Charles Dickens Museum

The Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury is the only remaining London home of Charles Dickens and today, his beautiful Georgian terraced house attracts visitors from around the world. As a Museum, it holds the world’s most important collection relating to Dickens, who was not only a great novelist but also a tireless social campaigner.

We welcome you to 48 Doughty Street to step back in time and walk the halls in the footsteps of Charles Dickens. See where he wrote, where he dined and where he entertained his many guests with lively readings and performances.  Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and scents of his family home. The rare books, paintings, photographs and personal objects on display here give a unique insight into his life and work.

‘My house in town’, as Dickens referred to 48 Doughty Street, was an important place in the writer’s life: within these walls his eldest two daughters were born, his sister-in-law Mary died aged 17 and some of his best-loved novels were written, including Oliver Twist. It was in this house that he achieved lasting celebrity and universal recognition as one of the world’s greatest storytellers.

Look out for…

  • Dickens' reading desk

Did you know?…

  • Both Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby were written here
  • Charles Dickens actually wanted to become an actor before he became a writer
  • 48 Doughty Street is only surviving building in London that Dickens once lived in
  • Hedgehogs were sometimes kept in Victorian kitchens to eat insects, as there was a constant war against bugs. Keeping your kitchen clean was seen as both a matter of hygiene and also as a moral duty. A dirty house was seen to produce dishonest people. To illustrate this point there is a taxidermy hedgehog affectionately known as ‘Bill Spikes’ in the kitchens of 48 Doughty Street – the home of Charles Dickens and his family in the 1830s and now the Charles Dickens Museum.

Museum Video

Museum Facilities

Cafe

Audio Guide

Wheelchair Access

Restaurant

Tour Guide

Wifi

Shop

Photography

Venue Hire

All information is drawn from or provided by the museums themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.