Down House in Kent was for forty years home to Charles Darwin, one of the most influential
thinkers in the history of scientific discovery.
It's here surrounded by his large family and his wife Emma, that Darwin developed his groundbreaking
theory of evolution by natural selection.
Arriving at the house you get a real sense of Darwin the naturalist.
The scientist.
But also of Darwin as the family man.
A visit here is truly inspiring.
You don't only feel the presence of that great scientist but also it's bristling with a sense
of fun through experimentation, something that would have arisen because of that family
life here.
In Darwin's study, you can find many of his books, artifacts and maps.
The tools of his discoveries are spread out everywhere; specimen jars, dissection tools
a magnifying glass..
There is the chair where Darwin sat and that's the board that he rested upon when he was
writing his famous book 'On the Origin of Species' one of the most important books in
our history.
Sat in here in this space with his quill scraping across the paper.
This really is the inner sanctum of zoology.
Standing in here looking at all of his bits and pieces, all of his clutter which stimulated
his curiosity, his creativity.
It's amazing!
By startling contrast, elsewhere in the house you'll find a surprising discovery.
It's a make-shift stair slide that Charles and Emma made for their children.
If Darwin's letters are anything to go by, then the life that his children led here was
fairly riotous for the times.
"The children are growing so quite out of all rule in the drawing room.
Jumping on everything and butting like young bulls at every chair and sofa that I am going
to have the dining room fire lighted tomorrow and keep them out of the drawing room."
They had rope swings hung from these ceilings, they would play cricket along here and throw
lead darts at one another, protecting themselves with wooden shields.
Today fittingly, a visit to Down House is a very hands-on experience.
You can get an interactive multimedia tour narrated by David Attenborough or play a variety
if family games.
You can also discover a replica of Darwin's cabin from his voyage on HMS Beagle where
he drew inspiration from many of his discoveries and continued his life long passion for collecting
and cataloging animals.
Like all good naturalists, Darwin was a great collector.
He even collected a tortoise from the Galapagos which had grown two inches by the time he
got it back here to the UK.
But looking around this study the one thing that my eye was drawn to is the little wicker
dog basket down there on the floor because it was there that his trusty dog Polly slept
waiting, perhaps just listening for the sound of that quill going down, and then rushing
across this carpet and jumping up and saying "Charles, take me for a walk!"
Outside, on the sand walk, Darwin rewarded his dogs patience.
Going for a walk every day.
His kids would often join him playing games or helping him with his observations.
When I walk here today this place brings me back to a world that was bursting with birds
and butterflies the very things that were stimulating Dawin's creativity and his curiosity.
While for Darwin, the gardens were a place to experiment, for the children they were
a playground.
Whether playing in clay pits, or navigating the lawns on stilts, they made the most of
their surroundings.
In 1863 Darwin constructed a heated greenhouse here with the help of a local gardener.
Annie I love it in here.
The quality of the light, that warm, moist smell of greenhouse is undoubtedly unchanged
from Dawin's time.
It's fabulous isn't it.
Yes absolutely.
And what can people expect?
Well what we've got here is a range of tropical Orchids, the type of which Darwin would have
himself experimented on back in his day.
The gardeners here have tried to recreate the array of plants.
We've got one in flower there as well, look at that, that is remarkably exotic isn't it,
stunning.
What about kids though, when they come what do they get?
Well there's always something nice and gory at Down House for the youngsters.
So over on this side we have a series of carnivorous plants which used to eat various things including
toenail clippings would you believe?
He gave toenail clippings to Venus Fly Traps?
I believe so, yes.
Which I think was a bit mean, he could have given them flies but kids love watching them
snap shut on those insects don't they?
Absolutely, yes.
Again, out here in the gardens we've actually got a observation bee hive where you can see
the bees working to create their honeycomb structures between two panels of glass so
it's absolutely amazing to see these fantastic little creatures going about their daily business,
Kids love getting their nose into that sort of stuff don't they?
Absolutely, yes!
I want them to leave here as young biologists!
That would be nice, wouldn't it?
I wish I could tell Darwin all I know because of him.
All the inexplicables explained, all the wonders, the miracles, the brilliant things that I
have seen through eyes that he opened.
I like to imagine that some young people might visit Down House with no real idea who Darwin
was.
But when they come here, perhaps lead by their parents or the staff of English Heritage they
look at his collection and his life which is brought to life in such an exciting and
exhilarating and fun way that they will leave thinking I've been in the place where a great
man lived and thought, and came up with remarkable ideas in an incredibly important time.
I like to think that some of those young people might leave thinking 'I would be a biologist
too'.
They might be stimulated by what they've found here, because after all in the future we are
going to need more Darwins to help us look after all of this.