02/10/2026
A sneak peek of This Side of the Looking Glass: Archives from the Real Life of Lewis Carroll exhibition at Surrey History Centre.
This special exhibition returns for 2026, featuring additional artefacts from Lewis Carroll expert and collector extraordinaire Edward Wakeling. Originally created to mark the 160th anniversary of Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland in 2025, it celebrates the life of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll.
Over the last 75 years, archives relating to Carrollâs childhood, letters and his original photographs of his brothers, sisters and aunt have been placed in the care of Surrey History Centre. These provide important evidence of his private life.
Curator of the exhibition and Archivist at Surrey History Centre, Isabel Sullivan, explains: âThis Side of the Looking Glass: Archives from the Real Life of Lewis Carroll, explores Carroll in his own time - his family and childhood, his avid letter-writing habit, and the Victorian age in which he lived, with its wonders of technology, including the new art of photography. We are delighted to display for the first time treasured objects and artistic creations we now hold on loan from the Dodgson family, alongside his original photographs, and letters from Carroll himself and among others Charles Darwin and Queen Victoriaâs young granddaughter Princess Alice. Exhibits from the Dodgson family, the Manners Collection and West Horsley Place Trust are also included.â
The exhibition runs throughout October and November 2026 in the Centreâs foyer and searchroom display cabinets. Admission is free, but normal searchroom admission rules apply.
đSurrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
đ°ď¸ Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays - 9.30am to 5pm & 2nd Saturday of the month - 9.30am to 4.15pm (closed for lunch 12.45pm to 1.45pm)