Dickens World

Dickens World was a themed attraction located at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, England. After a soft opening in April, Dickens World officially opened to the public on 25 May 2007. It closed on 12 October 2016, staff were informed through social media.

First conceived as far back as the 1970s, Dickens World was designed by Gerry O'Sullivan-Beare, who also created Santa World in Sweden and Andersen World, and cost ₤62 million. Designers RMA Ltd worked closely with Dickens World and the Dickens Fellowship to ensure 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 Charles Dickens, briefly a resident of Chatham 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. Holcombe Manor was the inspiration for Dingley Dell, the house in Pickwick Papers, and some of Edwin Drood takes place in Rochester Cathedral.

Dickens World is an indoor attraction, centred on a courtyard with facades 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 enables them to structure their own experience.

When Dickens World first opened it included a Great Expectations-themed water ride; a Haunted House; 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; "The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters", a themed bar and restaurant. The park exited into a gift shop called The Olde Curiosity Shoppe.

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