A major collection of Sir Winston Churchill’s paintings now belongs to the nation, 50 years after the wartime prime minister’s death.

Photo of Sir Winston Churchill's Scene on the River Meuse now belongs to the nation, 50 years after the wartime prime minister's death.

Photo of Sir Winston Churchill’s Scene on the River Meuse now belongs to the nation, 50 years after the wartime prime minister’s death. Image by Sir Winston Churchill/Arts Council/PA Wire

The Churchill family offered the 37 works in lieu of £9,404,990 of inheritance tax, following the death of the politician’s last surviving child, Lady Mary Soames, last year.

Churchill's The Terrace at Lympne.

Churchill’s The Terrace at Lympne. Image by Sir Winston Churchill/Arts Council/PA Wire

All but two of the paintings – which span 1915 to the late 1950s – will remain at Chartwell, the Churchill family’s Kent home, which is open to the public, where they have been on loan. One will remain in the Houses of Parliament and the other in the Churchill War Rooms.

(Press Association)