16th July 2023
Every year we celebrate Gilbert White’s birthday with a day of free admission to the museum as well as some added bonuses!
This year the Hampshire Regency Dancers will be performing in the Great Parlour at 11.30am and 2pm. They will also be having a Regency Picnic outside on the lawn, of course dressed in Regency gear. Visitors are welcome to to watch the performance and join the picnic!
No need to pre-book just turn up!
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.
Learn more