a report of Churchill's deepening interest in painting; "[[Walter Sickert|Sickert]] arrived on Friday night and we worked very hard at various paintings&nbsp;... I am really thrilled&nbsp;... I see my way to paint far better pictures than I ever thought possible before".{{sfn|Soames|1998|p=309}}

Churchill described his life at Chartwell in the later 1930s in the first volume of his history of the [[Second World War]], ''The Gathering Storm''. "I had much to amuse me. I built&nbsp;... two cottages,&nbsp;... and walls and made&nbsp;... a large swimming pool which&nbsp;... could be heated to supplement our fickle sunshine. Thus I&nbsp;... dwelt at peace within my habitation".{{sfn|Churchill|1948|p=62}} Bill Deakin, one of Churchill's research assistants, recalled his working routine. "He would start the day at eight o'clock in bed, reading. Then he started with his mail. His lunchtime conversation was quite magnificent,&nbsp;...absolutely free for all. After lunch, if he had guests he would take them round the garden. At seven he would bathe and change for dinner. At midnight, when the guests left, ''then'' he would start work&nbsp;... to three or four in the morning. The secret was his phenomenal power to concentrate."{{sfn|Gilbert|1976|p=730}}{{efn|A contributory factor was Churchill's habit of taking to his bed after lunch, an opportunity not accorded to his subordinates. [[Alan Don]], secretary to [[Cosmo Gordon Lang]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], recorded in his diary a meeting between the archbishop and the prime minister on 1 August 1940; "[Lang] saw W.C. at 5 p.m. - the latter had just got out of bed and was as usual smoking a large cigar. He gets up as fresh as paint and works at full steam until the early hours of the morning. His habit of going to bed between lunch and tea is rather disconcerting to his colleagues."{{sfn|Don|2020|pp=347-348}}}} In his study of Churchill as author, the historian Peter Clarke described Chartwell as "Winston's word factory".{{efn|Clarke records Churchills's approach to writing; "(at night) the day's literary work would really begin...materials for the current chapter would be laid out on a long, raised table. Either Violet Pearman or [[Grace Hamblin]] would be on hand for dictation. 'Well, we must have done three thousand words', he would say, normally at about 2 a.m. and the duty secretary could be sent home. An hour or two later, the great wordsmith would also retire."{{sfn|Clarke|2012|pp=167–169}}}}{{sfn|Clarke|2012|p=274}}

[[File:MunichAgreement.jpg|thumb|left|Chartwell was the base from which Churchill waged his campaign against [[Neville Chamberlain]]'s policy of [[appeasement]]]]
In the opinion of [[Robin Fedden]], a diplomat, and later Deputy General Secretary of the National Trust and author of the Trust's first guidebook for Chartwell, the house became "the most important country house in Europe".{{sfn|Fedden|1974|p=3}} The historian Graham Stewart, in his study of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Tory Party]] politics, ''Burying Caesar'', described it as "a sort of [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] court of [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye|St Germain]]".{{sfn|Stewart|1999|p=321}}{{efn|[[James II of England|James II]] had been granted the [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] after his flight from England in 1688, and it remained a gathering place for [[Jacobitism|supporters]] of the restoration of the [[Stuart monarchy]].{{sfn|Corp|2004|p=173}}}} A stream of friends, colleagues, disgruntled civil servants, concerned military officers and foreign envoys came to the house to provide information to support Churchill's struggle against [[appeasement]].{{efn|Chartwell had always provided Churchill with a venue for political discussion. Earlier in the 1930s, Churchill conducted much of the planning for the work of the [[India Defence League]] at the house. Graham Stewart notes the "regularity in which Chartwell was used as the meeting forum" for opponents of the [[National Government (1931–1935)|National Government's]] [[Government of India Act 1935|Government of India Bill]].{{sfn|Stewart|1999|p=196}}}} At Chartwell, he developed what Fedden calls, his own "little Foreign Office&nbsp;... the hub of resistance".{{sfn|Fedden|1974|p=10}} The Chartwell visitors' book, meticulously maintained from 1922, records 780 house guests, not all of them friends, but all grist to Churchill's mill.{{sfn|Roberts|2008|p=42}} An example of the latter was [[Maurice Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey|Sir Maurice Hankey]], Clerk of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]], who was Churchill's guest for dinner in April 1936. Hankey subsequently wrote, "I do not usually make a note of private conversations but some points arose which gave an indication of the line which Mr Churchill is likely to take in forthcoming debates (on munitions and supply) in Parliament".{{sfn|Gilbert|1976|p=723}} A week later, [[Reginald Leeper]], a senior [[Foreign Office]] official and confidant of [[Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart|Robert Vansittart]], visited Churchill to convey their views on the need to use the [[League of Nations]] to counter German aggression. Vansittart wrote, "there is no time to lose. There is indeed a great danger that we shall be too late".{{sfn|Gilbert|1976|p=726}}

Churchill also recorded visits to Chartwell by two more of his most important suppliers of confidential governmental information, [[Desmond Morton (civil servant)|Desmond Morton]] and [[Ralph Wigram]], information which he used to "form and fortify my opinion about the Hitler Movement".{{efn|Churchill recorded Morton and Wigram's contributions in ''The Gathering Storm'', the first volume of [[The Second World War (book series)|his history of the Second World War]]. "I formed a great regard for (Morton). He was a neighbour of mine, dwelling only a mile away from Chartwell, and became one of my most intimate advisers till our final victory was won. Wigram saw as clearly as I did, but with more certain information, the awful peril which was closing in upon us."{{sfn|Churchill|1948|p=63}}}}{{sfn|Churchill|1948|pp=62–63}} Their sharing of data on German rearmament was at some risk to their careers; the military historian [[Richard Holmes (military historian)|Richard Holmes]] is clear that Morton's actions breached the [[Official Secrets Act 1911|Official Secrets Act]].{{sfn|Holmes|2009|p=101}} Chartwell was also the scene of more direct attempts to prepare Britain for the coming conflict; in October 1939, when reappointed [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] on the outbreak of war, Churchill suggested an improvement for [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft shells]]; "Such shells could be filled with [[zinc ethyl]] which catches fire spontaneously&nbsp;... A fraction of an ounce was demonstrated at Chartwell last summer".{{sfn|Gilbert|1993|p=228}}{{efn|In addition to those made by Morton and Wigram, the historian [[Andrew Roberts (historian)|Andrew Roberts]] records visits to Chartwell by Vansittart himself, [[Heinrich Brüning]], the anti-Nazi former German chancellor, and the socialist French politicians [[Léon Blum]] and [[Pierre Cot]]. The information he obtained from these and other sources made Churchill the best "informed politician in Britain about the capacities and limitations of both Britain's armed forces and Germany's".{{sfn|Roberts|2019|pp=365-366}}}}

In 1938, Churchill, beset by financial concerns, again considered selling Chartwell,{{sfn|Churchill|1997|pp=155–156}} at which time the house was advertised as containing five reception rooms, nineteen bed and dressing rooms, eight bathrooms, set in eighty acres with three cottages on the estate and a heated and floodlit swimming pool.{{efn|In his study of Churchill and his son Randolph, ''Churchill & Son'', Josh Ireland records the running costs of Chartwell in the mid-1930s as being £10,000 per year.{{sfn|Ireland|2021|p=98}}}} He withdrew the sale after the industrialist [[Henry Strakosch]] agreed to take over his share portfolio, which had been hit heavily by losses on [[Wall Street]], for three years and pay off significant associated debts.{{sfn|Garnett|2008|p=28}} In September 1938, the Russian Ambassador, [[Ivan Maisky]], made his first visit and recorded his impressions of Chartwell: "A wonderful place! A two-storey house, large and tastefully presented; the terrace affords a breathtaking view of Kent's hilly landscape; ponds with goldfish of varying size; a pavilion-cum-studio with dozens of paintings - his own creations - hanging on the walls; his pride and joy, a small brick cottage which he was building with his own hands".{{efn|Sensing Maisky's discomfort at the opulence of his estate, Churchill sought to put him at his ease; "You can observe all this with an untroubled soul! My estate is not a product of man's exploitation by man: it was bought entirely on my literary royalties". Maisky noted in his diary, "[his] royalties must be pretty decent!"{{sfn|Maisky|2015|p=124}}}} His impression of his host was somewhat less favourable; asked what special occasion would lead Churchill to drink a bottle of wine dating from 1793 from his cellar, Churchill had replied - "We'll drink this together when Great Britain and Russia beat Hitler's Germany". Maisky's unspoken reaction was recorded in his diary, "Churchill's hatred of Berlin really has gone beyond all limits!"{{sfn|Maisky|2015|pp=124-125}}