1842]                                                                                         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.

Foe, 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 fiist 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 sHght 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