Pack plenty into a weekend in culture-rich Kent and East Sussex

Chartwell, Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Battle of Hastings Abbey and Battlefield, Bodiam Castle

A typical Englishman might be surprised by the density of tourist sights in North Hampshire (written about here), but he'll take it for granted in Kent.  It's hard to drive more than three miles in the so-called "garden of England" without stumbling on another brown sign pointing to something significant.

It was precisely that quality that saw me using Kent as a base when a young, eager, yet cash-strapped tourist.  I'd done my research.  Nowhere else outside of London allowed me to use more of my "Great British Heritage Pass" in such a short radius.  (The passes are, sadly, no longer sold.  They offered access to National Trust, English Heritage and privately owned sites for a single price.)  I spent an entire fortnight's holiday staying there and sometimes slipping over the border into neighbouring East Sussex in the early '90s.  I returned many times after, meaning that though I haven't spent much time there recently, I actually know the county and its sights well.  Not so for my husband.  We had an event in Tenterden on Sunday, so though ... why not make a long weekend of it?

With the exception of a quick garden visit, I let him pick the locations.  Which, unsurprisingly, leads us on a trail linked by military history.  Being Kent and East Sussex, of course, that also means good architecture, lush landscape and inspiring gardens.  Here's what we got up to.

Chartwell
Winston Churchill's home is in the northwest corner of the county and if, like us, you're coming from the west, this is the perfect gateway sight to welcome you to Kent.  Leave plenty of time, however.  This is one of the National Trust's most popular properties, and they only let a certain number of people into the house each half hour.  When all the tickets are distributed, you're out of luck.  Arriving around noon on a Friday snagged us tickets for 2:30; I certainly wouldn't have wanted to risk getting there after 1.  I'd go earlier on a weekend.

Spending your time before getting into the house is no problem.  There's a restaurant here where we stopped for lunch.  The views are better than the food, but the basic lunch fare won't let you down.  The bigger-than-usual National Trust shop has, as you would expect, lots of Churchill memorabilia and books, plus a fine range of plants you'll find in the gardens.  In fact, I found the gardens as much of a highlight as the house.  There's a beautiful walk to the house looking over a grassy valley to the wooded ridge beyond, ending at the lily pond where the great man used to sit to think and paint. A formal, walled area billowing with roses greets you near the house; beyond that is a lawn cornered by
a pavilion commemorating Churchill's ancestor's victory at the Battle of Blenheim.  Follow the slope down through the orchard to Churchill's studio, still packed with his paintings.  Whether you regard them as art, or an insight into his coping strategies, they're fascinating.  Work your way back up to the house through the walled vegetable and flower garden, unusually built into quite a steep slope.  That makes the view from the top all the more dramatic.

Of course, the house is the main event.  The Churchills left it to the nation and his family's close personal involvement before they handed it over means you're seeing something put together with thoughtful care.  The decor has been carefully arranged to show Chartwell as it was between the wars.  These were Churchill's wilderness years when he was out of government, waiting, worrying, thinking and writing.  What a wonderful setting to do those things in.  In most rooms, it looks as though someone has just stepped away, and will be back at any moment.  You can even spot those famous cigars perched in ashtrays.  Several upstairs rooms are given over to a wonderful museum where you can learn more about Churchill's life while seeing his uniforms and gifts accumulated from respectful fans ... common people to world leaders ... around the world.  Don't miss the slightly hideous cut class and silver bowls from Stalin; exactly the kind of art you'd expect a brutal dictator to favour.

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens
This was my non-negotiable stop.  I can't be within 20 miles of what's probably the world's most famous garden without popping in for a look at what's in bloom.  I've been here many times, going back to my first visit when we stayed in the farmhouse on property, and there's always something new to see.  This was my first visit in August, seeing the white garden at its peak.  Areas that stand out in
spring and early summer (the orchard, the the lime walk) fade to obscurity, while the cottage garden is exploding with oranges, reds and yellows and the rose garden ... its main occupants past their prime ... gives over to asters, dahlias and chrysanthemums.  The herb garden is also at its best at this time of year.

One thing that never changes here is the crowds.  Get here before the place opens.  Have a coffee, walk around the perimeter, check out the vegetable garden (not part of the ticketed area).  Go in when the main garden opens, and you'll be leaving just as the crowds start outnumbering the flowers.

Battle Abbey
Even Brits who are terrible at history can usually drag "Hastings 1066" out of their brains.  Fact is, William of Normandy may have landed at Hastings, but he beat the Anglo-Saxons at a place called Senlac about six miles inland.  The fight there was such a horrific bloodbath the pope ordered conqueror William to establish an abbey there in atonement, which is how the abbey and town of Battle came to be.

The abbey passed into private hands at the dissolution of the monasteries and followed the usual path of such things:  church torn down for building materials, domestic buildings turned into an aristocratic home, a few ruins left standing for picturesque value.  By the middle of last century, the buildings were put to their current use as a school.  But the battlefield, remarkably, was never built on.  Now under the care of English Heritage, your entry fee gets you an audio guide that will take you through the late-medieval gatehouse, to an exhibition centre explaining the story of the battle, around the battlefield, ending at the ruins of some abbey buildings.  (You can't go in the school.)

The exhibition and the guide combine to give good insight into the dynastic struggles that led up to the conflict and the drama of the day.  I've never heard the claims of William and Harold stated in such a balanced way, explaining why about 7,000 people on EACH side were willing to give their lives for the cause.  (The Bayeux Tapestry, which I wrote about here, unsurprisingly makes Harold's
case pretty weak.)  Even people who don't care much for battlefields should enjoy the stroll, which includes fine views and quiet forest paths.  If you're a bit of a battle geek, however, you may find the guide simplistic.  We were hungry for more details: what kept William from trying a flanking manoeuvre?  How has the topography changed?  The visitors' centre could use a diorama that shows the landscape of 1066, before 1000 years of farming and trees altered things.  The ruins do their picturesque job, but aren't much to see.  If the theatrical troupe is doing their battle play for the kids, however, stay around to watch.  They are hysterically funny.

If you're looking for food while in the area, try the Pilgrims' Rest just across the street, where you'll find generous ploughman's platters and other lunch classics in an historic half-timbered hall.

Bodiam Castle
Jump forward 300 years from Battle's battle, and Kent was fearing French invasion again; this time in the 100 Years' War.    That might have been Sir Edward Dalyngrigge's excuse for building his castle at Bodiam, but it's obvious that, right from the start, he was as interested in luxury as defence.  The castle was carefully placed within landscaped gardens, in the middle of a larger-than-usual moat.  The exterior architecture is particularly graceful and the wealth of large fireplaces inside hints at the comfort its residents enjoyed.  The place was never used for military purposes in the Middle Ages, but met its doom in the English Civil Wars, when it was destroyed by parliamentarians as a preventative measure.  It became one of the Romantic Era's most popular picturesque ruins, painted by JMW Turner amongst many others.  Lord Curzon, a giant of historic preservation, bought the place in 1916, stabilised its fabric and gave it to the nation a decade later.  (Read about my visit to his magnificent family home here.)

Since then, it's become one of England's best known castles.  Even though there's almost nothing inside, the exterior is perfectly preserved and its setting in its placid lake is worthy of a fairy tale.  It's used extensively as a film set.  The problem with visiting is that, once you take in the view, there's little to captivate.  There's not much left to explore inside, and the museum is pretty basic.  If you're not a National Trust member, I don't think it's worth the admission fee (£7.80 for adults, £3.90 for kids) unless there's an event on.  You can catch a free view from the car park that's not bad.  Turner and the other Romantic artists had the right idea, though.  The best way to do Bodiam is to bring a picnic lunch, sit on the hill above it and try to paint the place.

These were all add-ons, however, to the main attraction of the weekend: a winery tour.  In England?  Yes, indeed.  I'll cover that in the next entry.