Today marks Jane Austen's 250th anniversary. Born on December 16, 1775, the novelist changed the literary world forever, leaving a legacy that extends far beyond the page and lives on in the places and landscapes that continue to shape how her stories are remembered. Would a visit to the ‘beautiful grounds at Pemberley’ set your heart aflutter? Or would you prefer a windy walk along Lyme Regis Beach? Perhaps you're as keen to roam, ramble and romp as Marianne, the romantic sister in Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility? Or are you a homebody, favouring indoor solitude to the ‘dangers’ of a dinner party, like Emma's beloved valetudinarian father Mr Woodhouse? Whatever your idea of a good time, marking the Jane Austen 250th anniversary with a tour of some of the writer's favourite and most richly inspiring haunts is a wonderful way to get a deeper understanding of her work.
Place and space were of utmost importance to Austen's work – her stories largely revolved around the domestic sphere, which imbues the existing locations with a larger sense of importance. Pleasant picnics in the countryside and balls in opulent ballrooms play host to the most dramatic unfurling of her cleverly woven narratives. So,if you want to celebrate the Jane Austen 250th anniversary by retracing one of the most iconic writer's footprints to ignite your writerly imagination or revisit some of your favourite moments from one of the many adaptations of her novels (like that rainy proposal scene from the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice), this is the guide for you.
What better place to begin your journey than in Steventon, the village where Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775. Here, you might explore the site of the original rectory where she spent her early years, imagining the young Jane finding inspiration in the surrounding country. The nearby village of Overton has created walking and cycling trails highlighting sights Austen would have seen during her first 25 years. Sadly, Jane's nephew William Knight pulled down her beloved home in 1823 (the year after her death) when he became rector of Steventon. The area remains much the same though, with unspoilt countryside, thatched cottages and charming chalk streams providing direct inspiration for novels like Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility, which were all set in the south-easterly county.
Chawton, the village where Jane lived for the last eight years of her life, is perhaps the most well-known pitstop for her disciples. She moved to the house in 1809 with her mother, sister Cassandra and friend Martha Lloyd, and lived there until she moved to Winchester to seek medical attention in the spring of 1817. Her house is now kept as the Jane Austen House Museum for visitors to explore, with exhibitions offering further exploration of the writer's work. Many of her greatest works, from Pride & Prejudice to Persuasion, were written at the dining table of this modest family cottage. This year, the museum will feature a new permanent exhibition, 'Jane Austen and the Art of Writing,' celebrating her creative process and showcasing original manuscripts and personal artefacts. Throughout the year, the museum hosts a series of mini-festivals, each focusing on one of Austen's novels, with events ranging from talks and tours to performances and screenings.
Jane spent her final weeks in Winchester in 1817, where she moved with her sister Cassandra. The pair lived on College Street, to be close to a doctor to help with Jane's worsening health. Jane died in July of the same year at just 41 years old and was buried at Winchester Cathedral. Her grave can be found in the north nave aisle of the building and is open to visitors.
“I really believe I shall always be talking of Bath, when I am at home again – I do like it so very much…. Oh! Who can ever be tired of Bath?” So goes the description the protagonist Catherine Morland gave when she first visited Bath with “eager delight” in Jane's 1799 novel Northanger Abbey. The novelist spent a large portion of her life in the picturesque city, known for its ancient Roman baths and Georgian architecture, and the city served as the setting for two of her novels: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. After her father retired in 1800, Jane's family relocated to Bath, where they would stay until 1806, at Sydney Place, Green Park Buildings, Gay Street and finally Trim Street. Those wanting to try on period costumes, write with an ancient quill or interact with actors tasked to recreate scenes from Jane Austen's novels may want to pay a visit to Bath's well-known Jane Austen Museum. This year, the 24th annual Jane Austen Festival will be held from September 12th to 21st and will feature a Grand Regency Costumed Promenade, allowing you to experience the elegance of the Regency era firsthand. Special events throughout the year commemorate the 250th anniversary, including a Yuletide Jane Austen Birthday Ball in December, celebrating the writer's birthday.
Jane Austen took two known trips to Lyme Regis in Dorset, but was clearly captivated by its beauty, describing – in her final finished novel Persuasion in 1817 – ‘its sweet, retired bay, backed by dark cliffs, where fragments of low rock among the sands, make it the happiest spot for watching the flow of the tide, for sitting in unwearied contemplation; the woody varieties of the cheerful village of Up Lyme; and, above all, Pinny, with its green chasms between romantic rocks, where the scattered forest trees and orchards of luxuriant growth, declare that many a generation must have passed away since the first partial falling of the cliff prepared the ground for such a state, where a scene so wonderful and so lovely is exhibited, as may more than equal any of the resembling scenes of the far-famed Isle of Wight: these places must be visited, and visited again, to make the worth of Lyme understood.’
So, if you, like Persuasion's protagonist Anne Elliot, are looking to have your life force and looks restored to you by the ‘fine winds’ of Lyme regis, then a visit to this rugged coastline will suit you perfectly. As Henrietta Musgrove declared: “Oh! yes,—I am quite convinced that, with very few exceptions, the sea-air always does good." Your stops might include The Cobb, where Anne, Captain Wentworth and the rest of the party take a stroll down the coast. The steps, which connect upper and lower Cobb, are known locally as ‘Granny’s Teeth' marks the spot where Louisa Musgrove memorably falls and suffers a concussion.
Your next stop might be the beach itself where, in Regency England, there would have been bathing machines erected for changing, a detail Jane noted in a letter to her sister Cassandra. Next, pay a visit to Pyne House on Broad Street, where a blue plaque reads: ‘this is the most likely lodging of Jane Austen, whose visits to Lyme in 1803 and 1804 gave birth to her novel Persuasion.’ And finally, round off your visit with a walk through the Jane Austen Garden, built as a memorial to Jane in 1975.
Stately homes that inspired Austen's novels
As indicated by the popularity of some of our most majestic and beautifully decorated stately homes, there's nothing like poking around a regal country pile. We know that Jane visited several during her lifetime, many of which inspired the fictional estates in her six novels, and many more have featured in their TV adaptations.
Trafalgar Park acted as Kellynch Hall, Anne's family home, in Netflix's 2022 adaptation of Persuasion. The Georgian house was built in 1733 and is located in the city of Salisbury in south Wiltshire. This is not the first time it has appeared in an Austen film adaptation — it was also featured in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility.
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Close to Austen's childhood home, The Vyne is a Grade I-listed 16th-century country house that is rumoured to have inspired elements in her novels. Run by the National Trust, The Vyne will be hosting Jane Austen House Tours on Saturdays and Wednesdays from 29 March, detailing Jane Austen's relation to the house and the owners, the Chute family.
Edward Austen lived at Goodnestone Park in Kent with his wife Elizabeth in the early years of their marriage. They lived in Rowling House on the estate until August 1798, when they inherited Godmersham Park, and Jane regularly visited the house, sometimes for weeks at a time. The visits clearly proved fruitful, and Jane supposedly began writing Pride and Prejudice in 1796 after a visit. Its social scene was thought to have inspired several ball scenes in her novels, too.
Inherited by Austen's brother, Edward, this estate is believed to have influenced many of Jane's portrayals of grand houses, particularly as her own lifestyle was fairly modest and restrained. Gill Hornby's 2003 novel Godmersham Park was inspired by the real friendship between Jane and her brother's governess at Godmersham Park, Anne Sharp.
Filming Locations from Adaptations
This vast estate south of Disley in Cheshire is now managed by the National Trust and features a mansion house with formal gardens and a deer park. It was a significant filming location (playing the part of Mr Darcy's family estate Pemberley) in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, starring Colin Firth as Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet.
Basildon Park was used as a location in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, where it served as the fictional Netherfield Hall. “I do not know a place in the country that is equal to Netherfield," commented Mrs Bennet in Austen's novel, and the Basildon Estate, which was thankfully saved from demolition and lovingly revived in the 1950s, plays the part wonderfully.
Comprised of Belton House, formal Italian and Dutch gardens, and a historic deer park, Belton Estate served as Rosings Park - the grand estate of the de Burgh family and the house that Lady Catherine is due to bequeath to Mr Collins - in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
This picturesque National Trust village was used to depict the fictional town of Meryton in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Meryton was a momentous place in the imaginations of the younger Bennet sisters, as the headquarters of the local militia.
Any fans of the epic 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice will remember The Temple of Apollo's vital role. It was here that, rain-soaked and brooding, Mr Darcy first proposed to Elizabeth. Many romantics have even chosen to recreate the scene with a proposal here. Aside from its romantic significance, the gardens are a perfect spot to spend an afternoon in Wiltshire, where gardens were designed by Henry Hoare II in the style of landscape paintings with bridges, grottoes, and classical temples.
Whether you're a fan of English heritage, opulent interiors or Jane Austen, Chatsworth House and gardens are an unmissable part of English country house history. It is believed to have inspired Pride and Prejudice's Pemberley, and featured in the 2005 film adaptation. The house is particularly spectacular at Christmas, where visitors flock to wonder the halls, enjoy the lavish Christmas finery and stock up on produce from their farm shop.
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