AHA Group Visit – Gilbert White’s House, Museum & Gardens

On 26th November, the sky was grey, and a cold wind was blowing but ten of us left Andover promptly at 9.30am for Selborne, Nr Alton.  Sadly, fourteen was expected however, four had to drop out due to illness.  We re-grouped on arrival for coffee and to pre-book our lunch, prior to our guided tour. ​The new brewery, which was only opened recently, had its doors open where a group of helpers were checking on its progress. A couple of enthusiastic members took the opportunity to take a sneaky peep inside, but sadly never got the opportunity to taste any.

(Click any picture to enlarge it.)

Bang on 11am our Guide - Kimberley joined us and gave us a very informative guided tour of the house and the history of the “White” family.  Learning that Gilbert lived from 1720 to 1793 and from being educated in Basingstoke followed by Graduation Oriel College Oxford. He then followed his grandfather and uncle into the Church.  He greatly influenced the development of the science of natural history.  He showed his aptitude as a gardener by being the first person in the area to grow potatoes.  He is most famously known as the author of “The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, published in 1789.  This book has never been out of print and is one of the most published books in the English language.  The Collections contains over one thousand copies of this book at Selborne

Kimberley then continued the tour regarding the Oates Collection. Frank Oates was a Naturalist and Explorer, travelling extensively in Africa and South America, no little achievement back at that time.

The next part of the tour was to view the Antarctic Museum as Captain Lawrence Oates who was part of Scott ill-fated Expedition to the South Pole in 1910.  Oates was the first to be severely affected by frostbite and believed he was holding the others up.  In a diary it is recorded he said, “I am just going outside and maybe some time”.

Our tour ended at this point, and I thanked Kimberley on behalf of all of us.  Her knowledge and enthusiasm were exemplary and was delivered in a very gentle interesting manner. 

We returned to the café for a very enjoyable group lunch around a large table.  We spilt up and took a leisurely second look around the house and museum taking in the extended information from the exhibits.  Further artifacts and books of both the Gilbert White Collection and the Oates Collection can be found in the Natural History Museum.

Exhibition Guide

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Open page of Gilbert's work

Diary extract, Oates' death

Artifacts from South Pole Expedition

Gilbert's Work

The Kitchen

Due to the time of year, wet under foot etc. the garden was not explored, but we understand it is very interesting for its flowers and vegetables.  In addition, there were some very interesting pathways around the woodland and up the hill.  These locations were instrumental in giving Gilbert White inspiration for his books.
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Altogether, a very enjoyable and informative day’s visit.
Rosemary Crumplin-Clark ​