Dickens World was a themed attraction located in the Chatham Dockside retail park in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was themed around elements of the life and work of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

. After a soft opening in April, Dickens World officially opened to the public on 25 May 2007. It closed on 12 October 2016.

The concept

First conceived as far back as the 1970s, Dickens World was designed by Gerry O'Sullivan-Beare, who also created Santaworld in Sweden and Andersen World. It cost £62 million. Designers RMA Ltd worked closely with Dickens World and the Dickens Fellowship to ensure that the production of authentic storylines, characters, atmospheric streets, courtyards, and alleyways were true to the period. Dickens World was based around the life of author

, briefly a resident of Chatham in Kent as a child and who, as an adult, lived at Gad's Hill Place in nearby Higham. Many of the locations and characters in his novels are based on buildings, places and people of the

Medway Towns Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

. Holcombe Manor in Chatham was the inspiration for Dingley Dell, the house in '' Pickwick Papers'', and some of '' Edwin Drood'' takes place in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

. Dickens World was an indoor attraction, centred on a courtyard with façades of buildings related to Dickens, like Warren's Blacking. Unlike many other theme parks, Dickens World was not designed to guide visitors through any particular path, but enabled them to structure their own experience.

Original attractions

When Dickens World first opened it included a ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

''-themed water ride, a

Haunted House A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...

, a 4D movie at Peggotty's boathouse, an animatronic show in a mock-up Britannia Theatre, an interactive schoolhouse based on Dotheboys Schoolhouse, a " Fagin's den" play area for children, and " The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters", a themed bar and restaurant. Visitors exited into a gift shop called '' The Olde Curiosity Shoppe''. The ''Great Expectations'' ride took visitors through scenes of Victorian London and ended with a simulated drop from a sewer into the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. Though featuring Magwitch, the ride did not follow the plot of ''Great Expectations''. Instead, it emphasised the criminal elements of Dickens' novel, featuring a jail filled with criminal characters from several of the writer's books. That ride closed in 2013. The 4D film in Peggotty's Boathouse told the story of Dickens, featuring an inflatable Catherine Dickens, a winking Nelly Ternan, and a spray of water in the face during the Dickenses' trip to America. The whole is framed with a

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lens (optics), lenses, and a light source. ...

theme. That attraction closed in 2013. At Dotheboys Schoolhouse visitors experience a Victorian classroom. Touch-screens replaced slates, and visitors took a quiz on Dickens' life and works. The haunted house was first advertised as

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley, the G ...

's house, but before the grand opening was renamed the Haunted House of 1859, possibly alluding to Dickens' Christmas story, " The Haunted House," published that year. The house featured a ''

Pepper's ghost Pepper's ghost is an Magic (illusion), illusion technique, used in theatre, Film, cinema, amusement parks, museums, television, and concerts, in which an image of an object offstage is projected so that it appears to be in front of the audience ...

'' effect.

Administration and restructuring

The original company Dickens World Ltd placed itself in administration when unable to meet a £6 million tax bill, and investors lost £32 million. Former director, Ed De Lucy, explained that the attraction was losing between £500,000 and £1m each year, and only the revenue from the adjacent Odeon Theatre and Porter's restaurant had kept the attraction open. The new owners reduced the prices to £6.50 a head and the boat trip ride was removed. From 23 March 2013, the venue offered a guide-led walking tour where the visitors met costumed characters. The location also planned to host weddings and corporate events. Dickens World closed permanently in October 2016, when the restructuring and refinancing company pulled out of negotiations. The staff were informed by

text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...

s and email that the company had ceased to operate.

Use by the media

The Hoosiers used Dickens World as the location for their fourth single's video " Cops and Robbers" in March 2008. It was also featured in series 2 of the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

series All Over the Place in 2012.

References

External links