Unseen areas of Charles Dickens house now open to public

Hidden sections of a house that was featured in Charles Dickens' novel 'The Pickwick Papers' are being opened to the public in a one day only event.

Tours of closed areas of the Eastgate House in Rochester, built in the 1590s, are part of an open day being held on Saturday.

It was awarded a development grant of up to 80,000 pounds from the Heritage Lottery Fund in February 2011.

The cash has been used to appoint an architect and recruit volunteers.

Eastgate House was a family home for several generations and then used as a girls' school during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The garden is now home to the Swiss chalet where Dickens used to write which was previously at Gad's Hill, in Higham, Kent, where Dickens lived.

Medway Council is now in the second stage of the lottery application process, which it hopes will result in a full grant of just under 1 million pounds to turn the building into an exhibition gallery and community event space, the BBC reported.

A conservation officer of the council will be on hand during the open day to talk about the importance of the building as volunteers show visitors around.

The council said visitors would be given information about plans for the building's future.

It is also keen to hear visitors' views and memories about the building.

The first phase of development work includes creating a friends group to support the project. (ANI)