Charles Dickens' Chalet - Eastgate, Rochester, Kent, UK
N 51° 23.239 E 000° 30.378
31U E 326491 N 5695848
Charles Dickens' Swiss style chalet was a gift from an actor friend Charles Fechter. It arrived "flat packed" at Higham station in 1864 and was contained within 58 boxes. It was constructed at Gads Hill before moving here in 1960.
Waymark Code: WM123Z8
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/21/2020
Views: 0
The house was erected at Gads Hill Place, Charles Dickens' home, at Higham in 1865 and moved to its current location in 1960. It was well used by Dickens, especially during the summer months, and he actually worked in it on the day he died in 1870.
A plaque at the Chalet reads:
Charles Dickens' Chalet
This chalet once stood at Gads
Hill Place, Higham. It was used as a
summer study by Charles Dickens
from 1865 until his death in 1870.
He wrote his last words in its
upper room.
The Visit Medway website has an article about the chalet that advises:
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.