At last we have got to the walk; four miles, circular.
It starts along a quiet road passing Charles Darwin’s sprawling house, large enough for his ten children and nine servants. Indeed it was large enough to be leased from the Darwin family and used as the first home for Downe House School, 1907 – 1922. The walk then veers across fields. This is followed by a long stretch heading north on a narrow path through woods. I imagine it gets muddy in winter. Across a ridge to the west lies Biggin Hill. There was plenty of aeroplane noise but the canopy of leaves meant I didn’t see anything. Finally the path emerges to cross three fields before turning south east back to Downe.
At St Mary’s the bride and groom and congregation were leaving the church for photographs. The exterior of the 13th century Grade II Listed church has not been spoiled like the interior.
Towards the top of the 16th century steeple is a sundial – a memorial to Charles Darwin. His wife Emma, also his cousin and the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, and some of his family are buried in the graveyard where Darwin intended to be buried. However, after his death his colleagues and friends arranged for him to be buried in Westminster Abbey. He was devoted to his wife and children and I am surprised his family did not resist this. Disraeli’s family were made of sterner stuff refusing a State funeral and burial at the Abbey. He died in 1881, a year before Darwin, and is buried in the vault below the church at Hughenden.
There is no need to leave the British Isles to have a holiday and my visit to Downe suggests there’s no need to go outside the M25. Where do you go to?
Peter Harbisons book on the Churches of East Galway is a useful guide but also very good on the stained glass and history of the Cathedral in Loughrea , well worth a visit.