Charles Dickens from Furnival's Inn to Doughty Street

Name: Charles Dickens from Furnival's Inn to Doughty Street
Brand: VoiceMap
SKU: 478
Price: 9.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.7 (58 reviews)
Author: Lucinda

(58 reviews)

London audio tour: Charles Dickens from Furnival's Inn to Doughty Street

This is a 1.9mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

London

The United Kingdom

$9.99

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About the Tour

Discover the London that Charles Dickens knew in the company of his great great great granddaughter. You will journey from the place where Dickens lived as a young freelance journalist, to the house in which he was living when he became recognised as a famous author. As you walk, you will find out what made Charles Dickens such a passionate writer, how strongly his work was shaped by his childhood and about the early years of his extraordinary career. As you traverse modern London, you will hear tales about these wonderfully historic streets, many of which inspired Dickens in the writing of his famous novels. Let yourself be transported back in time to the London of Charles Dickens.

Tour Producer

Lucinda Hawksley

2 tours

Author, broadcaster, lecturer and public speaker. I write about literature, art, social history and the history of London, as well as biographies. My books include "Charles Dickens and his Circle", "Charles Dickens: A Bicentenary Celebration" and "Katey, The Life and Loves of Dickens's Artist Daughter". Charles and Catherine Dickens were my great great great grandparents and I am a Patron of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

Image: ©John Quintero Photography

Preview Location

Location 1

Chancery Lane station

Hello, my name is Lucinda Dickens Hawksley. I'm an author and a great great great granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Dickens. Today, I'm going to take you on a tour of the London that Charles Dickens knew. We'll be travelling from his first adult home to the house in which... Hello, my name is Lucinda Dickens Hawksley. I'm an author and a great great great granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Dickens. Today, I'm going to take you on a tour of the London that Charles Dickens knew. We'll be travelling from his first adult home to the house in which he and Catherine lived in their early marriage.

Before you start walking, take a moment to look around you. You should be standing outside Chancery Lane station, at the silver dragon statue. This dragon, often erroneously called a Gryphon, is the symbol of the City of London – that’s City with a capital “C”. The statue refers to St George, the dragon-slaying patron saint of England. The dragon holds the City’s coat of arms.

The City is also known as the “Square Mile". Today, as it was in Dickens’s day, it's at the heart of financial and legal London. We are going to walk to where Dickens lived as a young man. Chancery Lane is mentioned in several Dickens novels, most notably in Bleak House, but also in Sketches by Boz and Pickwick Papers – which were written while he was living here.

The black-and-white “half-timbered” building across the road on your right is Staple Inn. It gives an idea of what London would have looked like before the Great Fire of London, which happened in 1666. Staple Inn was built in 1585. Dickens saw this building every day when he lived here as a young man, at the time when he was beginning his career as a journalist. Today, the word “inn” usually means a “pub”, but this was an Inn of Court, a boarding school for young lawyers.

Now, if you are standing looking at the the black-and-white building across the road, you need to walk towards your left. Keep walking straight on this major road, which is called High Holborn. I'll tell you how this will work as we move. Let's go.

VoiceMap uses your location to play commentary automatically. You can put your phone away, and focus on the surroundings. There might be silence now and again, but just keep walking until I say otherwise. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Chancery Lane Underground Station
Blue Plaque - Furnival's Inn
Staple Inn
Hatton Garden
Bleeding Heart Yard
Leather Lane Market
St. Peter's Italian Catholic Church
Clerkenwell Road
Grays Inn Road
Roger Street
Brownlow Mews
Guilford Street
Goodenough College
Coram's Fields
Guilford Place
Lamb's Conduit Street
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
Dombey Street
Theobalds Road
Cockpit Yard
John Street
The Lady Ottoline
58 Doughty St
Charles Dickens Museum

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
High Holborn, London WC1V 6DR, UK
Total distance

3km
Final location
48-49 Doughty St, London WC1N 2LX, UK
Distance back to start location

689.54m

Directions to Starting Point

Outside Chancery Lane station, at the junction of Gray's Inn Road and High Holborn (north side). If arriving by tube, leave the station via exit 2.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Leather Lane Market. Lamb's Conduit Street. The Charles Dickens Museum.

Best time of day

Any time of day, although it is best to avoid rush hour. The tour ends at the Charles Dickens Museum, so if you would like to visit the museum as well, please check for current opening times and plan accordingly.

Precautions

This is a very busy part of London, so please be especially careful when crossing the roads and use pedestrian crossings when possible.

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“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”