Down House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It is located in Downe in the London Borough of Bromley, a suburb 14.2 miles (22.8 km) south east of Charing Cross. It was in the house that Darwin worked on his theories of evolution by natural selection. It is now a museum. grid reference TQ431611
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[edit] The history of Down House
Down House was originally built as a farmhouse around 1650, and it was extended in 1778.
[edit] Darwins at Down
Darwin, moved from London to the suburbs in the midst of labour riots, buying the house for £2,200 from the Rev. James Drummond, who had asked for £2,500. They moved in on the 14th September, 1842. The Darwin family then consisted of Charles, his wife Emma and their children William Erasmus (b. 1839) and Anne (b. 1841). Emma was heavily pregnant with Mary Eleanor, who was to be born on 23 September but to die less than a month later on 18 October.
The other Darwin children, many of whom would later achieve notability in their own right, would be born in the house: "Etty" (born 1843), George (born 1845), "Bessy"(born 1847), Francis (born 1848), Leonard (born 1850), Horace (born 1851) and Charles Waring Darwin (1856 – 1858).
The Darwins added to the house in various ways. On 24 March 1843, construction work started on a large bay window at the front of the house. A new drawing room was added in 1858, and at the same time an extension was added to the main entrance. The former drawing room was converted into a new dining room, and the old dining room became a billiard room. In 1872 a verandah was added to the side of the drawing room. In 1877, a new study, entrance hall and Georgian-style porch were added and old study where Darwin wrote The Origin was converted into a smoking room.
Charles Darwin died at the house in 19 April 1882, aged 73. Emma died there 7 October 1896 aged 88.
[edit] Downe House School
A girls' boarding school was established at the house in 1907 by a Miss Olive Willis (1877-1953), but was moved away in 1922. One of the school's houses is named Darwin.
[edit] A museum to Darwin
The house was bought in 1927 by the surgeon Sir George Buckston Browne (1850-1945), who presented it to the British Association for the Advancement of Science together with an endowment to ensure its preservation in perpetuity as a memorial to Darwin. Down House was formally opened as a museum on the 7th June, 1929.
Buckston Browne's endowment proved insufficient and the expense of maintenance led to the British Association in turn donating the house to the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which administered the adjacent Surgical Research Station, in October 1953. In 1962 Sir Hedley Atkins (1905-1983), later President of the Royal College of Surgeons, moved into the house together with his wife and assumed the role of honorary curator.
[edit] Down House today
Down House was acquired in 1996 by English Heritage, with a grant from the Wellcome Trust. It was restored with funds raised by the Natural History Museum from many trusts, and from a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and reopened to the public in April 1998. It is open to visitors all year.
Down House and the surrounding area has been nominated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to become a World Heritage Site. It will go through public consultation in 2006 and a decision should be made in 2007.
[edit] See also
- The Mount, Shrewsbury
- Historic houses in England
- English Heritage Properties in England
- Museums in England
[edit] External links
- English Heritage visitor information
- Information for teachers - includes floor plans
- Darwin at Downe - proposed World Heritage Site
- A scientist's guide to visiting Down House
- Downe House School website
