by Laura N
Two weeks ago my husband and I visited Jane Austen's house in the village of Chawton in Hampshire. After a few days of the hustle and bustle of London, this trip was a refreshing and relaxing day.
The house is a fairly good size brick cottage with a beautiful, lush garden to the side and back. It has been lovingly kept up and opened as a museum.
The rooms have been restored and many items are on exhibit: Jane's writing desk, her father's bookcase and chairs from Steventon, a lace collar and patchwork quilt that Jane made and the topaz crosses that her brother Charles gave to Jane and Cassandra, just to mention a few.
Jane's writing table
The wallpaper is not the original, but was donated to the house by the Laura Ashley company. There are a few scraps of older paper displayed that were found when the house was restored. In one of the out buildings, the donkey cart used by Jane when she was too ill to walk can be seen. In the bedroom she shared with Cassandra, a chair is set to the side of the fireplace, with a small stool on the other, as it might have been when her niece Caroline visited her for the last time before Jane's death.
My favorite of the day was seeing and hearing the 1810 Clementi square piano in the drawing room.
the drawing room with the 1810 Clementi square piano
This is not the pianoforte Jane had, but it is from the same time period and has the same sound that her piano would have had. The staff allowed my husband to play, and I could not get enough. David played some Mozart, but the best was when he played a Clementi sonatina. He had opened one of the piano books nearby and made a random selection. Turns out, it was the piece Georgianna plays in P&P 1995, after Elizabeth has left Lambton and Darcy and others are in the music room at Pemberley. Darcy is much distressed in the scene and snaps at Caroline before storming out.
Anyway, David entertained us with several selections and it was the icing on the cake for me.
The gardens are delightful (don't I sound like Aunt Gardiner here?), so peaceful and beautifully laid out. Most of the plantings are not from Jane's time, but if you visit, notice near the house two extremely old, large yews, now trees. They would have been there in her time. The roses are beautiful.
We also took a walk down the road to the church and Chawton manor, where Jane's brother, Edward, lived. I would encourage anyone who visits to take that walk. There are farms and park like settings along the way, complete with sheep and lambs grazing. Along the way is a very large old beech tree. David doesn't think it would have been old enough to have been there in Jane's time (He's the botanist in the family; I am the shoe expert/collector.), but in one of her biographies (by David Nokes) it mentions her strolling the grounds to Chawton Park, 'a noble beech wood.' I like to think the beech I saw was a descendant of that original beech wood.
The church is open and we were able to go in. Mrs. Austen and Cassandra's graves are also in the church cemetery.
The small village and street are charming. On both sides, there are old, well kept-up, thatched cottages. Directly across the street is pub, The Greyfriar House, its premises about 400 years old. Be sure to take a walk down the street if you go.
There is also a tea room, Cassandra's Cup, but note that as of this summer, it is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
I found the staff at the house to be helpful and friendly. But I must warn you, if you are a fan of the 2005 P&P and/or Matthew MacFadyen, keep it to yourself. These women are diehard Colin Firth/P&P 1995 fans, and they will let you know. One of them told me that MacFadyen simply saw the role as another job, 'He never bothered to read the book!' She went on to tell me that Firth visited the house three times in preparation for the role. Well, how can you beat that?
If you go, you will note that the house site gives directions how to get there. They are all perfectly good except for the bus. We did not take the bus from the train station. We took a taxi instead (very easy to get, both ways), and I suggest that you put aside a bit of cash (about $10 each way) and do that. The bus drops you a fair bit from the house and at a very busy overpass on the highway. There is a stretch were you must walk without a sidewalk on a busy street until you get onto the village lane.
Here is the site for the house/museum:
And here is a NYT 1988 article about the house that I think gives a very good description:
Jane Austen's bracelet,
and the topaz crosses given by her brother Charles.
A few extra words from your administrator...
After her visit to London, I had the pleasure of Laura's company in The Hague where we spent some wonderful days together. From Chawton House she brought me several delightful objects such as a facsimile of a letter written by Jane, note cards, postcards, and, on top of that, an interesting CD called 'An Innocent Diversion', with descriptions of Jane, and songs and music included in Jane Austen's music books in a presentation for the Jane Austen Society in St. Andrew's Church, Clyton, 4th October 2003.
Unnecessary to tell that I'll cherish these objects always. :) R~