Charles Darwin's
Home - A visit to Down House,
2004
Right Above: Roy J. Beckemeyer sitting in the garden of Down House, Charles
Darwin's home, just outside Downes, England, May 2004.
A
WEB PAGE BY ROY J. BECKEMEYER LAST
UPDATED 22 August 2004
To
Get To Down House From London:
Take
the underground to Victoria Station. Take the train to Bromley South
Station. From the station at Bromley South, catch the bus (R146) to the
village of Downe. The bus stop at Downe is in front of the church, at the
intersection of Broad High St. and Luxstead Road. Walk 1/4 mile down
Luxstead Road to Down House. Hours in May 2004 were 10:00am to 5:30pm,
Wednesday through Sunday. Nice gift shop and tea shop, so you can have
lunch at Down House. The bus runs hourly, the train every 10 minutes or
so. Volunteers keep up the gardens, including growing 19th Century
vegetables for seed and for food. Travel times are 15-20 minutes Victoria
to Bromley S., 20 minutes Bromley S. to Downe, 5-10 minute walk to Down
House. No pictures may be taken inside the home, but can be taken on the
grounds. There is a nice paperback book with color photos of the house and
Darwin's family available in the gift shop.
Left:
A view of Down House from the back yard. Most of the house is open for
viewing. Darwin's study is restored as it appears from photos to
have been when he was conducting his research. The first floor contains
othere restored rooms, the gift shop, and the tea shop. The second floor
rooms contain museum exhibits recounting life at Down House, Darwin's work, and
so on.
Right:
A number of notebooks are available for sale in the gift shop. This is the
cover of one that shows the reconstructed study as it might have looked when
Charles Darwin was working there. The photos on the notebook covers are
copyrighted by English Heritage.
Left:
A view of the Darwin estate from the famous "sand walk" where Darwin
strolled every day before lunch. It is now part of the area walkways
system.
Right:
The greenhouse and garden where Darwin did many of his experiments with orchids,
pollination, climbing plants, and so on. Volunteers work in the garden and
greenhouse and some of Darwin's original research notebooks are available for
viewing here.
Left:
I noticed a bumblebee working on these flowers, and thought it would be
appropriate to photograph pollination happening in the garden where Darwin did
his research on pollination.
Right: A doorway
in a brick wall. One can almost imagine Darwin on the other side of the
wall about to walk through...this museum and restoration is very well done and
the museum is memorable. It is a great place to ponder this special man
and his contributions to science. A highly recommended place to visit if
you are in London.
Left: Another
notebook I bought in the gift shop, this one with one of the famous portrait
photographs of Darwin. The museum at Down House is run by English
Heritage. They have done a remarkable job!
Charles Darwin's
Home - A visit to Down House,
2004
Left:
A view of Down House from the back yard. Most of the house is open for
viewing. Darwin's study is restored as it appears from photos to
have been when he was conducting his research. The first floor contains
othere restored rooms, the gift shop, and the tea shop. The second floor
rooms contain museum exhibits recounting life at Down House, Darwin's work, and
so on.
Right:
A number of notebooks are available for sale in the gift shop. This is the
cover of one that shows the reconstructed study as it might have looked when
Charles Darwin was working there. The photos on the notebook covers are
copyrighted by English Heritage.
Left:
A view of the Darwin estate from the famous "sand walk" where Darwin
strolled every day before lunch. It is now part of the area walkways
system.
Right:
The greenhouse and garden where Darwin did many of his experiments with orchids,
pollination, climbing plants, and so on. Volunteers work in the garden and
greenhouse and some of Darwin's original research notebooks are available for
viewing here.
Left:
I noticed a bumblebee working on these flowers, and thought it would be
appropriate to photograph pollination happening in the garden where Darwin did
his research on pollination.
