A founding member of the Lunar Society, it was here that he received many notable 18th-century personalities, including Josiah Wedgwood, Matthew Boulton, Benjamin Franklin and James Watt.

From 1758 to 1759[1] Darwin converted the building into a large Georgian town house of red brick with stucco dressings and Venetian windows.

After the Darwins moved into the new front of their house, a wooden bridge was thrown across the ditch and a twin-tier terrace was built, causing alterations to be made to the basement windows.

[citation needed] For 20 years this house was the base for Darwin's medical practice, for his scientific experiments, meetings of the Lunar Society, and such inventive schemes as the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal.

The Georgian herb garden has been restored with plantings of the period and a relief sculpture of Erasmus Darwin and incised text on paving slabs, created by Denis Parsons.