I love the outdoors and watching natural history documentaries yet I had never heard of Gilbert White who is often dubbed as the father of ecology. I recently visited his house-turned-museum, in the idyllic village of Selborne in Hampshire where I learnt about this fascinating man.
Gilbert White was a man with many hats - a curate, naturalist and author. His most famous work, The Natural History of Selborne, was published in 1789 and was the first English language book of its kind. In fact, it has never been out of print since. Gilbert White observed animals in the wild which was highly unusual at the time as most scientists dissected specimens in the comfort of their own study. Through Gilbert's observations, he identified that what was thought of as one species of bird, was actually three separate species.
Nowadays, you can visit the garden where Gilbert made all his important discoveries. The grounds were ever so tranquil and full of colour. They are so lovely that a wedding was going on in the grounds during my visit! I could imagine Gilbert sitting in this natural haven, watching all the animals and tending to his garden. He was a keen gardener and one of the first people to grow his own potatoes as well as exotic cucumbers and melons.
Equally as delightful was the tea parlour! The room felt very in keeping with the time with his pale green decor and portraits. I could picture the vicar sipping his tea here after the Sunday service. This is a fantastic place for a traditional afternoon tea. I opted for some good old fashioned lemon drizzle while my mum had a mille feuille. The lemon drizzle was just the right balance between sweet and sour and the mille feuille's pastry was light and buttery. I thoroughly enjoyed having afternoon tea with my family to the sound of soft classical music.
For a quintessential English countryside experience, you can't go wrong with a visit Gilbert White's House with traditional afternoon tea, a garden of Eden and a house full of stories of a great man.
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