Woolsthorpe Manor

Woolsthorpe Manor is a typical early 17th-century yeoman’s farmhouse, built some time after 1623. This stone house has 2- and 3-light mullioned windows and stone copings to the gables of a steeply pitched roof. Woolsthorpe is most famous as the birthplace of Isaac Newton, who was born here on Christmas Day in 1642. As such, the entrance door bears the crossed bones from Newton’s coat of arms which were added in the late 18th century. Inside there are original panelled doors and 17th-century fireplaces, as well as graffiti - of geometrical figures and a variety of hieroglyphics – purported to have been made by Newton, but which may well be 18th- or 19th-century additions intended to impress credulous tourists.

Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire (Accredited Museum)

This collection has 625 items online

Woolsthorpe Manor is not your average seventeenth century farmhouse – it’s the place where Isaac Newton was born, was inspired by the land around him and changed the way we see the world with his work on light, gravity and maths. When we look at the graffiti on the walls of the Manor we envisage a young Isaac planning his next 'strange invention' such as his windmill powered by a mouse miller. In 1665-66, 350 years ago Isaac returned to Woolsthorpe leaving behind plague-hit Cambridge. And it was here he worked on his most well-known achievement: his theory of gravity in what he called his ‘Year of Wonders'. From his room we can see the apple tree in the orchard that inspired his theory of gravity. Here he used prisms to split white light, imagine him measuring from wall to shutter and his delight at the rainbow he created. His Laws of Motion which set out much of the groundwork for the Principia Mathematica were formulated during this time. Thanks to his work we can navigate the world, travel to space and explore the universe. The wonders of his discoveries can still be felt within the Manor and its collection

View full collection