A major new exhibition marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin has opened at his family home in Kent, South East England. Darwin wrote 'The Origin of Species' at Down House one hundred and fifty years ago, following his historic five year epic journey on The Beagle.

For forty years, the Down House was home to Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution. To mark his 200th anniversary, a major exhibition of his life and work has opened at his home.

The exhibition charts Darwin's epic journey on the Beagle. Over five years he journeyed across many continents and was one of the first to chart the complete circumnavigation of the earth using marine chronometers. While he explored different countries and documented nature in detail wherever he went, he was only at sea for eighteen months during that time.

Inside Down House they've recreated the Poop room on the Beagle. It was here Darwin wrote and documented what he discovered during his epic voyage. Six years after returning from his travels he moved to Down House with his wife Emma and their children. Having already begun publishing his papers, he began work on his most important book written in the study here. But Darwin waited twenty years before publishing his theory of evolution, 'The Origin of Species'.

Jenny Cousins, a English Heritage, said, "There are lots of theories as to why he spent so long thinking and not publishing, but I think one of most persuasive is that he really wanted to gather the evidence, you know he had this idea and wanted to have the evidence that would back that up and really convince people of the argument he had to make, he was also of course very worried about the impact because other people who'd suggested similar things had not been met with a great reception."

Darwin spent most of his adult years at Down House. Much of the time he was ill but found solace and peace in rural Kent. It was in this tranquil location away from the wider world where he continued to formulate ideas and theories in the solitude of his home basing theories on his understanding of the world around him.