Morpeth Mansion
Winston and Clementine Churchill moved into No 11 Morpeth Mansions in 1931 after leaving 10 Downing Street. It was the beginning of the ‘Wilderness Years’. Churchill bought Morpeth Mansions from David Lloyd George the; former Prime Minister between the years of 1916 to 1922. During the nine year period the Churchill’s lived in Morpeth Mansions they enlarged the property by adding three extra rooms on the upper level to make the property four bedrooms.
On the 2nd of September 1939 as German troops advanced through Poland; Churchill along with a number of like-minded MP’s were gathered in Churchill’s home discussing the failure to deliver an ultimatum to Hitler. It was in the study of his home that the group wrote a letter to Chamberlain outlining the failures of appeasement. The following day the letter was delivered to Downing Street and Britain was officially at war with Germany.
On the 3rd of September after Winston and Clementine listened to Chamberlain’s broadcast announcing the declaration of war they stepped out onto the private roof terrace. Churchill documented this moment as he looked down at the London Streets imaging what tomorrow might bring; he wrote “pictures of ruin and carnage and vast explosions shaking the ground”
David Lloyd George (left) and Winston Churchill (right) in October 1915 walking down Whitehall
Winston Churchill leaving 11 Morpeth Mansions with his daughter Diana on the day of her wedding in 1932
The view from the roof terrace of 11 Morpeth Mansions