Charles Dickens and Gad's Hill Place
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Charles Dickens and Gad’s Hill Place Dickens bought Gad’s Hill Place in 1856 as it was very much a house of his childhood dreams which he had passed on a walk with his father. The following year he spent a lot of tIme making changes to the house, oKen staying at the Falstaff Inn opposite. Tavistock House in London had been the family home, where he lived with his 10 children – one of whom died as an infant - and where he entertained, but it was the domain of his wife. After a row with his wife he had got up at 2am in the morning and walked to his newly-acquired house at Gad’s Hill Place., a distance of around 30 miles, and he arrived there 7 hours later at 9am. After the breakdown of his marriage, Gad’s Hill became his main home for the rest of his life and Dickens was thrilled by the literary associations with the house. It was on one of the Pilgrims routes from London to Canterbury and he savoured the idea that Chaucer’s Pilgrims passed by the house. Being midway between Rochester and Gravesend it was probably on the busiest road in Kent in the 18th and into the 19th century. Gravesend was a major domesIc port conveying merchandise to and from Kent. Travellers for Charles Dickens and Gad’s Hill Place Rochester, Canterbury, Dover and the contInent oKen went by boat to Gravesend and onward by road. It was the 2nd road in the county to be managed by a turnpike trust so had milestones from the 18th century. The house was built in 1780 by Thomas Stephens, successively owned by Ostler Bewer a Mayor of Rochester, and later by Rev James Lynn. His daughter Miss Lynn wanted £2000, but Henry Austin, who was Charles Dickens sister’s husband and was an architect and surveyor, suggested £1700. In the end they se^led on £1790. (£1700 for the house and £90 for the area of derelict land on the other side of the road.) This plot of land across the road was planted as a shrubbery and became known as the wilderness. It was in “the Wilderness” that Dickens placed the Chalet that was a gift from French actor Charles Fechter in 1864. It arrived in 58 packing cases, containing 94 pieces and Dickens had a tunnel constructed under the road connecting the front garden of the house to “the Wilderness” in 1865. One of the first of Dickens guests at Gad’s Hill was the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. His stay was a disaster as he expected to be waited on in bed and demanded he be shaved by Dickens eldest son Charley who, since he was not a trained barber, declined. Andersen recorded in his diary, ‘I went with a great growth of beard.’ Charley having spent time in Germany knew the language but was unable to understand Andersen’s German. His English was unintelligible and nobody spoke Danish. He was quarrelsome and could not keep up with his host as a walker. Finally he was taken to Maidstone and put on a train to Folkestone, thence back to Denmark. Such was the relief that Dickens had a placard placed on a table his guest had used, with the words “Hans Andersen slept in this room for 5 weeks which seemed to the family ages” Dickens was a great host and would meet his guests at Higham Railway Station and drive them in his pony drawn jaunting car. Upon arrival they would be given a cooling drink of cider, soda water, sherry, brandy, lemon peel, sugar and ice. Guest rooms were always comfortable, provided with a small library, warm fires and tea making facilities. Charles Dickens and Gad’s Hill Place A buffet breakfast was given, but Dickens would be up early and regularly worked in the library on correspondence or on stories. He was not to be disturbed and the house was expected to be quiet. Guests had to amuse themselves up to lunch at 1.30pm after which came a systematic programme of entertainment with boisterous din and bustle. This might include energetic walks to Cobham Park accompanied by his dogs or to other villages around. Dickens would organise picnics and afterwards would ensure that no litter was left behind. Or he might take his guests in his barouche (a type of horse drawn carriage) to look at Rochester Castle. This would take them up to dinner which was a more formal occasion. The 6th Earl of Darnley was a friend of Charles Dickens – Dickens scorn for the aristocracy was ideological rather than personal, and did not prevent him from having a cordial relationship with his noble neighbour. He was invited to use the private grounds of the Darnley Estate whenever he wished, and to bring his friends along. After dinner Dickens would lead the way to the drawing room. If there were no party games, the men withdraw to the billiard room to smoke, play cards or chat. Dickens would leave one of his sons to look after the guests and to see that the gas was put out. To the west of the house were meadows. Dickens collected hay from them, and also used them for open air parties and gatherings, and for sport. One area was set aside as a cricket ground. Although he was never a hearty sportsman, Dickens enjoyed cricket. If there was a deficit in the funds of Higham Cricket Club at the end of the season, he used to make it up. Indeed the last cheque he ever signed was for the cricket club. The club used to play regularly in the meadow at the back of the house, but Dickens stipulated that this privilege would be withdrawn if there were any cases of drunkenness or bad language. He would often get back to Gad’s Hill from London in order to attend a match and keep the score. In 1865 he was involved in a railway accident in which 10 people were killed after the train had been derailed on the Beult viaduct at Staplehurst. He was returning from a holiday in France, and only his close friends knew that he was on the train with Nelly Ternan and her mother. Charles Dickens and Gad’s Hill Place They were all flung together into a corner of the compartment, and discovered that they were in one of the only two undamaged carriages, but it was hanging precariously over the edge of the bridge. He not only had a narrow escape from death, but also from a possible scandal. It was to have a profound effect on him for the rest of his life as afterwards he was sIll able to travel by train, but not express ones, which slowed down his travel after he resumed his reading tours. He travelled extensively in his life and it was exceptional for an Englishman in his position to make 2 trips to America, as he did. In later years he seriously contemplated a reading tour of Australia. He was familiar with France, especially Normandy and Paris, and also spent lengthy periods resident in Lausanne and Genoa, travelling throughout much of Switzerland and Italy. Dickens became a much loved local celebrity in his last years at Gad’s Hill and was an active benefactor of the village. At Upper Higham, in the parish church built in 1860, he had his own pew in the chancel. During the last months of his life, Dickens was also typically supervising the building of a new conservatory, this being the last of many improvements to the house. At the time of his death only his sister in law Georgina and her daughter Marnie were sIll at Gads Hill Place. He was not a well man in his last years. He was easily tired and periodically lame, and, although he was never the worse for it, he was a heavy drinker all his life, and a smoker. He died in the chalet whilst writing the last chapter of the Mystery of Edwin Drood on June 9th 1870 aged 58. The chalet is now in the garden of Eastgate House in Rochester awaiting restoration. He wanted to be buried at Rochester Cathedral but instead was buried in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey. His son Charley moved into Gad’s Hill Place and many of his father’s effects were sold in 1870. These included hundreds of bottles of wine, spirits and liqueurs. Charley sold the house in 1879 for four times what his father had paid for it. Barry Bell August 2020.