House, Gardens & Cafe Open Tuesday - Sunday 10.30 - 17.00

*Sold Out* Twilight Tales and Craft

This event is now sold out, please contact us if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

5-6.30pm in the House

As the night draws in, join us in the Great Parlour for seasonal stories, crafts and a torchlit trail around the museum. Discover the night life found in the nooks and crannies of The Wakes, as professional storyteller, Dawn Nelson, tells tales of owls, harvest mice and house spiders. Autumnal themed nature stories, suitable for primary age children who prefer their Halloween cosy rather than frightful.

‘Dawn Nelson is a performance storyteller based within the beautiful South Downs. Her passion is landscape, heritage and nature connection through the wonder of story, in all its forms. To find out more about her work please visit www.ddstoryteller.co.uk’

£10 adult £8 child

    Gilbert Whites House

    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