Westerham is a small market town of Kent located towards the top of the Darenth valley. The village’s existence was well known at the time of the Doomsday Book. Westerham origins are now known to have been pre-Roman, with the earliest settlers dating back over 6000 years to Neolithic times. Evidence of ancient earthworks can be seen today in Squerryes Park.
On the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons it became an outpost or fort to protect the residents from invasion.
In 1227 Henry lll granted it a market charter, trading cattle. By Elizabethan times it was a well-established village with a parish church, St. Mary the Virgin.
By Victorian times the arrival of the railways and several inns made Westerham important as a half way house between London and the coast.
Since then it has developed into a vibrant community well adapted to the 21st century.
Westerham has been the home of two of England’s most famous sons –James Wolfe was born here in March 1727 and found fame as the British Army General who led the storming of the heights of Abraham in Quebec in 1759 which in turn led to Canada being secured as a British Dependency in 1760. He was also active in promoting the theory that men, in particular soldiers, performed better with encouragement rather than fear of punishment which was the norm at the time.
In 1922 Winston Churchill purchased Chartwell just outside Westerham from the Campbell-Colquhouns, who had lived there since 1845, and made it his home.
Born in 1874 he attended Sandhurst despite an undistinguished time at Harrow. He then followed his father into Masonry in 1901, joining Studholme No 1591. However he never held office before resigning in 1912. However its not clear that he abandoned masonry completed as he is recorded as attending Royal Navy Lodge No 59 in 1928 and was invited to join Westerham in 1959 but, probably due to his by then failing health sent along his bodyguard instead!
He has entered politics as a Conservative in 1900 but over the years crossed the floor of the house, changing allegiance several times in his career.
It is of course well known that in 1940, following a no confidence vote in Chamberlains Government, he was asked to lead a coalition government with the country at war. Despite his wartime leadership a war weary British Public voted him out of office in the hour of his triumph.
However this leadership with his larger than life character; mastery of the English language and authorship and artist output he is widely recognized as one of the greatest Englishman to have lived.
