The last history walk: Charles Dicken's London
Today we started our walk at Southwark Tube station which is very easy for me to get to. I also managed to miss the rain which started first thing and stopped just as I walked down the road to my local station (result!).
Many of the buildings that existed during Charles Dicken's lifetime (1812-1870) have been destroyed or pulled down, but there are reminders of Dickens if you know where to look around the whole area. His father ended up in debtor's prison when Charles was 12 years old, and he was taken out of school by his mother and sent to work in a Blacking Factory. He wrote in his autobiography:
"My work was to cover the pots of paste-blacking; first with a piece of oil paper, and then with a piece of blue paper; to tie them round with a string; and then to clip the paper close and neat, all round, until it looked as smart as a pot of ointment from an apothecary's shop. When a certain number of grosses of pots had attained this pitch of perfection, I was to paste on each a printed label, and then go on again with more pots."
For this, he received six shillings a week which helped to support his father (along with his mother and younger siblings) who were in the debtor's prison.
After three years he returned to school as his father inherited some money and so was able to buy his way out of the prison. He went on to become a journalist, children's rights advocate, and then one of the most well-known novelists and short story writers of his time. During his lifetime he was considered a superstar and would attract huge audiences for his readings from his works.
Under the cut for some of the sights we saw today including this dog and pot sign:
Close-up - this is a reproduction (made in 2013) of a sign that used to hang over a shop. Charles Dickens used to walk past it as a 12-year-old on his way to work in the Blacking Factory. In his autobiography he mentions it:
"My usual way home was over Blackfriars Bridge and down that turning in the Blackfriars Road which has Rowland Hill's Chapel on one side, and the likeness of a golden dog licking a golden pot over a shop door on the other."
We passed this old building that used to be an undertaker's (currently empty and being refurbished as a restaurant). Rather good angels as a reminder of its past.
I love seeing these old wrought iron pillars which would have held torches before gas lights lit the road back when these houses were built in the 1760s. Dickens met many people during his time in the area who later became characters in his novels including a Mr Fagin.
The former London Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance Friendly Society - a society which was one of the first to instigate a kind of social welfare for its members who supported each other through their subscriptions.
We rather liked this new mural which was painted by 12 local artists and shows day on the left (showing the diversity of the local population) and night on the right (with many Southwark landmarks):
More Peabody social housing which we also saw last week.
This obelisk would have been familiar to Dickens as it was built in 1771. There's another one at the other end of the Lambeth Road.
We went past the Imperial War Museum which used to be Bethlem Royal Hospital (a hospital for the 'insane' - or as we would say these days mentally ill) built in 1815. In 1930 the building had deteriorated, and the hospital moved out. The two wings were demolished and the building became home to the museum.
Charles Dickens had lodgings in Lant Street (in 1823), and this is the location of the Lant Street School. The old part has it's original name - it's now the Charles Dickens Primary School
The new extension in Pickwick Lane has a few Dickens references carved on the wall.
St George the Martyr Church - several scenes from Dicken's Little Dorrit novel are set in the church and surrounding areas
It has a beautiful ceiling!
If you click and zoom in you can see a little angel representing Little Dorrit from the book in at the bottom right of the left-hand stained glass window
Close by is the surviving external wall of the Marshalsea Prison which was closed in 1842. Conditions in the prison were appalling as the prison was run for profit and so prisoners had to pay for food and basic items. If you did not have enough to pay for the prison fees you would starve and in 1729 over 300 prisoners died of starvation over a three-month period. Charles Dicken's earnings from the factory helped to ensure his father, mother and siblings survived their incarceration.
High up near the back of the church is some artwork commemorating Dickens. It's too high to read, so just a decorative motif.
Walls and Trumpets an art installation by Ofra Zimbalista is always fun. Installed in 2008 - these are casts of real people.
We ended up in The George Inn - one of the oldest pubs in London it was originally built in 1677, but only parts of the building still date from that time. Charles Dickens visited The George and referred to it in both Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend.
We had a very nice lunch as a farewell to Guy our walk leader who is not doing any more of these organised walks. However, he did say that he would consider doing one-off walks in the Spring if there was interest. We have made a WhatsApp group to keep in touch :)
Many of the buildings that existed during Charles Dicken's lifetime (1812-1870) have been destroyed or pulled down, but there are reminders of Dickens if you know where to look around the whole area. His father ended up in debtor's prison when Charles was 12 years old, and he was taken out of school by his mother and sent to work in a Blacking Factory. He wrote in his autobiography:
"My work was to cover the pots of paste-blacking; first with a piece of oil paper, and then with a piece of blue paper; to tie them round with a string; and then to clip the paper close and neat, all round, until it looked as smart as a pot of ointment from an apothecary's shop. When a certain number of grosses of pots had attained this pitch of perfection, I was to paste on each a printed label, and then go on again with more pots."
For this, he received six shillings a week which helped to support his father (along with his mother and younger siblings) who were in the debtor's prison.
After three years he returned to school as his father inherited some money and so was able to buy his way out of the prison. He went on to become a journalist, children's rights advocate, and then one of the most well-known novelists and short story writers of his time. During his lifetime he was considered a superstar and would attract huge audiences for his readings from his works.
Under the cut for some of the sights we saw today including this dog and pot sign:
Close-up - this is a reproduction (made in 2013) of a sign that used to hang over a shop. Charles Dickens used to walk past it as a 12-year-old on his way to work in the Blacking Factory. In his autobiography he mentions it:
"My usual way home was over Blackfriars Bridge and down that turning in the Blackfriars Road which has Rowland Hill's Chapel on one side, and the likeness of a golden dog licking a golden pot over a shop door on the other."
We passed this old building that used to be an undertaker's (currently empty and being refurbished as a restaurant). Rather good angels as a reminder of its past.
I love seeing these old wrought iron pillars which would have held torches before gas lights lit the road back when these houses were built in the 1760s. Dickens met many people during his time in the area who later became characters in his novels including a Mr Fagin.
The former London Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance Friendly Society - a society which was one of the first to instigate a kind of social welfare for its members who supported each other through their subscriptions.
We rather liked this new mural which was painted by 12 local artists and shows day on the left (showing the diversity of the local population) and night on the right (with many Southwark landmarks):
More Peabody social housing which we also saw last week.
This obelisk would have been familiar to Dickens as it was built in 1771. There's another one at the other end of the Lambeth Road.
We went past the Imperial War Museum which used to be Bethlem Royal Hospital (a hospital for the 'insane' - or as we would say these days mentally ill) built in 1815. In 1930 the building had deteriorated, and the hospital moved out. The two wings were demolished and the building became home to the museum.
Charles Dickens had lodgings in Lant Street (in 1823), and this is the location of the Lant Street School. The old part has it's original name - it's now the Charles Dickens Primary School
The new extension in Pickwick Lane has a few Dickens references carved on the wall.
St George the Martyr Church - several scenes from Dicken's Little Dorrit novel are set in the church and surrounding areas
It has a beautiful ceiling!
If you click and zoom in you can see a little angel representing Little Dorrit from the book in at the bottom right of the left-hand stained glass window
Close by is the surviving external wall of the Marshalsea Prison which was closed in 1842. Conditions in the prison were appalling as the prison was run for profit and so prisoners had to pay for food and basic items. If you did not have enough to pay for the prison fees you would starve and in 1729 over 300 prisoners died of starvation over a three-month period. Charles Dicken's earnings from the factory helped to ensure his father, mother and siblings survived their incarceration.
High up near the back of the church is some artwork commemorating Dickens. It's too high to read, so just a decorative motif.
Walls and Trumpets an art installation by Ofra Zimbalista is always fun. Installed in 2008 - these are casts of real people.
We ended up in The George Inn - one of the oldest pubs in London it was originally built in 1677, but only parts of the building still date from that time. Charles Dickens visited The George and referred to it in both Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend.
We had a very nice lunch as a farewell to Guy our walk leader who is not doing any more of these organised walks. However, he did say that he would consider doing one-off walks in the Spring if there was interest. We have made a WhatsApp group to keep in touch :)