Charles Dickens is one of England’s most famous and well-loved authors, and Kent is lucky enough to have inspired several of his settings.
Dickens spent several years living in Kent, and even during the years he lived in London, he made sure to occasionally escape back to Kent – a welcome break from the busy city. So you can imagine that the county had quite a big influence on his writing career.
Here are some of the places that inspired Dickens’, and some of the places that featured in his novels.
St James’ Church, Cooling
Anyone that’s read Great Expectations will remember the gloomy opening scene of the graveyard, where Pip meets Abel Magwitch. But what most people don’t know is that the graveyard of St James’ Church in Cooling gave Dickens the inspiration for this scene. More specifically, it was the rows of children’s graves that gave him the idea. Rochester also appeared several times throughout all of Dickens’ works.
Rochester
Rochester appears often in Dickens’ works, in fact it’s the town that appears most, after London of course.
Restoration House, Rochester
Then there’s Restoration House in Rochester, another Great Expectations setting. This house was the inspiration behind Miss Haversham’s house. The beautiful and magnificent building, with so many secrets, it was the perfect place to house the gloom of Miss Haversham’s character.
Eastgate House, Rochester
Eastgate House used to be an all girls boarding school, and you can recognise the influence of this school in two of Dickens’ fictional settings. Eastgate House gave Dickens the idea for Miss Twinkrton’s School for Young Ladies, in his last novel The Mystery Of Edwin Drood.
You might also recognise the influence of this house in The Pickwick Papers, in the Westgate House Seminary for Young Ladies.
Other locations
It’s not just Rochester that influenced and inspired Dickens’ novels though. The Historic Dockyard Chatham inspired many of his gloomy settings, and Gad’s Hill Place, his country home inevitably helped him through the writing process. Bleak House in Broadstairs is also where Dickens completed David Copperfield.
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