Young Explorers: Kitchen

Kitchen © Charles Dickens Museum

In many modern homes today, the kitchen is a place where families spend a lot of time together. However, for the middle classes in Victorian times, like the Dickens family, things were quite different. They would not have spent much time in this room at all. It would been Charles and Catherine’s servants who were most often found down here in the basement of the house.

The cook spent nearly all her time in the kitchen. She may even have slept here on a fold-up bed! The kitchen would have a been a hive of activity from early in the morning until late at night, with the cook and maids frantically preparing meals for the Dickens family and their guests!

Watch our video to learn about some of the things you might find in a Victorian kitchen!

If you'd like to try your hand at being a Victorian cook, click here to have a go at our kitchen activity!