250 Years of Jane Austen

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One of Hampshire’s best loved daughters, Jane Austen, has been a household name for more than two centuries, but Hampshire is now planning extra celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth in 2025.

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 in the Old Rectory in Steventon which, sadly, no longer exists, but the county has plenty more to tempt Austen fans, including the most iconic, and evocative, of all Austen sites: Jane Austen’s House, in Chawton.

Jane Austen’s House, her home whilst she wrote and published all six of her globally beloved novels, will mark this iconic year with the launch of a new, permanent exhibition as well as innovative and exciting temporary exhibitions celebrating two and a half centuries of Britain’s greatest writer. A range of special events will run throughout the year, from exclusive and intimate tours to summer celebrations in the garden, culminating with a Virtual Birthday Party on 16 December, live from Jane Austen’s House, bringing Jane Austen fans from across the globe together for an epic birthday celebration. Full details will be available at www.janeaustens.house.

Hampshire was not only her birthplace, but its people, and the society in which she moved, provided inspiration for many of her novels. Known for proudly reminding people that she was “a Hampshire born Austen”, she was finally laid to rest in Winchester Cathedral, in 1817 – at the age of just 41. Visitors to Hampshire can follow in the footsteps of Jane Austen by visiting Chawton, Alton, Steventon, Southampton and Winchester.

Elsewhere in the village Chawton House – a manor house that once belonged to Austen’s brother, Edward, and was referred to as the ‘Great House’ in Jane Austen’s letters – offers fascinating links with not only Jane, but the lives and works of early women’s writers from 1600 to 1830. Jane would often visit the grand Elizabethan manor and its picturesque gardens, and today visitors can saunter through those same grounds, see Austen heirlooms, such as the dining table at which Jane would have enjoyed family meals, and explore the historic collection of early women’s writing.

Steventon is another destination on a tour of ‘Jane Austen Country’. Jane was born in the Old Rectory where she lived the first 25 years of her life, creating the first drafts of three of her published books. Today, a giant lime tree planted by Austen’s brother, James, is all that remains in the spot where the rectory once stood. But St Nicholas Church, where Jane was baptised and later attended regularly with the rest of the family to listen to their father preach, is where visitors will find a bronze plaque dedicated to her memory.

After her father’s death, she returned to her beloved Hampshire countryside – first to Southampton, where she lived from 1806 to 1809. Visitors can discover more on the self-guided Heritage Trail, which highlights nine key locations within the remains of the old city walls with strong associations to Jane, either when she lived there, or earlier in her life. During Jane’s time, Southampton was an old seaport with medieval streets tumbling down to a quay. It was also reinventing itself as a fashionable spa town – in much the same way that the city is currently undergoing a major transformation.

A little more than two years later the Austen family would be living happily in Chawton, and Jane would be relaxed – and most importantly of all – writing again.