VISIT TO DOWN HOUSE (MEMORIAL TOCHARLES DARWIN), DOWNE, KENT.

Sunday, 2nd May, 1937.

Report by ARTHUR L. LEACH, F.G.S.

N0 convenient bus or coach service being available to Downcvillage, arrangements were made for a walking-party

to meet at the nearest railway station, Orpington, upwardsof iivc miles from the Darwin Memorial House. About 24members and friends assembled at the starting point and walkedthence along Tubbenden Lane which runs along the westernflank of the valley of the R. eray between the Eocene scarpand the dry gravel-covered floor of the valley. The districtis one which has lost almost its all former condition of a sparselyinhabited valley amidst the Chalk uplands and in a. very fewyears scarcely a trace of its former rural character will remain.Tubberiden Lane, however, is not yet converted into a streetbordered by continuous lines of houses and shops and some fewpoints of geological interest may still be noted. Of these themost pronounced is the sharp uprise (above the north-west sideof the road) from Chalk, covered only by thin soils, to the wide­spread areas of Blackheath Beds about Crofton Hall.

At the point where Tubbenden Lane crosses the 300 ft. a.D.contour line a huge swallow-hole, Worley's Hole, receives astreamlet which flows down from Farnborough. The water,which here goes underground, probably feeds some of the springswhich issue about It miles lower down the valley and supplythe ponds, north of Orpington church, which today form thehighest visible sources of the R. Cray. As the land betweenFarnborough and Worley's Hole changes from an agricultural toa methodicallv drained residential area even the small surface­feeder of Worley's Hole will become a thing of the past.

Passing through Farnborough the party entered the deep" hollow way"-sunk in the Thanet Sand-which runs downpast Farnborough church to the skirts of a beautiful piece ofwell-wooded upland scenery such as is characteristic of thenorthern dip-slopes of the North Downs. Many dry valleys,which have hitherto escaped building developments, seam thesenorthern slopes and on this bright May morning the countrysidewore its most delightful aspect as a part of almost unspoiledEngland.

Half-a-mile south of Farnborough church the party turnedinto the valley below tJ:te beautiful estate, High Elms, madememorable by the late Lord Avebury's residence there. In thisvalley lunch was taken by the wayside. Higher up the hill someinteresting plants were observed: the tooth-wort (Lathraeasquamaria) grew abundantly amidst the roots of the dwarf beech-

VISIT TO DOWN HOUSE, DOWNE, KENT. 32 7

hedges and a fine specimen was observed of a somewhat rarcfungus which Mr. Templeman identified as the Morel (Morcltellaescltlenta) one of the most highly-esteemed of the edible fungi.At Gorringe's near the heacl' of this lane the road attains thelevel of the Clay-with-flints plateau on which both Downevillage and Down House are situated.

Down House stands nearly half-a-mile south of Downe church.1t is now, largely through the generosity of Sir G. BuckstonBrowne, maintained as a permanent memorial to Charles Darwin.Here the members of the party were welcomed by Mr. O. J. R.Howarth and Prof. P. G. H. Boswell, respectively Secretary andTreasurer of the British Association to which body Sir G. B.Browne has presented the house. The" \Vorm stone," whichstill lies on the lawn where Darwin studied its slow movementsduring so many years, was examined as the party went under Mr.Howarth's guidance to the" sancl walk," where Darwin walkedfor exercise and meditation marking each circuit of the littlewoodland by placing Lt pebble at a particular point of the pathuntil the tale of his perambulations was completed for the day.

A short walk led to the edge of the dry valley which lies be­tween Downe and Leaves Green. Like all the adjacent valleysthis is entirely without surface-waters, but it doubtless oncecarried an open stream. It is now the site of a golf course and theclosely-shaven grass slopes, despite their artificial smoothness,were not unbeautiful in the sunlight. On the way back towardsthe house Mr. Howarth led the party through the gardens andpast an old tennis court of the Darwin period, constricted at themiddle according to a fashion which has long become as obsoleteas the" wasp waist" of Victorian times. From the lawn atten­tion was now drawn to the structural alterations and additionsmade to the house in Darwin's time to meet his family's needsand his own requirements for quiet and spacious work-rooms.Within the house the party examined all those rooms which areusually exhibited to visitors, noting with much interest thenumerous relics of Darwin's personal habits and belongings andthe books, records and simple scientific instruments which werehis working tools in. his prolonged researches.

At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Leach expressed, on behalfof the members of the party, their thanks to Mr. Howarth andProf. Boswell for their guidance to so many points of interestduring the afternoon.

The members returned to Downe village for tea and here Mr.E. E. S. Brown took occasion to thank Mr. Leach and Miss D. M.Hoyles (who had acted as secretary for the meeting) for theirservices. The party then walked through the village to thehead of the dry valley immediately west of the one by whichthey had come up earlier in the day and by this route and afield-path to Farnborough church and Tubbenden Lane returnedto Orpington station.