Locus Focus: Kate Bush's Childhood Home

The large farmhouse where Kate Bush was raised is almost impossible to see through impenetrable undergrowth and is situated in a surprisingly built-up area on Wickham Street, Welling, on the fringes of South-East London.

East Wickham Farm was the family home where Kate lived with her doctor father, mother and two older brothers, John and Paddy. Her inbuilt wonder and love of music and outpouring of songs, written when a schoolgirl, all began here, surrounded by her family.

Famously ‘discovered’ and encouraged by Dave Gilmour and signed to EMI as a songwriting prodigy, the teenage Kate Bush also formed the KT Bush Band with brother Paddy and three friends, playing South London pubs. The family’s secluded 350-year-old farmhouse home offered a base for an idyllic childhood and subsequently a secure and private environment for her work. Kate, who shares a birthday with Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë, wrote her ‘version’ at East Wickham Farm.

The conversion of one of the barns into a 24-track studio in 1983 was significant. It gave Kate, who now had four Top 10 albums to her credit, a financial and creative independence to take as long as she wanted over future projects.

_Kate’s childhood home is location No. 173 in Rock Atlas UK & Ireland, published by Red Planet, price £19.95. _