Charles Darwin's Shrewsbury

Join local historian Russell Game for this fascinating insight into the town that Charles Darwin called home.

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury in 1809 and spent his formative years in the town, but what would the Shrewsbury that he knew look and feel like? Drawing on source evidence from the popular History Group Series, and using some of the latest computer techniques, we look at the buildings and areas that he knew and how they look today. These will include specific buildings and areas from his early life, such as St Chad’s Church, the Library (once Shrewsbury School), the Unitarian Church and the river.

It is said that no person is an island and that everyone is a product of the society and events that they experience. We can thus examine the type of society that Darwin would have lived in and what the key issues were during his developmental years, locally, nationally and internationally.

Finally, we will look at the ways in which Darwin is still remembered in Shrewsbury today, some of which are overlooked, unappreciated or simply taken for granted.

This event is part of the DarwIN Shrewsbury Festival