10 Best Sights in The Southeast, England

Art and life mixed at Charleston, the property that Vanessa Bell—sister of Virginia Woolf—bought in 1916 and fancifully decorated, along with Duncan Grant (who lived here until 1978). The house, which is more farmhouse than grand country manor and lies seven miles east of Lewes, soon became a refuge for the writers and artists of the Bloomsbury Group. On display are colorful ceramics and textiles of the Omega Workshop—in which Bell and Grant participated—and paintings by Picasso and Renoir, as well as by Bell and Grant themselves. Entry to the house is by guided tour; you can buy tickets when you arrive (first come, first served) or book in advance online. There are also art exhibition spaces to explore, a lovely little walled garden, and a branch of Lewes-based Italian restaurant Caccia & Tails. Come in May for the annual Charleston Festival, which attracts big-name writers and artists from all over the world. The house isn't suitable for those with mobility issues, although reduced-price ground-floor-only tickets are available.

This 16th-century house, a fragile-looking, timber-frame building, was part of Anne of Cleves's divorce settlement from Henry VIII—although she never lived in it. Today, it offers a fascinating slice of high-class Tudor life, with well-preserved interiors including a kitchen, parlor, and a large bedroom divided into a Great Chamber with an antique four-poster bed and a smaller Hall Chamber. There's also the main hall (now the reception area and shop), a charming little Tudor garden, gallery spaces displaying collections of Sussex ironwork and pottery, and a room full of medieval dress-up clothes for kids. To get to the house from Lewes Castle and the High Street, walk down the steep, cobbled Keere Street past lovely Grange Gardens, then hang a right onto Southover High Street.

A grand Victorian mansion with a pond-dotted estate offering views over the surrounding countryside, Chartwell was the beloved private home of Sir Winston Churchill from 1924 until his death in 1965. Virtually everything has been kept as it was when he lived here, with his pictures, books, photos, and maps. There's even a half-smoked cigar that the World War II prime minister never finished. Churchill was an amateur artist, and his paintings show a softer side of the stiff-upper-lipped statesman; outdoor art trails show his work displayed at the points where he likely sat to paint them. Admission to the house is by timed ticket available only the day of your visit. To get here from Hever, head north on the B2027 and follow signs. Be sure to explore the rose gardens and take a walk in the surrounding countryside.

This house was originally the home of Mary Pearson Strong, on whom Dickens based the character of Betsey Trotwood, David Copperfield's aunt. Dickens lived here from 1837 to 1839 while writing The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. Some rooms have been decorated to look as they would have in Dickens's day, and there's a reconstruction of Miss Trotwood's room as described by Dickens. The house is in Broadstairs, 16 miles up the coast from Deal.

Something about Lamb House, an early-18th-century dwelling, attracts writers. The novelist Henry James lived here from 1898 to 1916, while E. F. Benson, one-time mayor of Rye and author of the witty Mapp and Lucia novels (written in the 1920s and 1930s), was a later resident. The ground-floor rooms contain some of James's furniture and personal belongings.

Of particular interest to Bloomsbury Group fans, this property three miles south of Lewes was the home of novelist Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard Woolf, who bought it in 1919. Leonard lived here until his death in 1969. Rooms in the small cottage include Virginia's study and her bedroom. Artists Vanessa Bell (Virginia's sister) and Duncan Grant helped decorate the house.

At the center of the adorable hamlet of Penshurst stands this fine medieval manor house, hidden behind tall trees and walls. Although it has a 14th-century hall, Penshurst is mainly Elizabethan and has been the family home of the Sidneys since 1552. The most famous Sidney is the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip, author of Arcadia. The Baron's Hall, topped with a chestnut roof, is the oldest and one of the grandest halls to survive from the early Middle Ages. Family portraits, furniture, tapestries, and armor help tell the story of the house, which was first inhabited in 1341 by Sir John de Pulteney, the very wealthy four-time London mayor. On the grounds are a toy museum, a gift shop, and the enchanting 11-acre walled Italian Garden, which displays tulips and daffodils in spring and roses in summer. Take time to study the village's late-15th-century half-timber structures adorned with soaring brick chimneys. To get here from Hever, take the B2027 east then follow signs to Penshurst.

One of the National Trust's greatest treasures, Petworth is the imposing 17th-century home of Lord and Lady Egremont and holds an outstanding collection of English paintings by Gainsborough, Reynolds, and van Dyck. There are also 19 oil paintings by J. M. W. Turner, the great proponent of romanticism who often visited Petworth and immortalized it in luminous drawings.

A 13th-century chapel is all that remains of the original manor house. The celebrated landscape architect Capability Brown (1716–83) added a 700-acre deer park; today, it has the largest herd of fallow deer in England. Other highlights include Greek and Roman sculpture and Grinling Gibbons wood carvings, such as those in the spectacular Carved Room. Six rooms in the servants' quarters, among them the old kitchen, are also open to the public.

This gorgeous, cream-yellow Regency mansion, built in 1824, contains impressive collections of fine French furniture, Chinese porcelain, and Dutch and Italian paintings from the early part of the 20th century. Edwardian society hostess Margaret Greville was responsible for the lavish interiors—including the extraordinary, slightly over-the-top gold saloon—which have been enjoyed by everyone from British royalty to Indian maharajas; the future King George VI stayed here for part of his honeymoon in 1923. On summer days you can wander its vast landscaped lawns (you can even rent croquet equipment from the house) and beautiful walled garden. The house is in Great Bookham, 10 miles east of Guildford.

A well-preserved family country house dating from the 1890s and set in a beautiful hillside garden, Standen typifies the Arts and Crafts movement. Designed by the influential architect Philip Webb (1831–1913), it contains a wealth of William Morris carpets, wallpapers, fabrics, and even original electric-light fittings. Look out for the particularly beautiful Mother of Pearl cabinet. The house is 12 miles southwest of Hever, just across the Kent–West Sussex county line.