Chartwell, close-up of stepped gable

Gable, Chartwell

mid- to late-nineteenth century

Westerham, Kent

[Chartwell (view of whole house)]

Chartwell's prominent gables probably owe something to the Scottish background of the Colquhoun family who bought it in the Victorian period. This was just the time when the publication of Robert Billings's Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland (1845-52) had promoted the revival of the Scotch Baronial style throughout rural Scotland (see Glendinning and MacKechnie 144). Stefan Buczaki believes that the gables make the house look somewhat "galleon-like" (125).

Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee

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