Kent
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums

Churchill lived at Chartwell from 1922 to 1965. Originally built in Tudor times the house has been extended and renovated extensively since. It is set in magnificent gardens in the Weald of Kent. Although given to the National Trust in 1946, Churchill and his family continued to live there until his death in 1965. A tour of the house takes in many of the rooms in which he worked and raised his family, including his study, where he wrote his most successful books, and art studio. It retains a homely feel with personal photographs and many of his official gifts, all the while presenting details about his life and premiership.

Dover Castle, the ‘gateway to the realm’, is one of Britain’s best-surviving Norman castles. Excavations suggest the site was in 800 BC an Iron Age hillfort. A Roman lighthouse was converted into a bell tower. Over the last 1,000 years it has been a royal palace, a Napoleonic fortress, a military base for ‘Operation Dynamo’ during the Battle of Dunkirk and a Cold War communications office. Walk the battlements to enjoy views over the White Cliffs, get lost in secret underground wartime passages and imagine life as the king from the palace in the Great Tower.

Although beginning its life in the 18th century, Great Maytham Hall was devastated by a fire in 1893, resulting in the structure largely being rebuilt to the design of the prominent architect Sir Edward Lutyens between 1909 and 1912. Meanwhile, between 1898 and 1907, the writer Frances Hodgson Burnett lived on the estate and developed a fascination for its garden, using it as the inspiration for her popular 1911 children’s book, The Secret Garden. Today, the garden can still be visited on select days thanks to the National Garden Scheme.

Originally built as a Tudor-era bishop’s palace, Knole House passed into the ownership of the Sackville family in the 17th century, with members of that family still living here to this day. Perhaps Knole’s most famous resident was the writer Vita Sackville-West, who was born here in 1892 and used it as the inspiration for her most famous novel, The Edwardians. One of the National Trust’s largest properties, Knole House spreads over an area of just under four acres in size, surrounded by an additional thousand acres of land.

Lullingstone Villa is one of the best preserved Roman villas in England. The wall paintings provide some of the earliest evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain. Construction began around 100 AD, but the villa was at its most luxurious during the mid 4th century AD. Besides the exquisite wall paintings, the villa is also known for its well preserved mosaics. The ruins have been preserved in situ and covered, making this a great all-weather site to visit. A light show is used to bring the villa back to life.

The Roman archaeological site at Richborough consists of the ruins of a once extensive Saxon Shore fort, built by the Romans as protection against Saxon raiders, and the earthworks of an amphitheatre. Excavations and geophysical survey show this unique site was used throughout the Roman occupation of Britain (from 43 to 410 AD) and that the amphitheatre had sloping rows of clay and mortar seats. A small on-site museum displays artefacts found here. Arrive by boat from nearby Sandwich to experience approaching the site as the Romans would.

One of the city’s three historic monuments that make up the Canterbury UNESCO World Heritage Site, St. Augustine’s Abbey stands today as the ruins of a majestic landmark of the Christian church. With foundations documented in as early as 579 AD, the abbey was initially built as a burial ground for Anglo-Saxon kings before it became a Norman church. Many of the site’s relics were seized by the Crown during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but plenty of finds from excavations and the abbey’s archive can be seen in the museum.

With a circular keep and low profile, Walmer Castle was an impressive feat of Tudor engineering designed to be invisible from the sea and to deflect gunfire. During the 17th century it became the official residence of the Lord Warden of The Cinque Ports (the five main Kentish ports) with famous residents including William Pitt and the Duke of Wellington. Impressive gardens were later designed to accompany Walmer as it became a country residence, which can be seen today to contrast with the imposing military-style architecture of the keep and bastion.