1842J 75 



CHAPTER V 

 DOWN 



Down The dangerous illness of Josiah Wedgwood The death of 

 Emma's third child A visit from Snow, Bro, and Erny The 

 children get lost in the Big Woods. 



FOR some time my parents had felt a growing wish to live 

 in the country. Their health made London undesirable in 

 many ways and they both preferred the freedom and quiet 

 of a country life. They decided to buy a country-house, 

 but out of prudence resolved upon not going beyond a 

 moderate price ; and, as they also wished to be near London, 

 there was a weary search before they found anything at 

 all suitable. In my mother's diary under the date 

 July 22nd, 1842, there is the entry, "Went to Down," 

 and this must have been her fust sight of her future home. 

 It was bought for them by Dr Darwin for about 2,200, 

 and the purchase was quickly completed, for they moved 

 in on September the 14th. 



Down was then ten miles from a station, and the whole 

 neighbourhood, though only sixteen miles from London 

 Bridge, was entirely rural. To the south there were miles 

 of copse, now cultivated as fruit grounds. My father was 

 delighted with the varied hedges and many flowers of a 

 chalk district, and this charm, which would be slight in 

 the eyes of some, helped to decide the purchase of Down 

 House, 



The house was square and unpretending, built of shabby 

 bricks, which were afterwards stuccoed, and with a slate 

 roof. It faced south-west, and stood in about 18 acres of 

 land. It was of moderate size when bought, but was 

 gradually added to, and became in time capable of holding 

 a large party. The rooms were pleasant to live in, both 

 drawing-room and dining-room large and roomy, but en- 

 tirely unpretentious, and with sashed windows down to the 

 ground. Its principal charm was a row of fine lime-trees 



