There are many places around the country with Jane Austen associations, whether from mentions in her books (for example Lyme Regis in Persuasion) or places she has visited and which have formed inspiration for her work (such as Netley Abbey, believed to be the inspiration for Northanger Abbey). However, her life began and ended in two tranquil locations in Hampshire less than 20 miles apart.
Jane’s life began in 1775 in the Rectory in Steventon, a tiny village to the north of the A303 near Basingstoke, where she grew up with her siblings until the family moved to Bath. It was here that she drafted two of her most famous stories: Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Unfortunately, there is not much for Austen fans to see in the village now, the Rectory having been demolished soon after the move to Bath. The site was excavated by volunteers in 2011, and the fragments of objects found during the dig provided an insight into the family’s day-to-day life. All that remains now is an old lime tree planted by Jane’s eldest brother James.
Towards the end of her life, four years after her father’s death in 1805, Jane’s brother Edward moved her, her sisters and mother to a red brick cottage in Chawton, near the A31 and to the south-west of Alton, Hampshire. Her life there was very quiet and family-oriented, certainly by comparison to the time she spent in Bath. Her quiet existence there enabled her to concentrate on her writing, and it was from here that her novels became published works, including the earlier drafted Pride and Prejudice. It is this property which is the one most visited by Austen fans, having been turned into the Jane Austen’s House Museum.
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| Chawton-Austen-House. Photo by Jahs, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Although Jane’s last permanent address was the cottage in Chawton, strictly speaking she ended her life in Winchester. While in Chawton her health began to decline, with her deterioration becoming inescapable during 1816. In January 1817 she began writing a novel initially titled ‘Two Brothers’, but later retitled ‘Sanditon’. She only managed to complete eleven chapters before putting her pen down for the last time. In May of that year her sister Cassandra and brother Henry brought her to Winchester for treatment, but sadly this was to no avail, and she died in July at the age of 41. Jane died in a mustard-coloured house at 8 College Street, and she was buried at Winchester Cathedral. The house bears a plaque recording her time there. Her cause of death has widely been reported as Addison’s disease, although some versions cite Hodgkin’s lymphoma as the condition which finished her off.
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| Jane Austen's House, Winchester - geograph.org.uk - 1322610. Photo by Stephen McKay, via Wikimedia Commons. |
