Down House
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Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had
The east side of the house is close to a narrow lane: the central block was the original house, the service wing to its left was extended with a schoolroom and bedrooms above the kitchen. The 1877 extension to the right included a new main entrance.
Charles Darwin's study at Down House, restored with original furniture including his wheeled armchair and writing board. On the right, two (shuttered) windows look east, and Darwin had an angled mirror fixed outside to see who was coming up the drive to the entrance.
The west front of Down House looks out onto its gardens, and the main block is dominated by the angled walls of the bay extension Darwin had built in 1843. The kitchen wing to the right has a classroom on the upper floor, and the block to the left, added in 1858, has a drawing room behind the glazed roofed verandah.
Erasmus Alvey Darwin
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Erasmus Alvey Darwin, nicknamed Eras or Ras, was the older brother of Charles Darwin, born five years earlier. They were brought up at the family home, The Mount House, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
Portrait of Erasmus Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron in 1868.
