Charles Dickens first saw the mansion when he was 9 years old in 1821, when his father John Dickens told Charles that if he worked hard enough, one day he would own it or just such a house.[1] As a boy, Dickens would often walk from Chatham to Gads Hill Place as he wished to see it again and again as an image of his possible future.[2] Dickens was later to write, " I used to look at it as a wonderful Mansion (which God knows it is not) when I was a very odd little child with the first faint shadows of all my books in my head - I suppose."[2] Thirty-five years later, after Dickens had risen to fame and wealth, he discovered that the house was for sale and bought it for £1790 (circa £246,636 as of 2023) in March 1856[1] from fellow writer Eliza Lynn (later known as novelist Mrs. Eliza Lynn Linton). Initially Dickens bought the house as an investment, intending to let it,[3] but changed his mind and used it instead as a country retreat, moving into the house in June 1857.
Dickens had bookshelves installed in his study at Gads Hill Place, some of which contained dummy books the titles of which he invented to reflect his own prejudices and opinions, including Hansard's Guide to Refreshing Sleep, History of a Short Chancery Suit in twenty-one volumes, Socrates on Wedlock, King Henry the Eighth's Evidences of Christianity, and the series The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: I Ignorance, II Superstition, III The Block, IV The Stake, V The Rack, VI Dirt, and VII Disease. Alongside these was placed a very narrow dummy volume entitled The Virtues of Our Ancestors.[4]
In 1864 Fechter gave Dickens a prefabricated two-storey Swiss chalet as a Christmas present. Dickens had it assembled on land he owned on the opposite side of the Rochester High Road.[6] Later, he had a brick-lined tunnel dug between the house's front lawn and the chalet. During the spring and summer months, Dickens worked on many of his later works in his study on the top floor of this Swiss chalet, including A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend and the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The chalet has been preserved and was moved to Eastgate House in Rochester High Street, Rochester, as a memorial to the writer.
The house remained Dickens's country home until his death in 1870, dying as he did of a stroke on a couch in the dining room there. Much of the contents of the house were auctioned after his death.[7]
Later history
Gads Hill Place was bought by Charles Dickens, Jr. after his father's death, but he was forced to give it up in 1879 because of his own ill-health and financial difficulties.[8] The house was bought in 1890 by the Hon. Francis Law Latham, the then Advocate-General of Bombay.[9] In 1924 the house became Gad's Hill School, which it remains today.[10]
As of 2013, the school was moving into purpose-built buildings in the grounds of the house, and there was a plan to open the house as a museum.[11][12]
gads, hill, place, higham, kent, sometimes, spelt, gadshill, place, hill, place, country, home, charles, dickens, most, successful, british, author, victorian, today, building, independent, hill, school, today, dickens, dream, robert, william, buss, portraying. Gads Hill Place in Higham Kent sometimes spelt Gadshill Place and Gad s Hill Place was the country home of Charles Dickens the most successful British author of the Victorian era Today the building is the independent Gad s Hill School Gads Hill Place today Dickens Dream by Robert William Buss portraying Dickens at his desk at Gads Hill surrounded by many of his characters Group portrait in the porch at Gads Hill Place in 1862 H F Chorley Kate Dickens Mamie Dickens Charles Dickens C A Collins and Georgina Hogarth The house was built in 1780 for a former Mayor of Rochester Thomas Stephens opposite the present Sir John Falstaff Public House Gad s Hill is where Falstaff commits the robbery that begins Shakespeare s Henriad trilogy Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 and Henry V Contents 1 Dickens 2 Later history 3 References 4 External linksDickens EditCharles Dickens first saw the mansion when he was 9 years old in 1821 when his father John Dickens told Charles that if he worked hard enough one day he would own it or just such a house 1 As a boy Dickens would often walk from Chatham to Gads Hill Place as he wished to see it again and again as an image of his possible future 2 Dickens was later to write I used to look at it as a wonderful Mansion which God knows it is not when I was a very odd little child with the first faint shadows of all my books in my head I suppose 2 Thirty five years later after Dickens had risen to fame and wealth he discovered that the house was for sale and bought it for 1790 circa 246 636 as of 2023 in March 1856 1 from fellow writer Eliza Lynn later known as novelist Mrs Eliza Lynn Linton Initially Dickens bought the house as an investment intending to let it 3 but changed his mind and used it instead as a country retreat moving into the house in June 1857 Dickens had bookshelves installed in his study at Gads Hill Place some of which contained dummy books the titles of which he invented to reflect his own prejudices and opinions including Hansard s Guide to Refreshing Sleep History of a Short Chancery Suit in twenty one volumes Socrates on Wedlock King Henry the Eighth s Evidences of Christianity and the series The Wisdom of Our Ancestors I Ignorance II Superstition III The Block IV The Stake V The Rack VI Dirt and VII Disease Alongside these was placed a very narrow dummy volume entitled The Virtues of Our Ancestors 4 Dickens was visited at Gads Hill Place in 1857 by Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen who was invited for two weeks but who stayed for five 5 Other guests included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Charles Allston Collins Wilkie Collins Marcus Stone H F Chorley Percy Fitzgerald John Leech Alexander William Kinglake William Powell Frith and Charles Fechter In 1864 Fechter gave Dickens a prefabricated two storey Swiss chalet as a Christmas present Dickens had it assembled on land he owned on the opposite side of the Rochester High Road 6 Later he had a brick lined tunnel dug between the house s front lawn and the chalet During the spring and summer months Dickens worked on many of his later works in his study on the top floor of this Swiss chalet including A Tale of Two Cities Great Expectations Our Mutual Friend and the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood The chalet has been preserved and was moved to Eastgate House in Rochester High Street Rochester as a memorial to the writer The house remained Dickens s country home until his death in 1870 dying as he did of a stroke on a couch in the dining room there Much of the contents of the house were auctioned after his death 7 Later history EditGads Hill Place was bought by Charles Dickens Jr after his father s death but he was forced to give it up in 1879 because of his own ill health and financial difficulties 8 The house was bought in 1890 by the Hon Francis Law Latham the then Advocate General of Bombay 9 In 1924 the house became Gad s Hill School which it remains today 10 As of 2013 the school was moving into purpose built buildings in the grounds of the house and there was a plan to open the house as a museum 11 12 In June 2008 the house was shown in the Channel 4 TV docudrama Dickens Secret Lover presented by actor Charles Dance on Dickens s affair with the actress Ellen Ternan during the last 13 years of his life 13 51 24 40 N 0 27 28 E 51 4112 N 0 4579 E 51 4112 0 4579Gads Hill Place is a Grade I listed building 14 References Edit a b Forster John The Life of Charles Dickens Published by Cecil Palmer London 1872 74 a b Ackroyd Peter Dickens Published by Sinclair Stevenson Ltd 1990 p 32 ISBN 1 85619 000 5 Ackroyd p 749 Fido Martin Charles Dickens Published by Hamlyn Publishing London 1970 pg 119 ISBN 0 600 50158 2 Ackroyd pg781 Ackroyd pg 956 Ackroyd pg 1082 The Children of Charles Dickens Archived from the original on 6 September 2009 Retrieved 27 December 2008 Personal Notes Otago Witness Putanga 1921 11 Hakihea 1890 Page 42 National Library of New Zealand Carlisle D J A History of Gad s Hill Place School for Girls from 1924 to 1946 2010 ISBN 978 0 9565494 0 2 Charles Dickens Kent home to open to the public BBC News BBC 4 September 2013 Retrieved 19 September 2018 Bury Liz 6 September 2013 Charles Dickens s Kent mansion to be opened to public as museum The Guardian Retrieved 19 September 2018 Gadshill org Archived from the original on 26 July 2011 Retrieved 17 June 2008 GADSHILL PLACE Historic England Historic England Retrieved 19 September 2018 External links EditThe Gads Hill Appeal Gads Hill Visitors Centre BBC News 2008 Gads Hill Place on Discover Gravesham Description of Gads Hill Place from c 1900 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gads Hill Place amp oldid 1163847091, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
