Churchill died at the age of 90

Churchill's daughter, Lady Mary Soames joined a number of residents in Westerham for a special church service to remember his life.

The World War II leader made his home at Chartwell near Westerham and was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

Referring to a recent BBC poll, Lady Soames said: "I have always thought he was the greatest Briton of all time".

Influential individuals

But she added that it was nice to see it confirmed by the British public.

Churchill topped a list of the country's 100 most influential individuals, ahead of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Charles Darwin and Diana, Princess of Wales.

A spokeswoman from the National Trust, which looks after Churchill's former home, said: "Few people realised that as well as leading the country, he wrote 55 books and painted over 500 paintings while he was at Chartwell."

She added that despite having such a high profile job he would still get stuck into family life on the estate, "building walls and digging lakes".