Dr Johnson's House - Christmas Walk & Visit

drjohnsonshouse
Sep 26
2 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

a bronze statue of Samuel Johnson on a stone plinth in front of an old stone church, with trees and city buildings in the background.

Wednesday 12 November

1pm - 3pm

£20

Take a fascinating walk through the heart of literary London and visit the festively decorated house of its most famous resident writer, Dr Samuel Johnson.

Take a fascinating walk through the historic heart of literary London and visit the home of its most famous resident writer: Dr Samuel Johnson. Since Caxton's print works set up in Fleet Street in 1500, the area had become the bustling centre of print and publishing by 1700s Georgian London where local coffeehouses and taverns were the haunt of writers, booksellers and journalists.

Start and finish

Dr Johnson's House, 17 Gough Square EC4A 3DE

Arrival time

12.45 pm for prompt 1pm Tour departure

Duration

The Guided Walking Tour lasts about 60 minutes and ends back at Dr Johnson's House where you begin your self-guided visit to the House. You are welcome to stay until the House closes at 5pm.

A formal 18th-century portrait of a young woman seated before a deep red curtain, painted by Nathaniel Hone in 1765. She gazes softly at the viewer, with dark hair pinned back and a delicate red necklace around her neck. She wears a sheer, embroidered gown and holds part of the fabric modestly to her chest. On the table beside her rests a sleepy black-and-white cat, adding a domestic and intimate touch to the elegant composition.

Step back in time to 1700s London with our expert City of London Guide. Explore the hidden lanes and squares of historic Fleet Street Quarter, where lords, lawyers and writers rubbed shoulders with hawkers, pick pockets and prostitutes....It is also where 'Dictionary Johnson' - one of England's greatest writers - lived and worked, and famously said,'...when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life'.

Like many Londoners today Samuel Johnson was not from London. The son of a bookseller in Lichfield (Staffordshire), Johnson walked to the capital in 1737 seeking fame and fortune. He never left. While fortune evaded him, Dr Johnson rose to become one of the greatest literary figures of the 18th century.

Following your Walk, we invite you to explore Dr Johnson’s House, where the great lexicographer compiled his legendary Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. See the garret where Johnson created his Dictionary and enjoy looking up lost words and witty definitions that still amuse us today—like hotcockles, jiggumbob, and twittletwattle!

17 Gough Square is the only historic townhouse still standing in the area, having survived many near misses - not least the Blitz! Built in the 1690s, shortly after the Great Fire, the five-storey house retains many of its period features, including a very quirky anti-burglary device. You can browse all the rooms and sit down on the chairs and window seats to soak up the atmosphere in what was still the tallest building in the locality during WWII.

Accessibility

There is regrettably no step-free access to Dr Johnson's House.

There are seven steps to access the entrance (with a handrail).

The building is a four-storey townhouse with a staircase between each floor.

There are handrails on each side of the staircase and visitor seating in every room.

Toilets are located down a steep set of stairs.