Erasmus Darwin House
Encyclopedia
Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield
, Staffordshire
is the former house of the English poet and physician Erasmus Darwin
, grandfather of naturalist Charles Darwin
. The house is a Grade I listed building.
Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield
was the home of Erasmus Darwin
, the renowned physician, scientist, inventor, poet, and educationist, from 1758 until 1781. A founder member of the Lunar Society
, it was here that he received many famous 18th century characters including Josiah Wedgwood
, Matthew Boulton
, Benjamin Franklin
and James Watt
.
Erasmus Darwin House is now a family-friendly museum, open to the general public, now on winter opening hours of Thursday to Sunday, 12 a.m. - 4:40 p.m. (Last checked November 2009).
of red brick with stucco dressings and Venetian windows.At this time the front of the house was separated from Beacon Street by a narrow deep ditch which once formed the moat of the Cathedral Close. Darwin built a bridge across the ditch descending from his hall door to the street. The ditch was overgrown with tangled bushes, which Darwin cleared and made a terrace on the bank. He planted the ditch with lilacs and rose bushes which screened his terrace from passers by.After Darwin left in 1781 the next owner filled in the ditch to make a driveway from the street to his doorway.
recollected that the bridge and terrace both had Chinese pailings.
For 20 years this house was the base for Darwin's medical practice, for his scientific experiments, meetings of the Lunar Society
, and such inventive schemes as the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal
. Amid all this, the house was also the centre of family life.
The house is also involved in the Lichfield festival and annually takes part in the medieval market.
Heritage weekend has the museum open to the public for free and cellar tours are also available.
Halloween
is a popular event for the house when it hosts its 'Haunted House Night' which includes storytelling
, apple bobbing, game
s, facepainting, arts and crafts and its freeky food and drink stall. Cellar tours are pre-booked.
after the death of his first wife.
has been recently restored and now holds an antique grandfather clock. The room also includes compfy armchairs with headphones where you can listen to Erasmus Darwin
's poetry and ideas of evolution
.
herb garden that has been faithfully recreated with plantings of the period.
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
is the former house of the English poet and physician Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, grandfather of naturalist Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. The house is a Grade I listed building.
Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
was the home of Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, the renowned physician, scientist, inventor, poet, and educationist, from 1758 until 1781. A founder member of the Lunar Society
Lunar Society
The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle,...
, it was here that he received many famous 18th century characters including Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...
, Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
and James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
.
Erasmus Darwin House is now a family-friendly museum, open to the general public, now on winter opening hours of Thursday to Sunday, 12 a.m. - 4:40 p.m. (Last checked November 2009).
History of the House
Darwin purchased a medieval half-timbered building on the west side of the lower courtyard of the Vicars Choral in 1758. From 1758-1759Darwin converted the building into a large Georgian town houseGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
of red brick with stucco dressings and Venetian windows.At this time the front of the house was separated from Beacon Street by a narrow deep ditch which once formed the moat of the Cathedral Close. Darwin built a bridge across the ditch descending from his hall door to the street. The ditch was overgrown with tangled bushes, which Darwin cleared and made a terrace on the bank. He planted the ditch with lilacs and rose bushes which screened his terrace from passers by.After Darwin left in 1781 the next owner filled in the ditch to make a driveway from the street to his doorway.
Erasmus Darwin at home in Lichfield
Not long after the Darwins moved into the fashionable new front of their house, a wooden bridge was thrown across the ditch and a twin-tier terrace was built, causing alterations to be made to the basement windows. Anna SewardAnna Seward
Anna Seward was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield.-Life:Seward was the elder daughter of Thomas Seward , prebendary of Lichfield and Salisbury, and author...
recollected that the bridge and terrace both had Chinese pailings.
For 20 years this house was the base for Darwin's medical practice, for his scientific experiments, meetings of the Lunar Society
Lunar Society
The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle,...
, and such inventive schemes as the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal
Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
. Amid all this, the house was also the centre of family life.
Recent and Future Events
Erasmus Darwin House recently relaunched two exhibition rooms, with audio and visual interactives.The house is also involved in the Lichfield festival and annually takes part in the medieval market.
Heritage weekend has the museum open to the public for free and cellar tours are also available.
Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
is a popular event for the house when it hosts its 'Haunted House Night' which includes storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
, apple bobbing, game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
s, facepainting, arts and crafts and its freeky food and drink stall. Cellar tours are pre-booked.
New Exhibition
Erasmus Darwin House has a revamped the 'Erasmus Study' Exhibition Room with a computer microscope, touch screen games and quizzes and other interactives. The parlour now has two armchairs with headphones to listen to poetry etc and a conversation between Erasmus Darwin and Anna SewardAnna Seward
Anna Seward was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield.-Life:Seward was the elder daughter of Thomas Seward , prebendary of Lichfield and Salisbury, and author...
after the death of his first wife.
The Parlour
The parlourParlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
has been recently restored and now holds an antique grandfather clock. The room also includes compfy armchairs with headphones where you can listen to Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
's poetry and ideas of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
.
Herb Garden
Erasmus Darwin House also has a restored GeorgianGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
herb garden that has been faithfully recreated with plantings of the period.
Erasmouse Hunt
The museum has become popular with its Erasmouse Hunt that involves finding 26 'mice' located around the house. Winners get their own wooley 'Erasmouse'. There has been locally noted a few adults euthasiast that enjoy the hunt also.Admissions
Erasmus Darwin House is run by a charitable foundation and therefore charges a small admission for entry. £3 Adults, £2 concession, child £1 and Family £6.Cellar Tour
The cellar is not normally open to visitors and a special tour is required to explore this part of the house.Room and House Hire
Erasmus Darwin House is available for conferences, receptions, parties and weddings. Three rooms are available for hire. The largest is the Seminar Room, capable of holding up to 36 people. The Exhibition Room can accommodate up to 20 people and the Library can be used for small meetings and interviews.External links
- Erasmus Darwin House - official site
- Visit Lichfield
- Samuel Johnson Birthplace