Dickens World is a new themed attraction in Chatham, once the home of Charles Dickens
If you’re a fan of the novels of Charles Dickens, you’ll either love or loathe this. Dickens World is a brand new theme park, in Chatham in Kent, which aims to bring alive the people and places that inspired Charles Dickens. It’s set close to the Historic Royal Dockyard, where Dickens’ father worked as a clerk for several years – at least until he got sent to prison in London for debt.
Inside it’s a sort of Victorian Disneyland – smaller of course, with 'olde worlde' shop fronts, narrow winding alleyways, and a murky brown river. The main attraction is the dark boat ride, based on Great Expectations. The theme is the convict Magwitch’s escape from one of the prison ships that used to be moored on the Medway, the river on which Chatham sits. The ride takes you on a trip through London’s sewers, past a creepy cemetery, and over the rooftops. It’s one of the longest rides in Europe, lasting around 9 minutes, and atmospheric rather than white knuckle. It promises not just the sights and sounds, but even the smells of Victorian London – though it’s unlikely that authenticity will extend to the full delights of ‘sewage on a summer’s day’.
There’s also Scrooge’s Haunted House, in which the ghosts that terrified Ebenezer Scrooge appear. They’re pretty much life sized and made using a Victorian trick of light and mirrors, called Pepper’s Ghost. There’s a soft play area for young children – called, perhaps rather unfortunately, Fagin’s Den; and a slick 4D film in Peggoty’s Boat House. This gives a vivid insight into Charles Dickens’ many journeys round America and Europe. He always seemed to seek out the seamy side of life. In the film you learn that he even attended a public execution in Italy. You can also have a ‘lesson’ in a Victorian style schoolroom – which has modern touch screens set into its desks.
The central courtyard at Dickens World has lots of suitably Dickensian looking characters wandering around. The idea is not to recreate characters from the books, but to show visitors the sort of people – like ratcatchers, who might have inspired him. They’re played by actors.
Dickens World is part of a £62 million leisure complex in Chatham. This corner of north Kent is part of the Thames Gateway, an area east of London that is marked for redevelopment and lots of new housing. It was an area that had happy memories for Charles Dickens. He and the rest of his family had to leave for London when his father went to prison, and he was sent to work in a blacking factory. However, the Medway and the area around it featured in many of his novels. Just up the road from Chatham is Rochester, which has a lovely little High Street, and several buildings that featured in Great Expectations and other novels. When he was an established – and wealthy – novelist, Dickens returned to live in the area.
Dickens World isn’t meant to be faithful to the books. The owners want it to be fun, and perhaps inspire kids to go off and read the novels for themselves.
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