Escaping the coal smoke air of central London, Charles Darwin and his young family moved to Down House in 1842. Famous for his travels and voyage on the HMS Beagle, it was settling here, that provided the great naturalist with a base to consolidate his discoveries. And to discover further…his daily voyage around the garden and surrounding English countryside (he walked like clockwork, everyday before breakfast) provided numerous specimens for wonder and experimentation.
It was here, in this very chair, that he was to write ‘On the Origin of Species’.
My favourite room? Darwin’s study. It still keeps the same ‘general air of simpleness, makeshift, and general oddness’ that his son remembered. My favourite touch? An angled mirror strategically placed so he could see who was walking up the path and so escape from unwanted visitors!
To quote from the poetic conclusion of ‘On the Origin of Species’: ‘From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved’. I end with the tiny grandeur of the firefly – most beautiful and most wonderful!
