Earlier this summer, I made a visit to Down House on the outskirts of London. Down House is the home of Charles Darwin and his family, and this was his home when he worked on his evolution and natural selection theories. The house is Grade I listed, and the English Heritage have been maintaining it since 1996 as a tourist attraction. Visitors to Down House can explore the gardens and house, which contains a small museum to the scientist/explorer/writer and some rooms fitted from Darwin's times, including the famous study room where Darwin had some experiments and did a lot of his work.
Down House started its life as a farmhouse in the mid-1600s where it passed down through different families until it was purchased by Charles Darwin and his family in the 1840s. The Darwins had moved from London due to their growing family, and they generally preferred the countryside.
Photography unfortunately is not permitted in Down House except in one of the rooms upstairs. The upstairs of the home is primarily a museum now with a lot of information about the life and studies of Charles Darwin and some of his personal items. Much of the information included the study of human facial expressions, journals taken on trips abroad by boat, his upbringing, his marriage, and a few other studies including some of the controversial topics of the time relating to his writing on evolution.
The only room that could be photographed was the bedroom, and this is where Darwin passed away.
Downstairs included a couple of the rooms presented as they would have been lived in, and the most interesting of these is Darwin's study. It has been restored with original furniture, the wheeled armchair, and writing board. The room is east-facing, and a mirror was installed outside of the window at an angle so he could see who was approaching the house.
A walkway from the house runs with flowers on each side to the greenhouse, where Darwin also spent a lot of time with experiments. Beyond this is "the sandwalk"; the sandwalk is a path that Darwin spent his time walking along and thinking. He would lose hours walking here.
Along the flower beds were several different types of butterfly or moth.
Darwin conducted observations and tests on different plants. One test included the colouration of hollyhocks. A glasshouse was built to aid in the experiments.
The sandwalk borders a field, and Darwin would walk along the path many times a day to think. The meadow bordering is called Great Meadow House, and it was purchased by Darwin.
After visiting the house and gardens, I had a slice of cake and a cup of tea.
I recommend a visit to Darwin's Down House because it contains a lot of information about Charles Darwin, a person that we attribute a lot of modern learning and understanding of the world to, and the gardens are pleasant to wander around too.
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