Dickens World Cultural Attraction, Chatham, Kent

Victorian London, Life and Work of England's Favourite Author

Apr 6, 2009

In a small but exciting way, Dickens World recreates the life and works of Charles Dickens with authentic scenes of Victorian London and state of the art shows.

The themed cultural attraction in Chatham pays tribute to Charles Dickens who spent a happy childhood in the Medway towns until his ambitious father was imprisoned for debts. Family hardship came as a blow as the future novelist and campaigner discovered the down side of life in Victorian London which would inspire much of his work.

Dickens World is a short rail or road journey from London and just 15 minutes from the Eurostar international station in Ebbsfleet. It guarantees a few hours immersion in Victorian London and is a popular venue for families and literature and culture fans.

Dickens World greets visitors with mock Victorian buildings, dimly lit alleyways and a cobbled town square straight from Victorian London. Jugglers in period costumes mingle with flower sellers, money lenders and story tellers while excited children handle skipping ropes and wooden rattles. There’s a pawnbroker and grocery shop, a prison and a school room with computerised games of snakes and ladders but strictly enforced Victorian rules on the walls, such as speak only when spoken to.

The highlight of Victorian London is a dark multi-sensory indoor boat ride on murky waters with dogs barking, people shouting, smell of sewers, fake rats and ghosts.

Characters and Works of Charles Dickens, England’s Favourite Victorian Author

Dickens popular characters and works are recalled throughout the venue. The boat ride is based on Magwitch escape in Great Expectations, the school room is Dotheby’s Hall in Nicholas Nickleby, the debtors’ prison appears in Great Expectations. An Old Curiosity Shop, Faggin’s Den, the bar of Six Jolly Fellowship Porters and Peggoty’s Boat House add to the picture.

Upstairs the Haunted House brings back to life some of Dickens well known characters, from Miss Havisham to Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past.

Top of the list for many visitors is the state of the arts cinema show depicting episodes of Dickens life, such as his journeys to America and Europe. Seated in church pews, spectators are treated to a fun, educational and thrilling show, involving all the senses in four dimension high definition.

Highly controversial on his first visit, praised beyond expectations on the second, Dickens travelled twice to America, his memorable journeys recreated in the film complete with ocean breeze sweeping through a bemused audience. Equally spine-chilling are an Italian journey when Dickens narrowly escaped death on the slopes of lava-spouting Vesuvius and the train crash in Staplehurst on his return from the Channel crossing.

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