Coming into the Dickens House Museum, you will no doubt feel closer to Charles Dickens than you ever felt imaginable.

When Charles Dickens came to stay in Broadstairs for the first time in 1837 he was twenty-five years old and already famous, as the author of The Pickwick Papers, the first of his novels. He took lodgings at number 12, High Street, where he worked on the book. He was to return to the town again and again until 1851, with a final visit at the end of the decade.
It was in Broadstairs that he found much of the inspiration for one of his most famous characters - Miss Betsey Trotwood, David Copperfield's aunt.

Whilst exploring this fascinating museum you will find artifacts once belonging to Charles Dickens himself. These items include the writing box, a gift from John Forster, his lifelong friend and biographer.

Pride of place might well go to the letters written by Charles Dickens from or about Broadstairs. They extol the virtues of "Our English Watering Place" and urge his friends to join the household at the seaside.

The rooms on the first floor have a display of costume and Victoriana as well as a feature on 'Our English Watering Place'. It was in 1851 that Charles Dickens wrote this affectionate record of the town and its inhabitants. This was to be one of his last visits to Broadstairs.