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Downe Bank is a nature reserve owned and managed by the
Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a Conservation movement, conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve ou ...
in the
North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...
, close to
Downe Downe, formerly Down (), is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, which formed part of the historical county of Kent until 1965, and is beyond London's contiguous urban area. Charles Darwin lived ...
in the
London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...
. It is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
(SSSI) together with the neighbouring High Elms Country Park. Located close to
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
's home,
Down House Down House is the former home of the English Natural history, naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London befor ...
, it was one of his favourite places and helped to inspire his work.


The site

The Kent Wildlife Trust reserve occupies 5 hectares at grid reference TQ438609, but the SSSI covers a wider area of 17.7 hectares. There is an area of ancient woodland called Hangrove Wood, and chalk downland called 'Rough Pell' on a tythe map of 1840, but known to Darwin as Orchis Bank, because many wild orchids grew there. It has a good diversity of chalk grassland species, including toothwort, adder's tongue and false oxlip. Up to 31 species of birds have been recorded, together with
dormice A dormouse is a rodent of the family (biology), family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their ...
and invertebrates. It is one of the few sites in the area to have remained almost unaltered since Darwin's day, due to the efforts of local naturalists. Access is by a footpath, which goes through the reserve, between Christmas Tree Farm on Cudham Road in Downe and Overshaws on Cudham Lane near
Cudham Cudham is an area in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley and beyond London's urban sprawl. It is located on the Greater London border with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. Cudham lies south of Orpington ...
. The footpath is part of the Cudham Circular Short Walk (not the full Walk). The entrance, which has no car parking, is on Hangrove Hill. The southern part is open to the public, and access to the more important northern part is by prior arrangement with the Trust.


Charles Darwin

Darwin's observations of orchids and their insect pollinators at Orchis Bank provided the evidence for his important book, ''
Fertilisation of Orchids ''Fertilisation of Orchids'' is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862 under the full explanatory title ''On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects, and On the Good ...
'', published in 1862, and experts agree that it inspired his famous conclusion to ''
On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...
'': :It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us .... and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.Natural History Museum, Downe, Bromley, Kent
/ref> According to his son,
Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
: :Another favourite place was "Orchis Bank," above the quiet Cudham valley, where fly- and musk-orchis grew among the junipers, and Cephalanthera and Neottia under the beech boughs; the little wood "Hangrove," just above this, he was also fond of, and here I remember his collecting grasses, when he took a fancy to make out the names of all the common kinds. He was fond of quoting the saying of one of his little boys, who, having found a grass that his father had not seen before, had it laid by his own plate during dinner, remarking, "I are an extraordinary grass-finder!" Darwin's daughter, Henrietta Lichfield, wrote: :Just on the other side of the narrow steep little lane leading to the village of Cudham, perched high above the valley, was 'Orchis bank,' where bee, fly, musk, and butterfly orchises grew. This was a grassy terrace under one of the shaws of old beeches, and with a quiet view across the valley, the shingled spire of Cudham church shewing above its old yews.


World Heritage Site nomination

'Darwin's Landscape Laboratory', which included Down House and its gardens and Downe Bank, was the British Government's 2009 nomination for a World Heritage Site, but the application was unsuccessful.UNESCO, World Heritage Committee inscribes a total of 21 new sites on UNESCO World Heritage List, 2 August 2010
/ref>


See also

*
List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London In England, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are designated by Natural England, which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Designation as an SSSI gives legal protection to the most important wildlife and geolo ...
*
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
*
Down House Down House is the former home of the English Natural history, naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London befor ...


External links


Darwin's Landscape Laboratory, Downe Bank

Kent Wildlife Trust, Downe Bank
*


References

{{Kent Wildlife Trust Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Bromley Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London Charles Darwin