Kent’s idyllic rural landscapes, captivating cities, castles and gardens, have influenced great literature ever since Chaucer’s imaginary pilgrims travelled along the Pilgrim’s Way.
 
Keep on the write track with a stay at one of our Kent holiday cottages. Fire your imagination as you follow in the footsteps of many great writers in some of the top literary spots in Kent. 

Geoffrey Chaucer

© The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer’s pilgrims thought Canterbury was worth a visit in The Canterbury Tales. Today, it’s just as rewarding: a beautiful, bustling, historic town with good shops and hop-scented pubs. Geoffrey Chaucer lived here as part of the Royal Household. Today The Canterbury Tales attraction vividly recreates the sounds and smells of this Middle Ages tale, with costumed actors sometimes adding an extra dimension.

Elizabethan Kent

Penshurst Place © Darryl Curcher photography

Elizabethan Kent produced poets and playwrights too. The charismatic courtier and poet Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst Place and Ben Jonson composed one of his most famous odes there. Discover the magnificence of Penshurst’s medieval Baron’s Hall and the beguiling magic of the gardens whose records date back to 1346. Another of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Christopher Marlowe, was born in Canterbury and attended King’s School. Take in a performance at The Marlowe Theatre which is named after him and explore the mysteries surrounding his life and death on this exciting literary walk.

Jane Austen

© Goodnestone Park Gardens

Jane Austen, one of the most widely read writers in English literature, spent much time in Kent and her connections with country house life here provided inspiration for some of her most famous novels of romantic fiction. Jane was a regular guest at Goodnestone Park, once the home of her brother Edward’s wife’s family. It was after one visit in 1796 that Jane began writing the novel that became Pride and Prejudice. Today, visitors can spend a very pleasant hour or two wandering amid Goodnestone’s 14 acres of 18th-century parkland. Kent has also been used as a location for the filming of some of Austen’s novels including the pretty village of Chilham near Canterbury, backdrop for the BBC’s adaptation of Emma.

Charles Dickens

Restoration House, Dickens’ Satis House by Martin Stitchener

Probably Kent’s best known novelist is Charles Dickens. Dickens had a strong connection with Kent, where he lived on and off throughout his life. Visit the lovely town of Rochester which so often featured in Dickens’ novels, variously disguised as Pip’s hometown in Great Expectations and Cloisterham in Edwin Drood. Time your visit for the first weekend in December and you will bump into various characters at the annual Dickensian Christmas Festival here. Wander through the tiny streets of Rochester and you’ll spy plaques on many buildings highlighting how they featured in Dickens’ novels such as the Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel and Satis House. Rochester is also home to the wooden Swiss Chalet in which the author wrote, which now stands in the gardens of Eastgate House, due to reopen after refurbishment in 2017. If you go to Gad’s Hill, just outside the town, you’ll see the house that Dickens fell in love with as a boy. When he became a successful author, he bought it, and wrote Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend there.

Dickens World by Smudge 9000

In neighbouring Chatham, you’ll find Dickens World, which offers an interactive guided tour through a recreation of Victorian England. Here you can experience the Great Expectations dark boat ride with Magwitch, Dotheboy’s Hall Victorian School Room (with touch-screen technology) and meet some of Charles Dickens’ unforgettable characters. Visit too one of Dickens’ favourite haunts, The Leather Bottle in Cobham.

20th Century Kent

Rupert Bear Museum by Jim Linwood

Throughout the 20th century, Kent provided a peaceful haven for writers such as Vita Sackville-West who found inspiration amidst her gardens at Sissinghurst and HE Bates, author of The Darling Buds of May, who adopted Kent as his home. Rupert Bear’s creator, Mary Tourtel, was born and lived in Canterbury and you can indulge in a little childhood nostalgia at the award-winning Canterbury Heritage Museum which houses a special Rupert gallery. The museum is also home to the real Bagpuss in Emily’s shop window, original Clangers, Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog! Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate, joint creators of the hit TV characters, did their handiwork just outside Canterbury on Peter’s farm in Blean.
 

Chartwell by Paul Simpson

Wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill retreated to Chartwell near Westerham to escape the pressures of public and political life, and it was here that he wrote his history of England, The Sceptred Isle. The house contains some fascinating memorabilia from 40 years of Churchill’s life, and offers some surprising insights into his enigmatic character.

Duck Inn by Nick Smith (main) & Shirokazan (insert)

Alternatively, grab your licence to thrill and head to The Duck Inn, Pett Bottom. The pub was author Ian Fleming’s local when he lived at Bekesbourne (1960–62) and it is mentioned in You Only Live Twice as being next to the cottage where the young Bond lived. Strange but true, Fleming also dreamed up Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, inspired by the real-life exploits of flamboyant motor-racing driver Count Louis Zborowski who lived at Higham Park on the edge of nearby Bridge. The Count designed cars fitted with aero engines, naming three of them Chitty Bang Bang.

Festivals

Rochester Dickens Festival in June by Luke McKernan

If you love books, you’ll love Kent’s literary festivals and their annual festivals celebrating Dickens are a feast for the senses too! Here’s the low down on how you can get your festival fix…
 
April – May
Wise Words Festival, Canterbury.
Sweeps Festival, Rochester – The celebrations were vividly described by Charles Dickens in his Sketches by Boz.

May
Chiddingstone Castle Literary Festival, Chiddingstone Edenbridge TN8 7AD.
Whitlit, Whitstable.

June
Rochester Dickens Festival, Rochester (June 3 – 5 2016).
Wealden Literary Festival, Woodchurch (June 18 – 19 2016).

October
Rochester Literary Festival (October 1 – 9 2016).

November
Folkestone Book Festival (November 18 – 27 2016).

December
Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival, Rochester (3 – 4 December 2016; 10am – 5pm).

What else?

Manor Farmhouse, Milstead 

If these top literary spots in Kent has stirred your appetite for a bookish escape, why not explore our luxury self-catering holiday cottages in Kent.