Rare Chance to Visit Charles Dickens's Writing Chalet

Charles Dickens's writing chalet in Rochester which is currently closed will open briefly as part of the Heritage Open Days scheme on September 12, 13, 19, and 20.

The building in Rochester, England, was thrown a major financial lifeline from The National Lottery Heritage Fund earlier this year who made a £240,000 grant to help develop plans to restore the architectural treasure and open it up to the public. Medway Council is contributing £40,000, while project partners from the Rochester and Chatham branch of the Dickens Fellowship are contributing £5,000. 

Now more than 160 years old, this Grade I-listed structure, situated in Eastgate Gardens, is extremely fragile and at serious risk of being lost. Dickens worked there on several of his novels including Our Mutual Friend, The Uncommercial Traveller, and his final, unfinished, work The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He also rehearsed there before his numerous public appearances and lined the second floor with mirrors to help him prepare.

The chalet was given to him as a present from actor friend Charles Fechter in 1864 when Dickens lived at Gads Hill in Higham. It arrived at Higham Railway Station on Christmas Eve 1864, in 94 pieces packed into 58 boxes, an early example of prefabricated design and was moved to its current location in Rochester in the 1960s.

The September visiting hours for the ground floor of the chalet only are between 11am and 4pm at Eastgate Gardens off Rochester High Street where members of the council's Heritage Team, the Friends of Eastgate House and the Charles Dickens Fellowship will be available to chat about the building. There will also be talks and tours throughout each day.