The house where historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle once lived

Carlyle’s House

Kensington & Hyde Park


From 1834 until his death in 1881, the eminent Victorian essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle dwelt in this three-storey terrace house, bought by his parents when it was surrounded by open fields in what was then a deeply unfashionable part of town. The lovely Queen Ann property – built in 1708 – is magnificently preserved as it looked in 1895, when it became London’s first literary shrine. It’s not big but has been left much as it was when Carlyle was living here and Chopin, Tennyson and Dickens came to call.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kensington & Hyde Park attractions

1. Chelsea Old Church

0.09 MILES

This beautiful and original church stands behind a bronze monument to Thomas More (1477–1535), who had a close association with it. Original features of…

2. Chelsea Physic Garden

0.32 MILES

You may bump into a wandering duck or two as you enter this walled pocket of botanical enchantment, established by the Apothecaries’ Society in 1673 for…

3. National Army Museum

0.43 MILES

This inventively redesigned museum vibrantly relates the history of the British Army, from the perspective of its servicemen and servicewomen. Reopening a…

4. King’s Road

0.47 MILES

At the counter-cultural forefront of London fashion during the technicolour '60s and anarchic '70s (Ian Fleming's fictional spy James Bond had a flat in a…

5. Peace Pagoda

0.48 MILES

Erected in 1985 by a group of Japanese Buddhists to commemorate Hiroshima Day (6 August), the pagoda in Battersea Park displays the Buddha in the four…

6. Battersea Park Children’s Zoo

0.55 MILES

The small Children’s Zoo in Battersea Park is full of animal magic for young zoologists and wildlife tykes. Consult the website for feeding times of…

7. Royal Hospital Chelsea

0.59 MILES

Designed by Christopher Wren, this superb structure was built in 1692 to provide shelter for ex-servicemen. Since the reign of Charles II, it has housed…

8. Michelin House

0.64 MILES

Built for Michelin between 1905 and 1911 by François Espinasse, and completely restored in 1985, the building blurs the stylish line between art nouveau…