Places Features

On 7 July 1809 English novelist, Jane Austen moved into a red brick cottage on her brother Edward's estate in Chawton, Hampshire.

The cottage is where Jane spent the last eight years of her life, revising her novels - romantic comedies Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and the least famous but possibly the closest to her real life, Northanger Abbey.

It was clearly an inspiring location for Jane who also completely wrote the twisting romance Mansfield Park, the witty Emma and Persuasion her final novel of reignited love at Chawton.

Jane Austen's writing table

Today the historic 17th century village home, in the picturesque Meon Valley is a literary shrine, preserved in her memory as the Jane Austen House Museum.

The museum is open to the public and houses many family heirlooms and a reference library for scholars of Jane Austen's works.

To mark Jane's arrival at the house a number of celebrations are planned - including a family day on Sunday 5th July where visitors will be able to see the museum's new facilities including the recently renovated Austens' kitchen.