Admission: Free
5th October 6.30
The landscape around us had been formed by geology, nature and the actions of man. Reading the landscape can tell us a lot about all three. In his 2017 autumn talks, Ted will be exploring the landscape around Selborne and revealing its secrets. In talk 1, Ted focuses on natural processes and how the landforms and habitats developed. In talk 2 he discuses how occupation of the Selborne area has eventually created what we see today.
Gilbert White was aged 7 or 8 when the White family moved from the Vicarage on Selborne’s Plestor, to this house, called ‘The Wakes’ (named after the Wake family who had lived here previously). At that time the property would have been no more than a ‘two up, two down’ but over the subsequent years lots of extensions and additions have been made, creating the long sizeable house you see today.
The rooms have been restored following descriptions in White’s own correspondence and include a chair he used at Oriel College, Oxford (loaned from the College), items of contemporary furniture, family portraits and bed hangings embroidered for him by his aunts.
On display is the original manuscript of his book, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, which was purchased with generous help from English Heritage and others.
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