Places To Go
Below you'll find our recommendations for places to go and see if you're interested in exploring Alice further.
Christ Church, Oxford
A visit to Christ Church, Oxford University’s grandest college, will take you to the heart of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.
Re-founded by Henry VIII in 1546, from the remains of Wolsey’s Cardinal College, Christ Church has educated 13 British Prime Ministers, plus famous intellectuals like philosopher John Locke and the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. It is, uniquely, both a university college and the city cathedral.
Charles Dodgson went to Christ Church in 1851 to study mathematics, and spent most of his life there as a student and lecturer. It was when he wrote for a student paper that he gave himself the name Lewis Carroll.
The college played a big part in the creation of Alice’s adventures. Lewis Carroll became good friends with the children of the dean at the time, Henry Liddell, whose fourth daughter was called Alice. They visited him in his rooms with their nanny and he also took them out on boat trips, where he would tell them stories.
Carroll used the children’s familiar surroundings as the setting for these stories. The Great Hall, where he ate his meals, holds many Wonderland secrets. Lewis Carroll didn’t often reveal the source of his inspirations, but it is likely that the real “rabbit hole” is the door that the dean would have used to get to the senior common room.
Lewis Carroll used many of the strange characters that Alice and her sisters knew at Christ Church as a basis for characters in the story. Henry Liddell himself could have been the white rabbit, as he was always running late too.
Christ Church Alice tours are available by appointment – learn who the White Rabbit really was, and why he was always late; meet the Jabberwocky; see the tree where the Cheshire Cat sat, and discover Alice’s special door to Wonderland. Visit areas of the college rarely seen by the public. Contact the head custodian for details.
Address: St Aldate’s, Oxford
Alice’s Shop
Alice’s Shop – better known as The Old Sheep Shop in Through the Looking-Glass – has been selling all manner of curiosities since the 1830s. It is where Alice Liddell used to buy barley sugar sweets. The shopkeeper had a bleating voice like a sheep, so Lewis Carroll made her into a character in the story, and the shop into a location. Today, you can pick up Alice souvenirs and have your own tea party in the tea room.
The shop also showcases some of the best new original works on the Alice theme – new illustrators following on from Tenniel, Rackham, Steadman, Peake and Dali. Prints are for sale, priced £50-£2,000.
Address: 83 St Aldates, Oxford
Museum of Oxford
Telling the story of the city and its people from prehistoric times to the present day, the museum houses a permanent display called Looking For Alice, which includes many of Alice Liddell’s clothes and personal belongings.
Many of the strange and wonderful stories were based on people Alice knew or places and events she had experienced. The Museum of Oxford’s Victorian galleries help build up a picture of the city that the girl who inspired Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland grew up in.
Address: St Aldate’s, Oxford
St Peter's Church
It’s not just Oxford that claims to have provided much of the inspiration for Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. Carroll moved to Croft on Tees, near Darlington, when he was 11 and the local church is said to house what might just be the most famous smile in literature. The church has a sedilia – a seat for the clergy built into the walls – and at one end is the carved stone face of a cat. Could this have been the original Cheshire cat? Seen from a pew, it has a wide smile, but if you stand up, the grin seems to disappear, just as it eventually does in the book. Try it yourself!
Lewis Carroll’s father, Rev Charles Dodgson, was rector of the church, and he is buried in the churchyard along with Carroll’s mother, Frances Jane Lutwidge – who was her husband’s first cousin.
Address: Croft on Tees
National Gallery
It wasn’t only Lewis Carroll who was inspired by real people and places. Sir John Tenniel also based some pictures he drew for the Alice books on existing works, one of which can be seen at the National Gallery.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the poor sitter in Quinten Massys’ painting from 1525 called Portrait Of A Grotesque Old Woman never stood a chance. It is the mannish, gargoyle-like figure in this painting that inspired Tenniel to draw the Duchess in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland whose baby turns into a pig.
The woman in the painting is Margaret Maultasch, a 14th century ruler of Tyrol. To add insult to injury, the name Maultasch means “pocket-mouth”.
Address: Trafalgar Square
National Portrait Gallery
As well as being an author, Lewis Carroll was a respected photographer credited with helping the medium become accepted as art. The National Portrait Gallery holds prints and negatives by Carroll showing some of the last key images of Alice Liddell and her sisters, his family and friends, and the movers and shakers of the day.
Address: St Martin’s Place
British Library
Alice’s Adventures Underground by Lewis Carroll is one of the most famous of the British Library’s treasures. It is Carroll’s handwritten version of the book that was later published as Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. The manuscript also has delicate illustrations drawn by Carroll.
The book was presented to the library in 1948 by a group of Americans in recognition of the part played by Britain in the second world war.
Now the manuscript can be viewed on the British Library’s website as part of its Turning The Pages section. The online version contains 90 pages and 37 illustrations for readers to flick through.
Address: 96 Euston Road
Seven Stories
Seven Stories houses a treasure trove of original artwork and manuscripts that show the creative process involved in making a children’s book. It also provides a peek into the working lives of authors and illustrators.
Seven Stories is the only place in the UK to collect original artwork by British writers and illustrators for children. The centre also collects books, mainly from 1945 onwards, but some in the collection are older.
Apart from exhibitions, Seven Stories provides hands-on activities and gives visitors the chance to meet and talk to authors and illustrators.
Author Shirley Hughes’ dummy version of her first picture book Lucy And Tom’s Day is in the collection. It shows how comparing the first version of a book to the published edition can reveal interesting changes. This is something Lewis Carroll would know very well, as there were many early versions of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.
Address: Seven Stories, 30 Lime Street, Newcastle
Surrey History Centre
Lewis Carroll is the well-known author of the Alice books, but less well known is the man behind the pen name, Charles Dodgson.
Surrey History Centre holds some very important archives relating to the author, who died at The Chestnuts, his family’s home in Guildford, Surrey, in 1898.
Included in the archive are papers relating to his childhood, letters and original photographs of his brothers, sisters and aunt. They are interesting because they bring to light aspects of his private life as a Reverend and his time spent writing and meeting family and friends.
Address: Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking
Guildford Museum
Among the museum at Guildford's many displays is a section on Victorian childhood. Included are toys owned by Lewis Carroll and his family when they lived in Guildford. Visitors can see weird and wonderful items such as a cow on wheels, a table croquet set, a doll's house and a paper doll with clothes made by Carroll's sisters.
Address: Guildford Museum, Quarry Street, Guildford,
