Selborne - Gilbert White's House (and museum)

Image: © Rob Farrow Taken: 23 May 2015

The famous naturalist Gilbert White was curate of Selborne and lived here at "The Wakes" for many years, including those when he wrote "The Natural History of Selborne". "The Wakes" is the large area of land to the southwest of the house, although the house itself shares the same name. It dates originally from the C16th, although it has had many additions and modifications up until the C19th. It is EH Grade I listed http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1174798&searchtype=mapsearch The parkland ("The Wakes") has a separate EH listing http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1000871&searchtype=mapsearch The house itself now houses a museum, not only celebrating the life and work of White, but also of two C19th/20th explorers, Frank Oates (1840-75) and his nephew Captain Lawrence Oates (1880-1912). The latter perished on the ill-fated Scott expedition to the South Pole, leaving the hut in which they were sheltering with the famous words “I am just going outside and may be some time.” For Gilbert White & his masterwork, see shared description below:

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0