Shrewsbury birth house of Charles Darwin sells for nearly £1 million
The house where Charles Darwin was born has been bought for nearly £1 million, and its new owner could create a museum for Shrewsbury's most famous son.
Mount House in The Mount, Shrewsbury, has been bought by Welshpool businessman Glyn Jones, and he says he is keen to restore the place back to its former glory.
Glyn said: "The house is in a very tired state indeed and the outbuildings are derelict after having minimal maintenance for many years.
"I'm keen to fully restore the house back to its former glory probably maintaining the current office space on the two lower floors and making an apartment on the upper floor maybe.
"I hope to use the offices as a place for small, local entrepreneurial start-up companies and support them from my own experience in setting up and running an electronics business by Welshpool.
"I grew up just the other side of Welshpool and have lived in Shrewsbury for the last few years with my two girls going to Shrewsbury High School. I have a keen interest in the environment and green tech business.
"With the courtyard and end rooms of the house I have a friend who is very interested in setting up a museum for Darwin. With Covid this may be a challenge however I believe we can make it work if we are ambitious enough.
"The courtyard may become a tea room for the museum with the two little garden cottages being restored for renting I guess. Off course all will need to be drawn up and shared with the interested parties before any permissions are sought."
The large Georgian house was built in 1800 by Darwin's father, Dr Robert Darwin. Charles was born there on 12 February 1809. Robert Darwin died in the house on 13 November 1848, followed by his unmarried daughters Catherine and Susan. Since there were no surviving members of the Darwin family in residence, the house was then put up for auction, after the three surviving Darwin children, Ras, Charles, and Caroline Wedgwood had taken what possessions they wished.
A steering group led by Shrewsbury Town Council was launched in 2018 to try and acquire the house so it could be taken into public ownership so that a visitor destination could be developed where Darwin's contribution to science could be celebrated.
