Downe

Downe
Downe
	George and Dragon public house, Downe
	Downe Location within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ435615
London borough	Bromley;
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ORPINGTON
Postcode district	BR6
Dialling code	01689
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Orpington;
London Assembly	Bexley and Bromley;
	List of places UK England London 51°20′09″N 0°03′13″E / 51.3359°N 0.0535°E

Downe (/daʊn/) is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley but beyond the London urban sprawl. Downe is 3.4 miles (5.5 km) south west of Orpington and 14.2 miles (22.9 km) south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies on a hill, and much of the centre of the village is unchanged; the former village school now acts as the village hall. The word Downe originates from the Anglosaxon word dūn, latterly down, hence the South and North Downs. The village was part of Kent until April 1965 when it (and the remaining part of Orpington Urban District Council) was subsumed into the new London Borough of Bromley.

When Charles Darwin moved there in 1842, the village was known as Down. Its name was changed later to Downe.^[1]

Darwin

Charles Darwin lived in Down House for 40 years, from 1842 until he died there in 1882. He became a close friend of Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet, who lived nearby at the Lubbock's High Elms estate on the other side of the village. A favourite place of Darwin's was Downe Bank, now a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, and several members of his family are buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church.

Down House and the surrounding area has been nominated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to become a World Heritage Site.^[2] However, this decision has been deferred.^[3]

Local politics

Since 2019, the local Member of Parliament has been Gareth Bacon of the Conservative Party. By a numerical majority of 19,453 votes (38.5%), Orpington is the safest Conservative Parliamentary seat in London.

One councillor is elected every four years to Bromley London Borough Council. To date, the Darwin ward has only been represented by representatives from the Conservative Party.

Darwin ward 2018
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Richard Scoates	1,201	72.8
	Labour	Frank Evans	185	11.2
	Liberal Democrats	Millicent Scott Brooks	133	8.1
	Green	Jan Wilson	130	7.9
Turnout			1,649	40.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Darwin ward 2014 (1)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Richard Scoates	987	51.2
	UKIP	Eric Hayward	681	35.3
	Labour	John Evans	105	5.4
	Green_Party_of_England_and_Wales	Eileen Galloway	89	4.6
	Liberal Democrats	William Ritchie	45	2.3
Majority			306
Turnout			1,927
	Conservative hold		Swing

Buckston Browne Farm

Downe is the location of Buckston Browne Farm, built in 1931 as a surgical research centre by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS). In the 1980s, the farm caused controversy because of its use of vivisection techniques, and in August 1984 it was raided by anti-vivisection activists.

The farm has now been made into four houses.

Scouting

There are two scout campsites in the Downe area:

The Downe Scout Activity Centre consisting of 86 acres (350,000 m²) of woodland and open fields is just outside the village.
The Greenwich (one of the Districts of the Greater London South Scout county) District campsite is also nearby.

Transport

Downe, being in the county of Greater London, is still under Transport for London remit despite being outside the metropolis, is served by several London Buses bus services from London but overall has limited connections into London. There are no rail links to the village (nearest stations: Orpington, Bromley and Hayes), but it is served by two 1 hourly bus routes:

146 - Bromley North to Downe via Old Hayes and Keston;

R8 – Biggin Hill to Orpington via Downe and Green Street Green;

Notable people

Charles Hayes (1678–1760), mathematician and chronologist
Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet (1803–65), banker, barrister, mathematician and astronomer
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury (1834–1913), banker, biologist, archaeologist and Liberal politician
Charles Darwin (1809–82), biologist, naturalist and geologist
Horace Darwin (1851–1928), civil engineer and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
Herbert Newton Casson (1869–1951), journalist and author, founder of Efficiency magazine
Olive Willis (1877–1964), founder of Downe House School
Nigel Farage, (born 1964) Former leader of UKIP and Member of European Parliament for South East England. He is also chair of the EFDD group.

Nearest places

References

^ "Letter 637 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, E. C., (24 July 1842)". Darwin Correspondence Project. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007.
^ "UK launches Darwin heritage bid". BBC News. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
^ "Darwin's home and workplace World Heritage nomination deferred by UNESCO Committee". Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

External links

[Letter637-1] "Letter 637 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, E. C., (24 July 1842)". Darwin Correspondence Project. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007.

[2] "UK launches Darwin heritage bid". BBC News. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.

[3] "Darwin's home and workplace World Heritage nomination deferred by UNESCO Committee". Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e London Borough of Bromley
Districts	Anerley Aperfield Beckenham Berry's Green Bickley Biggin Hill Bromley Bromley Common Chelsfield Chislehurst Coney Hall Crystal Palace Cudham Downe Eden Park Elmers End (including Upper Elmers End) Elmstead Farnborough Foxbury Goddington Green Street Green Hayes Hazelwood Hockenden Horns Green Keston Kevington Leaves Green Locksbottom Longlands Luxted Mottingham New Beckenham Orpington (including: Broom Hill, Crofton, Derry Downs and Ramsden) Park Langley Penge Petts Wood Plaistow Poverest Pratt's Bottom Ruxley St Mary Cray St Paul's Cray Shortlands Single Street Southborough South Street Sundridge Sydenham Upper Norwood West Wickham Widmore
Attractions	Bethlem Gallery Bethlem Museum of the Mind Bromley Little Theatre Chislehurst Caves Churchill Theatre Crofton Roman Villa Crystal Palace Crystal Palace Bowl Crystal Palace Dinosaurs Down House St Blaise's Well
Parks and open spaces	Betts Park Chislehurst Common Crofton Wood Croydon Road Recreation Ground Crystal Palace Park Cuckoo Wood Downe Bank Elmstead Wood Hayes Common High Elms Country Park Jubilee Country Park Kelsey Park Keston Common Norman Park Ruxley Gravel Pits Saltbox Hill Scadbury Park Sundridge Park The Warren West Kent Golf Course nature reserve
Places of worship	Bromley Reform Synagogue St Botolph's Church, Ruxley St Edmund's Church, Beckenham St George's Church, Beckenham St John the Evangelist's Church, Penge St Mark's Church, Bromley St Mary's Church, Chislehurst St Mary's Church, Downe St Mary the Virgin, Hayes St Peter and St Paul's Church, Bromley
Constituencies	Beckenham Bromley and Chislehurst Lewisham West and Penge Orpington
Rail stations and tram stops	Anerley Avenue Road Beckenham Road Beckenham Junction Bickley Birkbeck Bromley North Bromley South Chelsfield Chislehurst Clock House Crystal Palace Eden Park Elmers End Elmstead Woods Hayes Kent House Knockholt Lower Sydenham New Beckenham Orpington Penge East Penge West Petts Wood Ravensbourne St Mary Cray Shortlands Sundridge Park West Wickham
Other topics	Coat of arms Council Grade I and II* listed buildings Parks and open spaces People Public art Schools
Category Commons