5 tips for families visiting Darwin’s home Down House

1. Explore the Down House Spotters book
Upon arrival at Darwin’s home Down House in Kent, an English Heritage site, we received The Down House Spotters Book leaflet, which included pictures of objects like Darwin’s bug hotel and wormstone to look out for on our walk around the scientist’s vast gardens. There were also images of different types of butterflies, and to much excitement, we managed to identify several different species on the meadow.

2. Look out for insectivorous plants
While it was not possible to go through Darwin’s glasshouse where he studied insectivorous plants on our visit in August, we could stand by the entrance, and a friendly guide jumped inside to point at the Sundew and other plants.

3. Wander down Darwin’s thinking path
After finishing at the Glasshouse and crossing the kitchen gardens, we reached The Sandwalk, which is where Darwin was known to walk to ponder on his ideas. The walk only took a few minutes through the woods, and at the end, we counted the flints on the ground, which we read Darwin used to place there to count his laps.

4. Look for the earthworm experiment
After queuing a few minutes to enter the house where only one family bubble was allowed in one room at the time, we were excited to learn about how Darwin experimented with earthworms, and a guide explained that a box by the piano was where he’d kept earthworms to test their hearing. We also had a chance to see other rooms on the ground floor, such as the family dining room and Darwin’s study. Photos were not allowed inside the house.

5. Prepare to be outdoors
With the extensive gardens, exploring Down House can make for a wonderful day outdoors, and there’s now a one-way route through the gardens that finish up at the house. To extend the stay, families could bring a picnic to enjoy in the designated picnic area in the garden, or buy refreshments in the cafe.

Tags: Butterfly, Charles Darwin, Down House, English Heritage, Outdoor attractions, Picnic