Charles Dickens Old London - A Private Tour

Here is the starting point

Marshalsea Prison South Wall

Crossbones Graveyard & Garden of Remembrance

• To highlight the poverty and desperate conditions that Dickens often based his works upon, we will make a stop at Crossbones Graveyard.
• This is a former burial ground for the outcasts of society deemed unsuitable for a proper Christian burial. Mainly prostitutes and their illegitimate children. Ironically enough these prostitutes were licenced by the Bishop of Winchester, and known as the Winchester Geese.
• In Dickens time it was said that after a storm or heavy rain, bones would stick out of the ground, eventually leading to the site being closed. It was rediscovered in the 1990's, and now offers a place of peace and memorial to those outside of social conventions.

George

Borough Market

• We will walk through the world famous Borough Market and head to the steps where Nancy waited for Mr Brownlow in Oliver Twist.
• It may be hard to resist all the pleasant smells coming from the food stalls on the market, but feel free to have a browse.
• There has been a market on this site since the 1400's and it would have been a lively place Dickens knew well.

London's Original and All-Inspiring Coffee House

Leadenhall Market

Featured in A Christmas Carol, and most recently as a filming location for the Harry Potter Movies.

Royal Exchange Building London

• Right next to the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange is where the Ghost of Christmas yet to come takes Scrooge to see his colleagues discussing his funeral. The steps of the Exchange are the traditional spot where Royal announcements are made.
• Today you can cross the trading floor, but the bankers are long gone. Now designer shops, and Champagne bars attract the visitors attention.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

The Old Curiosity Shop

• This Tudor building was already 300 years old when Dickens wrote about it. Amazingly it still stands surrounded by buildings of the modern world. Imortalised by Dickens as The Old Curiosity Shop.
• Then we will walk through the areas a young Dickens worked and lived, and the location of Fagins Den in Oliver Twist.

Inner Temple

Let's explore the area where Dicken's worked as a junior Clerk. From the mysterious Inns of Court he took inspiration that would later find it's way in to David Copperfield, Great Expectations, and Martin Chuzzlewit.

Charles Dickens Museum

The tour ends at the Charles Dickens Museum. This was the Authors home from 1837, and from these rooms Charles Dickens released Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. Your tour includes entry to the house.