Carlyle's House

A favourite of George Eliot and a big influence on Dickens and Ruskin, Thomas Carlyle lived in this 1708 Queen Anne terraced house, close to the Thames in Chelsea, from 1834 to 1881. His wife Jane is now considered one of the finest 19th-century women of letters. The Carlyles' house drew visitors from the Victorian literary world, including Tennyson and Browning.

Opened in 1895 as a literary shrine, it contains much of the Carlyles' furniture, books, pictures and personal possessions, together with portraits and memorabilia collected by devotees. Many architectural and domestic features survive, while some decorative detail has been recreated. There is a small walled garden and the surrounding streets are rich in literary and artistic associations.