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

Garden Birds Egg Hunt

Can you find ten eggs hidden in Gilbert White’s garden? They are painted to look like the eggs of the birds which nest in our grounds, just a little bit bigger to make them easier to spot! Can you find the odd one out among the birds featured?
Find them all and claim a chocolate egg!

£3 per child with a Garden Entry ticket. Payable on the day via the cafe.

    Book Online

    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