The back of Down House today
Down House
Charles Darwin and his family moved from busy, noisy London to the village of Down (later Downe) in 1842. Here Darwin would live and work for the rest of his life.
There are more sources and more information about Darwin's Down House in Darwin Online than anywhere else in the world. This page gives an overview of this vast amount of material.
See Down House in the texts in Darwin Online here and in Darwin's manuscripts and private papers here. Mentions of the sandwalk here, here & here. You can search for other Down House terms such as 'hothouse' here 'hot house' here. or 'greenhouse' here.
Early guides to Down House
Baxter, W. 1929. Darwin's old home. Personal recollections of the great scientist. Bromley and District Times Text Image PDF
Keith, Arthur. 1928. Darwin's home. Text PDF
[Keith, Arthur]. 1929. Down House. Text PDF
Howarth. [1933]. A history of Darwin's parish: Downe, Kent. Text Image PDF
Anon. 1945. Down House during the war. The Advancement of Science. PDF
[1946.] Historical and descriptive catalogue of the Darwin Memorial at Down House Downe, Kent. Text PDF / Text
Dobson, Jessie. 1971. Charles Darwin and Down House. PDF
Atkins. 1976. Down: the home of the Darwins; the story of a house and the people who lived there. Text PDF
[Titheradge]. 1981. The Charles Darwin memorial at Down House, Downe, Kent. Text PDF
See also:
John van Wyhe, Charles Darwin: Justice of the peace. The complete records (1857-1882). Text PDF
Catalogue of Darwin papers etc. in the Down House collection here.
Darwin's personal 'Journal'. Intro Text & image
Census returns of England and Wales (Darwin family). Text
Darwin's Catalogue of trees and plants at Down House. Text Image PDF
Darwin, [1852]. Notes on the chain for the well at Down House. Text Image
On the flight paths of male humble bees. PDF F1580 (trans. of F1602)
Gray, Jane. 1868. Letter on a visit to Down House. Text GHL-HU-gra00026-G-AG-B10.8 Transcribed by editors of the Correspondence here.
Anon. 1870. [Cricket matches on Down House grounds]. Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser PDF
1899. Bromley Record (March): 47.
"MRS. FRANCIS DARWIN, Wychfield, Cambridge, wishes to recommend country lodgings kept by widow (formerly children's nurse) at Downe, Kent. Good opportunity for invalid desiring comfortable home at small cost, or for boarding respectable children. Good references given and required."
Jordan, D. J. 1884. [Recollections of Darwin and Down by the landlord of the "George Inn" and Parslow]. American Naturalist. [Reprinted in Hardwicke's Science-Gossip 1884, vol. 20, p. 51) Text A1025
Jordan, D. J. 1922. [Recollections of Darwin and Down by the landlord of the "George Inn" and Parslow]. The days of a man, pp. 272-274. Text PDF A7056
Candolle, Alphonse de. 1887. [Recollection of Darwin in 1880]. In G. T. Bettany, 1887. Life of Charles Darwin. Text F2095
Webster, A. D. 1888. Darwin's garden. Gardeners' Chronicle. Text Image A491
Anon. 1891. [On failed visit to Down House]. Bromley & District Times PDF
Anon. 1894. Darwin's home at Downe (Downe House). Bromley Record Image
North, M. 1894. [Letter and recollection of a visit to Down House]. In Recollections of a happy life being the autobiography of Marianne North. Text Image F2002
Anon. 1896. The late Mrs. Darwin. Bromley Record Text Image
Anon. 1897. [Down House to be let]. The Times (25 February): 16. Text
Darwin, Horace. 1901. On the small vertical movements of a stone laid on the surface of the ground. Communicated by Clement Reid, F.R.S. Received April 17, read May 2, 1901. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 68: 253-61. PDF
Morley, J. 1901. [Recollection of Down House visit with Gladstone in 1877]. The Times. Text A1102
Lubbock, John. 1908. The Darwin-Wallace celebration held on Thursday, 1st July, 1908 by the Linnean society of London. London: Printed for the Linnean Society. Text PDF
Anon. 1909. A visit to Darwin's village: reminiscences of some of his humble friends. Evening News (12 February): 4. Text Image A546
Darwin, George, William Darwin and Francis Darwin. 1909. Darwin celebration, Cambridge, June, 1909. Speeches delivered at the banquet held on June 23rd. Cambridge: Cambridge Daily News. Text PDF
Judd, J. W. pp. 229-40: Seward, A. C. ed. 1909. Darwin and modern science. Essays in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The origin of species. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Text Image PDF
Darwin, Leonard. 1929. Memories of Down House. The Nineteenth Century Text
Darwin, Bernard. 1940. Life is sweet brother. London: Collins. Text A7055
Darwin, Bernard. 1941. Pack clouds away. [Recollections of Down and family]. Text Image A557
Anon. 1945. Down House during the war. The Advancement of Science PDF
Most of the recollections of Darwin collected by the Darwin Online project are of course records of visits to Down House.
The back of Down House drawn from memory with Darwin added. Allgemeine illustrierte Zeitung 1882
Postcard of the back of Down House c.1910
The front of Down House today
The Complete Library of Charles Darwin - as it was at Down House
Recollections of Darwin - unique details and insights recalled by people who knew or met Darwin - most are relevant to Down House.
Complete Photographs of Darwin (PDF) - an unprecedented quantum leap in our knowledge of the photographs of Darwin
Caricatures of Darwin and evolution 1860-1939 - 900 pages across four catalogues - the largest collection in history with hundreds of newly uncovered illustrations including more than 40 caricatures of Darwin unknown before
Drafts of the Origin of Species - the most detailed and complete collection of the surviving drafts of the book that changed the world - written in the Old Study at Down House
Map of Down House and grounds from Darwin: A Companion, 2021.
This work includes the most complete itinerary of Darwin's whereabouts during his life ever published as well as the most complete list of visitors to the Darwins at Down House. Far from the idea of Darwin as a recluse - they received very many visitors. This book also includes the most complete list of drawings, paintings and photographs of Down House and grounds ever published.
The Sandwalk in 1908
The Sandwalk today
The 'worm stone' today.
Engaraving of the New Study by Axel H. Haig shortly after Darwin's death in 1882.
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