020 8530-8443Monday to Friday 10.30am to 4.30pm
48 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX
Telephone: 020 7405 2127
Nearest Underground: Russell Square (Piccadilly Line)
or Chancery Lane (Central Line)
Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm (last admission 4pm).
Admission: Adult: £8.00; Concession: £6.00; Child 6-16 years: £4.00;
Children under 6 years: Free
Website
Dickens moved in to this Georgian Terrace house in 1837 and lived here until 1839. When he first arrived here he was starting to make his name with Pickwick Papers and, whilst living here, he wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby and began work on Barnaby Rudge.
17 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE
Telephone: 020 7353 3745
Nearest Underground: Blackfriars (District and Circle Lines and Mainline)
or Chancery Lane (Central Line)
Opening Hours: October to April Monday to Saturday 11am to 5pm;
May to September 11am to 5.30pm
Closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays
Admission: Adult: £4.50; Concessions: £3.50 (over 60′s, students);
Child: £1.50 (age 5 – 17);
Family Ticket: £10 (two adults and accompanying children); Under 5's are free
Website
Nestling amongst a veritable labyrinth of narrow alleyways and tucked away passageways this was both home and workplace for Dr Samuel Johnson (1748-1759), and it was here that he compiled his definitive Dictionary of the English Language.
Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN
Telephone: 020 7253 9503
Nearest Underground: Barbican (Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan Lines)
Opening Hours: By Prior Booking Only.
Closed on Bank Holidays
Admission: £10 per person.
Website
London’s only surviving Tudor town house, the Charterhouse is a complex of buildings the origins of which date back to the 14th century when a Carthusian monastery was founded on this site. Today its primary function is as a hospital/home for retired gentlemen but tours are offered throughout the year.
24 Cheyne Row, Chelsea, London SW3 5H
Telephone: 020 7352 7087
Nearest Underground: Sloane Square (District and Circle Lines and Mainline)
Opening Hours: From October to April Monday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm
May to September Monday to Saturday, 11am to 5.30pm
Closed on Bank Holidays
Admission: Adult: £5.10; Child: £2.60; Family: £12.80
Website
The beautifully preserved former Chelsea home of Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881) who lived here from 1834 until his death. The building itself dates from 1702 and has hardly changed, if at all, since Carlyle’s day. There are still no electric lights on the upper floors!
18 Folgate Street, London, E1 6BX
Telephone: 020 7247 4013
Nearest Underground: Sloane Square (District and Circle Lines and Mainline)
Opening Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 6pm to 9pm. Admission £14; Sundays Noon to 4pm (last admission 3.15pm).
Website
The late Dennis Severs created this wonderful “still-life drama” consists of ten rooms furnished in the fashion of several different time periods and visitors are encouraged to use their “historical imagination” to picture the everyday lives of a family of Huguenot silk weavers.
6 Craven Street, London, WC2N 5NF
Telephone: 020 7839 2006
Nearest Underground: Embankment (Bakerloo, District, Circle and Northern Lines)
Opening Hours: Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 10:30am to 5pm
Admission: Adults: £7.00; Concession (students and over 65′s): £5.00;
Under 16′s: Free
Website
Built around 1730 this atmospheric property, situated just a short distance from Trafalgar Square is the world’s only surviving Ben Franklin home and was his London residence between 1757 and 1775.
10 Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR
Telephone: 020 7332 3868
Nearest Underground: Hampstead (Northern Lines)
Opening Hours: 1st November to 28th February Friday to Sunday 1pm to 5pm; 1st March to 31st October Tuesday to Sunday 1pm to 5pm.
Admission: Adults: £5.00; Concession (students and over 65′s): £3.00;
Under 17′s: Free
Website
The rather unnassuming house where Romantic poet John Keats (1795 – 1821) lived and wrote between 1818 and 1820. It was in the bucolic garden of this well preserved regency house that he was inspired to write Ode to a Nightingale and, whilst living here, he fell in love with Fanny Brawne, the girl next door.