Visit to Charleston and Monk's House

Saturday 20 July 2019

After our summer course on Virginia Woolf’s Gardens ended, a group of 30 made a coach trip to Charleston, home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Other close friends often visited. John Maynard Keynes wrote much of his classic work, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), while staying at Charleston. The Charleston guides are very knowledgeable about the history of the house and its residents, and the garden is a joy.

We also visited Monk’s House, the home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf from 1919. Now a National Trust property, the house and garden are wonderfully maintained by the staff and volunteers. The garden has been returned to something similar to Leonard Woolf’s planting schemes. Virginia Woolf’s writing lodge is still in the garden, surrounded by mature trees, next to the apple orchard.

Our warmest thanks to the staff at Charleston and Monk’s House for making us so welcome.

Next year we plan to visit Sissinghurst after our 2020 Woolf summer course. [Update: this was not possible, due to cover.]

Photos by Jeremy Peters @JezPete