Charles Dickens Museum

About the museum

Charles Dickens rented 48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury from March 1837 to December 1839. He lived there with his wife Catherine, their growing family and his sister-in-law Mary Hogarth, who died in the house in 1837. During these years he completed The Pickwick Papers, wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby and began Barnaby Rudge, so the house marks the point when he became a famous author.

By the 1920s the Georgian terrace was threatened with demolition. The Dickens Fellowship, founded in 1902, raised money to buy the freehold in 1923, and the Dickens House Museum opened to the public in 1925 under an independent trust that is now a registered charity. The house was listed as a historic building in 1954.

The rooms have been set out to show how the family lived, from the basement to the attic nursery and servant's bedroom. The collection includes first editions, manuscripts, letters and furniture, as well as a number of personal items, among them Dickens's court suit. The unfinished painting known as Dickens's Dream, begun in 1870, also belongs to the collection.

Highlights

• The house where Dickens wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby
• Period rooms on five floors, from basement to attic
• First editions, manuscripts and letters
• Dickens's court suit and the painting Dickens's Dream
• Artful Tearoom and the Curiosity Shop

Permanent exhibition

• The Dickens Family Home – Rooms from the basement to the attic show how Dickens and his family lived in the late 1830s, with manuscripts, letters, first editions and personal belongings.

Founded

1925

Operated by

Dickens House Trust

Admission & discounts

Tickets are sold online and can also be bought on arrival, although there may be a short wait when the house is full. Entry is in 15-minute slots. Museum members, Art Pass holders and members of ICOM or the Museums Association enter free on showing a valid card. Events and out-of-hours tours are sold separately.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description

The entrance, ticket desk, shop and cloakroom are at street level, and the ground and first floors are level. The café and garden have one small step with a ramp. A staff-operated platform lift serves four levels, but the attic is not reachable by lift and can be seen on a digital tour. Wheelchair users can enter every room on the lower floors, although some large electric wheelchairs may not fit and mobility scooters cannot be used. An accessible toilet with baby changing is on the first floor; there is no adult changing facility. Seating is provided on every floor. Registered assistance dogs are welcome. An audio-described tour made with VocalEyes and audio guides for visitors with visual impairments are available. Blue Badge holders can use accessible street bays, subject to local rules.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Stroller-friendly: not available
• Baby changing facilities

A free family audio guide and a trail about women in Dickens's life, for ages 5 and up, are available at the front desk, and printable activities are online. Family events with tours, crafts and storytelling are held in school holidays. Pushchairs are not allowed in the house and can be left folded in a buggy park by the tearoom. Baby changing is in the accessible toilet on the first floor, and parents may feed children anywhere in the museum.

Getting there & parking

A cycle rack is on Doughty Street and a Santander Cycles docking station is nearby.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Coat check

The Artful Tearoom serves tea, cream tea, cakes, soup and quiche to museum visitors only. The Curiosity Shop sells books, gifts and tea blends. Suitcases and large bags are not allowed; only small handbags or backpacks may be taken into the house.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

The house can be hired for dinners, drinks receptions, corporate events and filming, and a boardroom in the adjoining house can be rented for meetings.

Plan your visit