Thursday 21st May
We are delighted to announce our first social event of 2026, a visit to Charles Darwin’s home at Down House, in the village of Downe, near Biggin Hill.
The great scientist lived here for 40 years until his death in 1882. It was here that he developed his theory of evolution by natural selection and wrote his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859).
Down House remains much as it was when Darwin lived there. Many of the ground-floor rooms are filled with family portraits, furniture and personal possessions, as they were when Darwin lived here, while the study contains his writing desk, chair and many objects connected with his work. The gardens have been restored to their appearance in his time, and some of his experiments on plant and insect life are recreated in the garden and greenhouse.
The gardens at Down were central to Darwin’s work, and the place where he conducted numerous investigations. In the late 1850s he took over a corner of the kitchen garden for his ‘experimental beds’, where his investigations into plant evolution led to several key discoveries.
At the outer edge of the property, beyond the walled kitchen garden, Darwin laid down the Sandwalk, a quarter-mile stone and sand path that formed the basis of his regular daily walks until the final weeks of his life. It was a place for meditation, known as his ‘thinking path’.
Down House has it own excellent café, and the local village of Downe has two good pubs. Members may also choose to bring their own food and picnic in the grounds, weather permitting.
For full details of Down House, go to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/home-of-charles-darwin-down-house/
Boarding locations
Please select your option when booking:
- South Street bus stops, Deal (9am)
- Archery Square, Walmer – The bus stop on Dover Road opposite the garden centre (9:05)
- Upper Walmer – The bus stop on Dover Road opposite the Thompsons Bell (9:10)
We will be travelling in a 38-seater Bayliss coach, and should return to Deal around 5.30pm.
Cost: £18 per person for travel in a Bayliss coach. English Heritage members have free entry to Down House; non-members £13.85 (seniors).
Booking deadline: Thursday 7th May (or when full – recent events have been fully booked).
Booking
To book for the event, please select your boarding location and click the ‘Add to Cart’ button which will take you to PayPal where you can enter the number of people you’d like to book for and complete the purchase using your PayPal account (if you have one) or your credit/debit card.