Home of Charles Darwin - Down House

May 1st, 2023

Wow, no wonder Darwin cud pen down the Origin of species. The place is an idealistic spot to open up the mind for flow of ideas. Must visit with family!
May 1st, 2023

Visited Down House during the winter seasons, which closes early. Really a pain to get to this place via public transport, as you have to take the one bus 146 from Bromley, which a lot of the times is not on time. Which shows why Darwin really chose this place and spend a lot of time here, as it is far away from the city and he can concentrate his studies here. Overall a great experience as you get audio guides as well which means you can explore the place at your leisure.
Apr 30th, 2023

Great place for learning about Charles Darwins groundbreaking theories, enjoying gardens (even a buzzing beehive behind glass) and the beautiful countryside.
Apr 30th, 2023

My daughter has been to this place five years ago on a school trip but can't remember much of it. And since my husband and I haven't been here, my family decided to visit it yesterday. We started the tour inside his home first (upstairs on a self tour basis, then downstairs with an audio guide provided). It was fascinating to see the contents of his house such as furnitures that dates back a long time ago, equipments that he used to carry out his experiments for his work, and the notebooks where he wrote all his ideas and theories. It was also interesting to learn about his life, his work and his family, including their old photographs. (Sure, you can find all about him using Google but it's not the same when you are actually standing on the grounds where he lived - it has a more atmospheric feeling). After touring inside his home, we went outside to the garden. It was amazing to see how huge the garden is - it's like a mini country park! It has apple orchards, flower beds, grassy lands and meadows, as well as his greenhouse - filled with unique plants and flowers. Benches were placed randomly around the garden and there were picnic benches and tables added onto the premises for those who wants to have a picnic whilst enjoying the scenery outside. The only minor disappointment for me though, was that photography wasn't allowed inside the house (although some visitors were trying to take a sneaky shot); it's only allowed in the garden area. Because in comparison, visitors to Shakespeare's birthplace (which is another great place to visit in Gloucestershire), are allowed to take photos. Also, there are very few parking spaces for Charles Darwin's visitors so you really have to come here earlier or later (as per their advise on the website), unless you are prepared to park outside and walk a little bit (which we did because we arrived around midday!) Coming here feels very much like an educational visit and we enjoyed our day out in this quiet little village with friendly locals :-).
Apr 30th, 2023