Jane Austen. When you hear this name what do you think? Maybe the author that wrote “Pride & Prejudice”? An English author who lived a long time ago? Or maybe even the name Mr. Darcy comes to mind.
When I hear this name I think of one of the greatest female novelist of all time. A woman who completed 6 amazing novels during a time when women were not known to write (and none of her first published copies ever listed her name as the author!).
When I first visited England in 2017, one of my main interests was touring the English countryside and seeing the “Jane Austen sights”. The year 2017 also marked the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death and I knew this would be the perfect time to do a Jane Austen pilgrimage. I wanted to see where she was born, where she lived throughout her life, and visit her gravestone.
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Basingstoke, Steventon, & Chawton
I did a lot of the sightseeing on my own but to start off my pilgrimage I booked a tour with Hidden Britain Tours. As I did not have a car I knew it was going to be difficult to navigate the English countryside on my own. I booked the Jane Austen’s Dancing Years Tour which was amazing! I did a lot of research to find the right tour that would take me exactly where I wanted to go. This tour featured the first 26 years of her life living in Hampshire.
I met the owner of Hidden Britain Tours, Phil Howe, in Basingstoke at the train station. Since there was only 3 of us on this tour, I was able to ask Phil every Jane Austen question imaginable! He is extremely knowledge about Jane Austen and her life. He drove us to Steventon and I was able to see the exact spot where the Austen house was (and where Jane Austen was born!). Needless to say, I was teary-eyed! All that is left is a large tree that was planted by some of Jane Austen’s brothers. We also saw St. Nicholas Church where Jane Austen’s father, George Austen, was a clergyman.
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- St. Nicholas Church
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- St. Nicholas Church
More notable locations we visited in Steventon was where the Manydown House used to stand. This house was where the Biggs and Biggs-Withers family lived and where Jane Austen’s two best friends lived. Harris Bigg-Withers proposed to Jane Austen in this house, where she accepted but then declined the very next morning! We also saw Ashe Rectory where the Lefroys lived. Jane Austen met the love of her life here, Tom Lefroy, but sadly they could never be together. Side note: Tom Lefroy moved to Ireland to become a barrister and his bust can be seen in The Long Room of the old library at Trinity College in Dublin!
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- Ashe Rectory
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- Bust of Tom Lefroy
We then drove to Chawton and had a light lunch at the Chawton House Library! First editions of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are housed here. Chawton Church is just a few yards away from the “big house” where Cassandra Leigh-Austen and Cassandra Austen are buried (Jane Austen’s mother and sister). Inside the church, on the walls, are grave markers that also commemorate the death of her brother, Edward Knight, who owned Chawton House Library and Chawton Cottage.
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- Chawton House Library
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- Jane Austen’s Mother and Sister Graves
Chawton Cottage was where Jane Austen lived out her days. After her father died, Jane, her mother, and her sister were pretty much destitute but thanks to her brother, Edward, they were able to move to Chawton Cottage and live rent free. Jane Austen spent the last 8 years of her life here (1809-1817) and wrote Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. It is likely that she also revised her first three drafts of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. We toured this amazing museum and saw her writing table, her letters, an early edition of Mansfield Park, her turquoise ring, her shawl, and many other items that personally belonged to Jane Austen and her sister.
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- Chawton Cottage
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- Chawton Cottage
Bath
Jane Austen and her family lived in Bath from 1801 – 1805. During this time Bath was a thriving spa resort and popular for fashionable society. I took the train from London to Bath and actually spent a couple of days in Bath. To read about my trip to Bath, including a Jane Austen themed Bed & Breakfast, click here.
To make the most of my Jane Austen time in Bath, I embarked on a free 30-minute walking tour operated by the Jane Austen Centre. The tour gave me a brief history of her time in Bath and of course ended at the Jane Austen Centre. The Centre has a wonderful Jane Austen gift shop as well as a museum about her family, life, and her years in Bath.
After touring the Jane Austen Centre, I walked over to the other side of town to #4 Sydney Place. Jane Austen and her family lived in this lovely townhome during their time in Bath. Bath provided inspiration for two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. This is a private residence but a plaque is placed on the outside of the building. Across the street from the townhome is Sydney Gardens. Sydney Gardens is the only 18th century pleasure garden left in the world and where Jane Austen actually walked herself.
At the center of the fashionable 18th century Bath were The Assembly Rooms. These were where the public balls were held and where Jane Austen attended public balls during her time in Bath. The Assembly Rooms have multiple rooms including The Tea Room, The Ball Room, The Card Rooms, and The Octagon. Fun fact: In the 1800s when people attending the public balls had to use the restroom, they would go behind a screen in The Ball Room and use a chamber pot. Can you imagine how hot and smelly those dances would be?
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- The Assembly Rooms
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- The Assembly Rooms
Winchester
I took the train from London to Winchester to end my Jane Austen journey. Jane Austen was only 41 when she died. When she became ill she travelled from Chawton Cottage to #8 College Street in Winchester because Winchester had wonderful doctors. Unfortunately she passed away 2 months later. A plaque is placed outside the house indicating where she lived out her last days.
Jane Austen is buried in the beautiful Winchester Cathedral. They had on display the Winchester Cathedral’s burial book where her name was entered. When she died in 1817, her grave marker did not mention anything about her writing as was usual at the time. In 1870, her brother Edward Knight erected a brass plaque on the Cathedral wall beside her grave. The brass plaque begins with “Jane Austen, known to many by her writings…”
London: A Notable Jane Austen Location
In 1810, Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra completed a pencil and watercolor drawing of her. This beautiful but tiny portrait is located in the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square.
The British Library houses an immense collection of items pertaining to Jane Austen! They have her portable writing desk and spectacles, many of her letters, her witty juvenilia “History of England”, two canceled manuscript chapters from Persuasion (still in the original blue paper boards!!), and her juvenilia’s “Volume the Second” and “Volume the Third”.
If you have more time to spend in London, read my highlights!
Until next time,
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