Uncovering Origins at the Home of Charles Darwin
Darwin's personal items, original manuscript material and his famous Beagle notebooks go on display to mark the bicentenary of his birth
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Rare original objects, including notebooks written by Charles Darwin during his epic voyage on HMS Beagle, are now on display at his family home near Bromley in Kent, in a new exhibition marking the bicentenary of his birth.
The new permanent exhibition, Uncovering Origins, charts the progression of Darwin's groundbreaking ideas and the controversy they provoked upon publication, as well as providing a fascinating and intimate glimpse into what family life was like at Down House. Highlights of the exhibition include exceptionally rare pages from the manuscript of On the Origin of Species – only 43 pages are known to survive – and a first edition of the book.
Visitors to the Home of Charles Darwin can now also enjoy a lively multimedia tour, narrated by Sir David Attenborough and Andrew Marr. Guiding visitors through the house and, for the first time ever, extensive gardens on site, it vividly animates Darwin's daily life at Down House, which doubled as the hub of his important experiments.
Available at the Exhibition
English Heritage holds one of the two most important collections of Darwin manuscript material in the world. Visitors now have access to the unique Beagle collection – Darwin's field notebooks and diary – via interactive displays on site using special technology which lets users explore this rare material in digital format. Visitors can also imagine what life at sea was like for Darwin on his epic 5-year voyage around the world with a full-size replica of his cramped cabin on board HMS Beagle.
As ever, no trip to the Home of Charles Darwin is complete without stepping into Darwin's atmospheric study, overflowing with books, instruments and objects; likewise no walk through the gardens can be made without paying homage to Darwin's famous 'thinking path', the Sandwalk – now brought to life with new multimedia tours using film clips and animation.
Visitors to Darwin's family home, in the pretty village of Downe, can gain a truly intimate and privileged glimpse of the private life of one of the world's greatest thinkers and most prolific scientists – a kind and compassionate man who abhorred slavery and cruelty to animals, inspired loyalty amongst his peers, friends and family and was an inspiring and much loved father and husband.
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