On the Trail of Darwin

The Lion Hotel is a historic coaching inn. In Darwin’s day, this modern conveyance parked out front would have taken the form of a stage-coach drawn by four horses. When Darwin received the invitation to join Captain Fitzroy as companion and Naturalist on the voyage of the "Beagle," it was here that he caught the coach. It was a close call. His father had originally refused to let him go, wanting him to become a clergyman.

Darwin himself said the "Bellstone" played a major role in preparing him for later geology studies. A local naturalist drew his attention to the fact that this type of stone was not local, and no one could explain how it got there from Cumberland or Scotland. Later, he was delighted to hear how glaciers shifted and changed whole landscapes during the last ice age.

Shrewsbury is a rural town, situated on what is almost an island in the River Severn. Growing up in the countryside aroused Darwin’s interest in flora and fauna, which he was later to develop during his five-year journey on the "Beagle."

The statue shows the "old" Darwin in front of Shrewsbury library, which used to be Darwin’s boarding school. He hated its strict regime and the concentration on subjects like Latin, and escaped as often as he could to search for insects or stones in the surrounding area. Some say it is fitting that the Darwin statue has its back to the building.

13 Clairmont was the home of Reverend Case, the minister at the Unitarian Church where Darwin’s mother was a member. It was here that Darwin was given his first formal education.

St. Chad’s is the official “civic church” of Shrewsbury. This is where Charles Darwin was baptized in November, 2009. Today, the minister of St. Chad’s is an enthusiastic supporter of the Darwin Festival, which takes place every February. Other churches in the town condemn Darwin and his evolution theory, in favour of the Biblical story of creation.

Robert Darwin chose the site for his home to be close to the hospital, where he ran a successful practice. He wanted Charles to be a doctor. But after seeing a child being operated on during his studies in Edinburgh, Charles knew that was not for him.

The Mount commands an impressive view of Shrewsbury, a thriving market town, whose wealth came originally from the wool trade.

A wooden fence and a street of houses now cover what would have been the extensive gardens of the Darwin family. They used to keep perennial garden diaries, meticulously observing and recording which plants thrived in which conditions. This was a sound basis for Darwin’s later work as a naturalist.

Darwin was born here in Mount House on February 12, 1809. His father, Robert Darwin, was a well-to-do doctor and investor. The property included extensive gardens, out-houses and fields with livestock.

Shrewsbury combines the old and the new. Many of the buildings are timber-framed. Much of the town still looks as it would have done in Darwin’s day -- with the addition of a few mod-cons.

Jon King is Shrewsbury’s "Mr. Darwin." He is Director of the annual Shrewsbury Festival and coordinator of the town’s Darwin activities. Here, he is at the last station of the town’s "Darwin Trail," the Unitarian Church. He believes the fact that Darwin’s parents belonged to this church, which declared itself to be "open to world religions and science" played a major role in the "personal evolution" of the Shrewsbury boy into the famous scientist.