The House of Dracula

19/07/2021

26/03/2020

PURFLEET IN ESSEX

Close enough to the river for Dracula to make a quick exit by ship if his plans don't come to fruition on English soil.

16/08/2019

ANOTHER LOCATION MODEL FOR THE HOUSE...?

Tracy Lee:
Ingress Abbey in Greenhithe, Kent is mentioned by Iain Sinclair in his book London Orbital re Carfax inspiration. I don’t agree with him but it was worth popping by with my own black dog! His quote is: “I believe Ingress is the mirror image of Dracula’s abbey. I think Stoker transposed it to the opposite side of the river.”

14/07/2019

"Enter freely and of your own will."

24/06/2019

A Practical Tour Guide to the authentic London location sites referred to in Bram Stoker's classic n

21/02/2019

IN THE MOULD OF DRACULA

Although, strictly speaking, Titchfield Abbey in Hampshire is nowhere near the district of Purfleet, it does appear to fit quite well with the descriptions of Carfax House in Bram Stoker's Dracula novel. This, of course, could be purely by accident or it could even be due to the author having actually seen it while travelling around England.

21/02/2019

FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE

Interestingly enough, this faithful stage adaptation of Stoker's novel by Tudor Williams refers to Dracula's house in the third act of the play as 'Carfax Abbey', even though for the sake of the author's own convenience much of the action of the play is skilfully condensed by setting it mostly within the confines of the area of Hampstead in North London and only steps beyond it via several atmospheric flash-back scenes at Castle Dracula in Transylvania.

Nonetheless, clearly for some readers of the book, the impression they may have of the Carfax estate is that perhaps it could indeed have been an abbey building at one time.

A largely faithful and simply staged play adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel which is now made easily

12/02/2019

FANTASY VERSES LITERARY DETECTION

I think it is a fair assumption to make that during his researches in Purfleet, Essex, Bram Stoker had simply adopted certain elements and features which he had come upon in his travels through the area to eventually formulate his descriptions of Dracula's discreet country manor in southern England.

As a result, there are a few which stand out for due consideration:

(1) Purfleet House had a specifically box-shaped architectural design which featured four sides of equal width and height. Thus, it may be construed as being perhaps the basic model for the name, 'Carfax'. In other words, it clearly had the four faces which the text implies.

(2) The atmospheric Belhus Manor which had stood in Belhus Park at the time Stoker had visited the region surely has to be seen as the inspirational model for the type of building he finally came to describe in the book.

(3) Apart from this, a swift scan of Google maps these days will clearly show that there are, or were, enough lakes and flowing streams surrounding Aveley, in particular, to have provided the additional descriptions Stoker gives of the grounds within which the fictional house had supposedly stood.

(4) There are at least four other sites with interesting houses on them which the diligent researcher can observe for themselves as well.

12/02/2019

Jonathan Harker's Journal:

"The estate is called Carfax, no doubt a corruption of the old Quatre Face, as the house is four-sided, agreeing with the cardinal points of the compass. It contains in all some twenty acres, quite surrounded by the solid stone wall above mentioned. There are many trees on it, which make it in places gloomy, and there is a deep, dark-looking pond or small lake, evidently fed by some springs, as the water is clear and flows away in a fair-sized stream. The house is very large and of all periods back, I should say, to medieval times, for one part is of stone immensely thick, with only a few windows high up and heavily barred with iron. It looks like part of a keep, and is close to an old chapel or church."

12/02/2019

"There was an earthy smell, as of some dry miasma, which came through the fouler air. But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it? It was not alone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt."

12/02/2019

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DRACULA IN PURFLEET

While it is always a fascinating prospect to go and visit the many sites and localities mentioned in the text of Dracula, the most likely explanation for the Purfleet scenario is that just as he had done with the Piccadilly, Hampstead, and Hendon locations, Bram Stoker's descriptions were a combination of elements taken from several sources which came together in his mind as an imaginative whole.

12/02/2019

THE SEARCH CRITERIA

Ideally, the text of Dracula indicates that the site of the house should have the following features: (1) A solid four-sided building constructed to align with the cardinal points of the compass. (2) A surrounding stone wall. (3) A reasonable number of evergreen trees. (4) A small pond or lake along with an adjacent flowing stream. (5) A chapel or church somewhere in the immediate vicinity.

It is said that while doing his own preparatory research for the novel, Bram Stoker may have stayed at the Purfleet Royal Hotel. In our own case of an investigation, it must also be noted that none of the proposed locations can be said to fulfil all of the criteria. However, in the majority of cases, a large proportion of impressive features so far found do amount to at least three out of the five required, but in the singular case of Willow Farm, it may be said to be four out of five, although as far as anyone can tell without proper verification, the one item which has not yet been detected at this particular site is the stone wall.

12/02/2019

The Quayside at Purfleet. A handy escape route for the Count should he have found himself in the position of having to give up on his carefully laid plans on English soil and make a swift return to his homeland by ship.

12/02/2019

A ruined chapel.

12/02/2019

"Once I got a fright, for, seeing Lord Godalming suddenly turn and look out of the vaulted door into the dark passage beyond, I looked too, and for an instant, my heart stood still. Somewhere, looking out from the shadow, I seemed to see the high lights of the Count's evil face."

12/02/2019

The type of setting one could conceivably have imagined for the chapel in the grounds of Carfax Estate.

12/02/2019

Selected by recent researchers as a possible location model for Dr. Seward's residence was Ordnance House, seen here in 1960 during the process of demolition. Indeed, as things turned out for other contenders too in the district of Purfleet, the fate of some of them which had been offered up as suggested links to the writing of Dracula were not always happy ones.

12/02/2019

One appealing prospect for consideration for the Carfax model could be said to be the High House Purfleet Production Park.