Downe, formerly Down, (/daʊn/) is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley but beyond London's contiguous urban area. Downe is 3.4 miles (5.5 km) south west of Orpington and 14.2 miles (22.9 km) south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies on a hill, and much of the centre of the village is unchanged; the former village school now acts as the village hall. The word Downe originates from the Anglo Saxon word dūn, latterly down, hence the South and North Downs. In April 1965, Downe and the remaining part of Orpington Urban District Council, was abolished, and transferred from the historic county of Kent and placed within the newly created London Borough of Bromley.

Quick Facts OS grid reference, London borough ...

Downe
George and Dragon public house, Downe
Downe Location within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ435615
London borough	Bromley
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ORPINGTON
Postcode district	BR6
Dialling code	01689
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Orpington
London Assembly	Bexley and Bromley
List of places UK England London 51.3359°N 0.0535°E / 51.3359; 0.0535

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Lord Simon de Manning, a former Lord of the Manor for Kevington, London, and holder of the land which now includes Downe, was a Grandson of Rudolph de Manning, Count Palatine, (who married Elgida, aunt to King Harold I, of England); he was the royal Standard Bearer to King Richard the Lionheart, who carried the royal Standard to Jerusalem in 1190, during the First Crusade. In England, the forms Earl Palatine and Palatine Earldom are preferred. As well as Downe, the Manning's Kevington Manor included the areas which later became Berry's Green, Luxted, Single Street, Westerham Hill, and Leaves Green, which formed, collectively, (excluding Kelvington), the Darwin (ward), (Greater London's largest electoral Ward), as it was first constituted in 1965. The current elected political party's website (2022), states the Ward's present named other areas as Cudham, Leaves Green, Leavesden Estate, Westerham Hill, Beechwood, Berry's Green, and Pratts Bottom.

When Charles Darwin moved there in 1842, the village was still known as Down.^[1] Its name was changed later in the 1940s to Downe, to avoid confusion with County Down in Ireland.^[2]

Charles Darwin lived in Down House for 40 years, from 1842 until he died there in 1882. He became a close friend of Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet, who lived nearby at the Lubbock's High Elms estate on the other side of the village. A favourite place of Darwin's was Downe Bank, now a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, and several members of his family are buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church.

Down House and the surrounding area has been nominated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to become a World Heritage Site.^[3] However, this decision has been deferred.^[4]

Since 2019, the local Member of Parliament has been Gareth Bacon of the Conservative Party. By a numerical majority of 19,453 votes (38.5%), Orpington is the safest Conservative Parliamentary seat in London.

One councillor is elected every four years to Bromley London Borough Council. To date, the Darwin ward has only been represented by representatives from the Conservative Party. It is the largest Greater London Ward, and includes Berry's Green, Single Street, Luxted, Leaves Green, Westerham Hill, and Cudham.

Downe is the location of Buckston Browne Farm, built in 1931 as a surgical research centre by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS). In the 1980s, the farm caused controversy because of its use of vivisection techniques, and in August 1984 it was raided by anti-vivisection activists.

The farm has now been made into four houses.

There are two scout campsites in the Downe area:

• The Downe Scout Activity Centre consisting of 86 acres (350,000 m²) of woodland and open fields is just outside the village.
• The Greenwich (one of the Districts of the Greater London South Scout county) District campsite is also nearby.

Despite the village's separation from the capital's built-up area, Downe is still under Transport for London because of its location within the Greater London administrative area. It is served by several London bus services but overall has limited connections further into London. There are no rail links to the village (the nearest stations are Orpington, Bromley South, Bromley North and Hayes), but it is served by two hourly bus routes:

146 - Bromley North to Downe via Old Hayes and Keston

R8 – Biggin Hill to Orpington via Downe and Green Street Green

• Bill Hunter Christie (1922-1997), lobbyist for the Falkland Islanders^[5]
• Charles Darwin (1809–82), biologist, naturalist and geologist
• Horace Darwin (1851–1928), civil engineer and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
• Nigel Farage (born 1964), former leader of UKIP and Member of European Parliament for South East England.
• Charles Hayes (1678–1760), mathematician and chronologist
• John Lubbock (1803–65), banker, barrister, mathematician and astronomer
• John Lubbock (1834–1913), banker, biologist, archaeologist and Liberal politician
• Mark Lubbock (1898–1986), conductor and composer of operetta and light music
• Herbert Newton Casson (1869–1951), journalist and author, founder of Efficiency magazine
• Olive Willis (1877–1964), founder of Downe House School

• Cudham
• Berry's Green
• Luxted
• Single Street
• Farnborough
• Keston
• Orpington