Charles Dickens' Swiss writing chalet in Rochester is getting a new lease of life on National Writing Day thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The project will receive £240,000 to help restore the 160 year old chalet. Medway Council are contributing £40,000 while the Rochester and Chatham branch of the Dickens Fellowship are contributing a further £5,000.
The famous author worked on novels here including Our Mutual Friend and The Uncommercial Traveller, and we're excited to share this piece of history with all of you.
To learn more about this exciting news check out the Press Release
Also, in September for Heritage Open Days you have a special chance to see the ground floor of Dickens' Chalet. To find out more information you can visit Heritage Open Days website here
©Nick Johnson at The Imageworks
In the gardens of Eastgate House you can see the Swiss Chalet, where the great author Charles Dickens worked on some of his best known novels.
It was given to Dickens as a present from an actor friend called Charles Fechter. It arrived at Higham Railway Station on Christmas Eve 1864, packed in 58 boxes!
The chalet stood at Dickens’ home in Gad’s Hill, in a part of his garden known as The Wilderness. He arranged the building so that the second floor gave him a view of the River Thames. To avoid the busy and muddy road he had to cross to reach it, Dickens constructed a tunnel to go underneath the road. The tunnel still exists today.
Dickens used the chalet as a place to write and also to rehearse for his many public appearances (it is believed the second floor was lined with mirrors for this purpose). He was writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood in the chalet on the day he died, in 1870.
The chalet was later moved to Cobham and then finally to Eastgate Gardens in 1960.
Plans are now underway to make essential repairs to the chalet. At present it is unsafe to go inside but it is hoped that in the future it can be opened for visitors.
Address
Dickens' Swiss Chalet
Eastgate Gardens
High Street
Rochester
Kent
ME1 1EW
Gardens are open daily.
