Background information for applicants
February 2015
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre opened to great
acclaim on 11 June 2005 and has so far welcomed over 500,000 visitors. Half term week in
February 2015 has proven to be our busiest ever, and we are looking forward to ‘Roald Dahl
100’, a year-long celebration of the centenary of his birth in 2016.
Governance and structure
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre is a charitable company, limited by guarantee and,
as a registered charity, is governed by its memorandum and articles of association. The
registered charity number is 1085853, and the company number is 4178505. The directors of
the charitable company are its trustees for the purpose of charity law. The Roald Dahl Centre
(Trading) Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the main charity which covenants its
profits to the main charity. The shop and special events not directly related to the charity’s
objectives are run through the trading company. Café Twit is run by an external contractor.
The Museum is part of the larger Roald Dahl group. We have a sister charity, the grant-giving
trust, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity. We also have very strong links with the
Roald Dahl Literary Estate LLP, the management company that manages the copyrights and
collects royalties as agent for the partners, and manages the website devoted to Roald Dahl
and his works, www.roalddahl.com. Luke Kelly (Roald Dahl’s grandson) is the Managing
Director of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate and is a Trustee of the Museum and Director of the
Trading Company.
In addition, two other members of the Dahl family are directly involved in the Museum’s
activities: Roald Dahl’s widow, Felicity Dahl (known as Liccy) is President of the Museum and
his third daughter, Ophelia Dahl, is Vice-President. The Museum has been welcomed by the
rest of Roald Dahl’s family, who are extremely supportive of it, though they are not involved in
its management.
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, along with Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's
Charity share 10% of all royalties (*net of commission) generated by Roald Dahl's works. This
is a vital addition to our earned income.
The Museum
Our two biographical galleries tell the story of Roald Dahl’s life and work. Solo Gallery (which
deals with the period documented in Roald Dahl’s memoir, Going Solo) was completely
refurbished in 2012. The centrepiece of our new displays in Solo Gallery is Roald Dahl’s
Writing Hut, complete with all its original contents and furnishings. Visitors can see the “little
nest” as Roald Dahl called it, exactly as he had it set up, with all the extraordinary and
fascinating objects he kept at hand for contemplation and inspiration. Fantabulous interactive
exhibits and displays surrounding the Writing Hut throw light on the creative process: how
Roald Dahl became a writer, and what real-life experiences inspired him – the ‘stories behind
the stories’.
Amongst the exhibits is a model of a Second World War ‘Gladiator’, like the one Roald Dahl
flew in his RAF days; a writing and drawing activity, where visitors can play the parts of Roald
Dahl and Quentin Blake and a ‘Sparkometer’ that tests visitors’ knowledge of Roald Dahl’s
books.
The archive
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre | 81-83 High Street | Great Missenden | Bucks | HP16 0AL
T: 01494 892192 F: 01494 892191 roalddahl.com/museum
Registered charity number 1085853. A company limited by guarantee number 4178505. Edited July 2014
Roald Dahl’s archive of manuscripts, letters and photographs is one of the most complete
literary archives of the twentieth century. It includes drafts of every major work, from the
handwritten beginnings to the later typed versions – often with sections of revised text
patched on using sticky tape. These manuscripts provide a fascinating insight into the
evolution of the writer’s work. Some of his best-loved stories, such as Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory and Matilda, changed very considerably. The hero of The BFG was,
originally, not a girl called Sophie but a little boy named Jody. Long before there was a giant
peach, there was a giant cherry.
Roald Dahl’s ideas can be traced back even further using his ‘Ideas Books’ where he jotted
down the seeds of future stories, revisiting them later – often years later. These books show
Dahl to have been meticulous – ticking used ideas and helpfully noting which story they grew
into, whether an adult tale or a children’s story.
The archive gives further insight into Roald Dahl through his correspondence with agents and
editors and through his personal correspondence – most notably his letters to his mother.
Over 900 personal letters survive within the archive. The Museum provides access to this
precious material in the galleries and through the online archive on www.roalddahl.com.
The Story Centre
The Story Centre is full of activities about reading, writing and creativity, building on Roald
Dahl’s work and using it as the beginning of a magical journey for all future authors. The Story
Centre includes a replica of Roald Dahl’s writing hut, along with copies of the quirky
mementoes of his life – from his hip bone (removed during an operation) to a weighty ball of
chocolate bar wrappers. Every day he disappeared into the small hut at the end of his garden
to enter the world of his own imagination. Our special Hut Talks in the Story Centre give
visitors an idea of Roald Dahl’s private, personal writing space, and how the objects around
him sparked into world-famous stories.
Inside there is also an orchard made up of giant versions of artwork by Quentin Blake, Roald
Dahl’s principal illustrator. Fridge door games with magnetic pieces encourage the plotting
and re-plotting of stories. Many of these games derive from techniques used by Roald Dahl
and other leading writers to develop character and plot. The Story Centre boasts original
contributions from many of today’s leading authors including Malorie Blackman, Jamila Gavin,
Mark Haddon, Anthony Horowitz, Shirley Hughes, Michael Morpurgo, Philip Pullman, Michael
Rosen, J K Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson and Benjamin Zephaniah, allowing visitors to discover
the similarities and differences in the way these leading talents work.
The education programme
As our aim is to inspire a love of creative writing in everyone, so our education programme
has been planned to make the Museum a destination venue for school groups from all over
the UK. Ideas for our existing sessions were developed with local school children and
teachers, who firmly voted against worksheets. Instead, in a ninety-minute session, children
are presented with a range of fun, hands-on activities that encourage their creativity through
exploring the different areas of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.
Artist residencies
We work with external agencies such as the Buckinghamshire Schools Improvement Service
to develop outreach programmes and additional services for those who are less likely to
access what museums have to offer. Our main strand of work in this area has been the Artist
Residency programme. With past support from the Arts Council and other partners, we have
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre | 81-83 High Street | Great Missenden | Bucks | HP16 0AL
Telephone 01494 892192 | roalddahl.com/museum
Registered charity number 1085853. A company limited by guarantee number 4178505. Edited February 2015
hosted residencies by writers, animators, a storyteller a composer, a poet and in 2014-15, a
food writer.
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre | 81-83 High Street | Great Missenden | Bucks | HP16 0AL
Telephone 01494 892192 | roalddahl.com/museum
Registered charity number 1085853. A company limited by guarantee number 4178505. Edited February 2015