English Heritage at Down House

Scientist’s outdoor laboratory and gardens to be seen by visitors

English Heritage at Down House

Take a step back in time to the age of discovery and go on a tour of Charles Darwin’s home.

Visitors to Down House near Orpington can walk in the footsteps of the famous scientist this July and August during exclusive tours of the extensive gardens.

The hour-long tours, running twice a day every Wednesday and Sunday offer enthusiasts the chance to experience Darwin’s outdoor laboratory. Knowledgeable guides will point out twelve of Darwin’s original experiments, now recreated around the grounds, and explain how the observations he made in his garden were so instrumental in developing his ground-breaking theories and ideas.

Down’s gardens were very important to the Darwin family, not least in supplying the fruit and vegetables to feed the ever-expanding brood. The couple had two children when they moved in, and another eight were born at Down.

Led by volunteers and English Heritage staff, the guided tours through the pleasure garden, orchard and meadows as well as the walled garden and glasshouse will reveal how the gardens were rescued using painstaking research based on the writing, paintings and photographs left by the Darwin family.

Tours cost £3.50 per English Heritage member and non member in addition to normal admission prices of £9.90 adults, £8.90 for concessions, £5.90 for children, and £27.70 for a family ticket. English Heritage members receive free admission.

For more information visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/kent or call 0870 333 1181.