Darwin House

LICHFIELD

SK1109NW BEACON STREET 1094-1/4/18 (North East side) 05/02/52 Darwin House

GV I

House. c1758, converted from medieval timber-framed range on the west side of the south court of Vicars' Close. For Erasmus Darwin. Brick with stucco dressings; double-span tile roof with brick end stacks. Double-depth, central staircase plan. Georgian style. 2 storeys with basement; symmetrical 3-window range. Stucco basement; 2 sill bands; top modillioned cornice and stone-coped brick parapet with 2 balustraded panels. Centre breaks forward under pediment. Round-headed entrance has Tuscan aedicule, round-headed half-glazed door; opposed ashlar steps with iron handrail and arch below. Venetian windows to each floor have Tuscan antae, entablatures, archivolts and sashes with glazing bars; central 1st floor window has eared architrave, triple key and 9-pane sash. Rear has rounded-headed stair window with sash, flanking windows with rubbed brick flat arches and 12-pane sashes; 3 windows above, 2 with 6-pane sashes, one blocked; coped gables and cross-axial stack. Erasmus Darwin, 1731-1802, lived here until c1781. He was a doctor and a member of the Lunar Society whose researches into botany and zoology led him to explore a theory of evolution. He was grandfather of Charles Darwin. (Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Staffordshire: London: 1974-: P.192-3; Victoria History of the County of Stafford: Greenslade M W: Lichfield: Oxford: 1990-: P.64; Lichfield Council: Erasmus Darwin).

Listing NGR: SK1141209705