WARTIME premier Sir Winston Churchill's home and those of naturalist Charles Darwin and soldier hero General Wolfe are experiencing a visitor-packed summer as tourists stay in the UK for the holidays.

Figures show 142,799 people have been to Chartwell, Churchill's home in Westerham, so far this year, an increase of around 18,000 on last year.

Visitors to nearby Quebec House, General Wolfe's boyhood home are up 14 per cent, while Emmetts Garden, in nearby Ide Hill, has seen a massive 43 per cent increase in people enjoying the gardens.

National Trust manager for the three properties, Philippa Rawlinson said: "A lot of people are staying in the UK and they are realising what a great day out they can have with the National Trust.

"Being in Kent, we're ideally placed and with the Euro being strong, we're seeing lots more people from the continent."

She said local families, many of whom have membership to the National Trust, had also been taking advantage of events at the three properties to entertain their children over the summer holidays.

Squerryes Court, which is in Westerham, has also seen its number of visitors rise considerably.

Major anniversaries are also proving a draw.

The 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book On the Origins of Species,re both both this year, have led to increasing numbers of people visiting his home Down House.

English Heritage has tourist numbers for his country home – Down House in the village of the house in Downe – rocketing by 200 per cent during this financial year.

Film

An English Heritage spokesman, Michael Fennell, said: "There's several reasons for this, not least the bicentenary and the fact that we re-opened with a fabulous new exhibition in February that got lots of press coverage and critical acclaim."

He said English Heritage was hoping the high numbers coming through the door would continue, as it is expecting more interest when Creation, the film about Darwin's life, starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly (crt), is released.

Quebec House is currently gearing up for the 250th anniversary of the death of General Wolfe, with events planned for the house and Squerryes Court in Westerham on September 12 and 13.

Mrs Rawlinson said: "We're expecting a bumper year for Quebec House during the Westerham Wolfe Weekend.

"With a good autumn and a nice programme of events at Emmetts Garden and Chartwell, we're expecting the visitor number to continue to be healthy there as well."