Chartwell celebrates 150 Years since the birth of Winston Churchill

Archive photo of Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill in a car leaving their Hyde Park Gate residence on Winston Churchill's 75th birthday, 30 November 1949 — Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine on his 75th birthday, 30 November 1949. | © Topfoto

This year is a very special year for Chartwell. 2024 marks 100 years since Winston, Clementine and their children moved into Chartwell, and it is also 150 years since Winston Churchill was born.

The birth of Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill’s mother, the beautiful and charming Jennie Jerome, was an American socialite who had met Lord Randolph Churchill at the annual Cowes regatta in August 1873. It was love at first sight and he proposed to her just three days later. The pair married the following spring and by November she was heavily pregnant with their first child. Preparations had been made for the birth to take place at his parents’ home in London, but she went into labour prematurely during a visit to Blenheim Palace. Their baby, named Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, was born there at 1.30am on 30 November 1874.

Framed pencil drawing on paper of Sir Winston Churchill as a Boy by Sir John Tenniel on a round wooden table in Lady Churchill's bedroom at Chartwell. A lamp and decorative boxes sit beside it. — Framed drawing of Sir Winston Churchill as a Boy by Sir John Tenniel on a table in Lady Churchill's bedroom at Chartwell. | © National Trust/Jen Reznick

Churchill’s birthday gifts

Winston Churchill knew 90 birthdays over the course of his long life, and those from his childhood illustrate his early fascination with history, especially military history. For his 13th birthday for example, he wrote to his mother, saying “I should rather like ‘Gen. Grant’s History of the American War (Illustrated)’”. This theme remained a constant over the course of his life. Right up to his 90th birthday he was given birthday gifts of histories and biographies, reflecting his love of reading and his unending appetite for a greater understanding of the past.

Chartwell’s collection today houses hundreds of birthday gifts given to Winston Churchill, many of which are on permanent display. Visitors can see the mother of pearl embellished lacquer box in the dining room, given to Churchill for his 90th birthday by the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Yoshida. The desk in the library holds the silver curved blotter which is inscribed ‘to WSC on his 80th birthday from the Church Army Housing’. In the latter years of his life, Churchill’s birthdays became a worldwide spectacle, with press coverage of his cakes and gifts, but even then, he tended to spend the day with his closest friends and family, and often at Chartwell, the family home from 1924 to 1964.

This year, Chartwell is marking his 150th birthday, at the home he loved so much by welcoming visitors to a sparkling celebration which combines Churchill’s birthday with the joys of the festive season.

Japanese lacquer box, a gift for Churchill's 90th birthday. | © National Trust/Jen Reznick
Silver blotter, a gift for Churchill's 80th birthday | © National Trust/Jen Reznick

Churchill’s Champagne Christmas

Winston Churchill was known for his fondness for champagne, and particularly that of Pol Roger. It’s his love of champagne and the occasion of his 150th birthday that inspires Chartwell’s Christmas decorative theme: Churchill’s Champagne Christmas.

I could not live without Champagne. In victory I deserve it. In defeat I need it.

A quote by Sir Winston Churchill

Visitors to the House at Chartwell will be transported back in time to a 1930s Christmas party setting featuring golden garlands, twinkling lights, spectacular Pol Roger champagne bottle Christmas trees and a very special birthday cake.

Throughout the House, knowledgeable room guides will share tales of Chartwell Christmases gone by against a backdrop of festive music. Children, meanwhile, will enjoy a free, family-friendly spotter activity. (23 November–23 December 2024, 11:30am–2:20pm, normal admission applies).

Christmas at Chartwell

For those seeking a more intimate experience of the House at Christmastime, tickets can be pre-booked for a guided a tour of selected rooms which are decorated for Christmas (28 November–20 December 2024, weekdays 10:30am to 11:15am).

Churchill’s Champagne Christmas guided tour tickets

Winter exhibition preview

As part of Churchill’s birthday celebrations, visitors to the garden will be able to enjoy a preview of the 2025 winter exhibition featuring never-before-displayed images of the Churchill family at Chartwell during the 1927 snowfall (30 November–1 December 2024).

Cake and gifts

While a visit to Chartwell’s Landemare Café is a treat at any time of year, visitors on Churchill’s birthday weekend, 30 November to 1 December, can enjoy a slice of cake with a candle to light at home.

Visitors looking for gifts to mark the occasion will find a wide selection of Churchill and Chartwell souvenirs including books, stationery and memorabilia. Every purchase you make helps us to care for the history, beauty and nature that surrounds us here at Chartwell.

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A long view of the red brick house at Chartwell in Kent with a sweeping lawn running up to the terrace of the house and trees surrounding the grounds

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The Lalique glass Cockerel statue with the Christmas tree in the background in the Drawing Room at Chartwell, Kent

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Churchill’s Champagne Christmas

From Christmas markets to live carol music, wreath-making workshops to a festive family garden trail, plus the lavishly decorated house to explore, there’s something for everyone to enjoy for Christmas 2024 at Chartwell. With so much to celebrate, you’ll want to come back to Chartwell again and again this holiday season.