West Oast Cooler
South of Westerham lie wooded hills and valleys dotted with delightful country houses. Many of them exhibit the Tudorbethan characteristics of early 20th century domestic architecture. Others have highly distinctive roof shapes which display their origin or inspiration. Over to Sir William Addison’s Farmhouses in The English Landscape (1986), “The farm buildings associated with the new agriculture of fruit growing were oast houses, delightfully built in local vernacular style. It was appropriate that it should be so since ‘oast’ means ‘kiln’ and Kent had limekilns in the 14th century. They also integrate into the historical scene because they belong to the same tradition of mechanical ingenuity as windmills. Hops were introduced into Kent north of the Downs in 1525, but drum shaped oast houses, capped with a pivoted timber cowl with a flyboard controlled by the wind in the way weathervanes are, were not invented until the 1830s, so were a 19th century innovation.”
The most famous country house in the locale is Chartwell, once the home of Sir Winston and Lady Clementine Churchill and now a very popular National Trust tourist attraction. John Newman explains in his Pevsner Guide 1969, “Created in 1923 to 1924 for Sir Winston Churchill, who wanted a family house and was captivated by the site: high, but enclosed by wooded slopes and opening out to a panoramic view of the wooded Weald. The red brick mid Victorian house on the site was drastically reformed by Philip Tilden to create two narrow, towering wings to the east and south, both crowned by crowstep gables. In the angle between them a square staircase tower. Viewing terrace below. That was the grouping that mattered. Long, indecisive entrance front close to the road. The mighty timber doorcase with oakleaf columns was bought from a dealer; likewise the fancy wrought iron weathervane on the stair tower.” A rather odd naked squared trellis snakes across the entire highly visible gabled side wall.
There are two standout paintings in Chartwell. A strikingly flattering portrait of a young Sir Winston in oils hangs over a narrow staircase. It was painted by the wildly talented north Belfast born Sir John Lavery. The painting depicts the war hero as Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers which he commanded on the Western Front of World War I in early 1916. The artist employs his trademark technique of a brightly lit figure in a dark surround. Rather different but still of interest is Sir Winston’s oil painting of Clementine hanging in the hallway below. It’s his best painting by a country kilometre. Clementine’s joyful face joyfully beams upwards against a rough hewn surround creating a sketched appearance. He created it aged 80 using a photograph mirror imaged and enlarged on a projection.
The environs of Westerham overflow with greenness and pleasantness on Diary Lane and Froghole Lane and Hosey Common Lane and Puddledock Lane and Spout Lane. One house brings a little Strawberry Hill to Crockham Hill. The prettiness of Mariners has evolved over half a millennium. A seven bay Georgian brick main block is enlivened by a Gothick porch and end turrets with lancet windows. Asymmetrical wings add yet more eclectic charm. This is how the other half of the one percenters live. Even the goats look posh.
