Chawton Cottage (Jane Austen’s House)
For over 60 years, Jane Austen fans have been flocking to the quaint Chawton Cottage where she did much of her writing. Even before the international hit movie dramatizating her most famous work Pride & Predjudice, she was recognised as one of the most famous authors in the English language.
The cottage, in the village of Chawton in Hampshire, is the 17th century house where Austen spent the last seven years of her life. She wrote almost daily here, producing the novels Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion. Those familiar with Austen’s plot lines will recognise how her life so often mirrored her narratives. Not least in the how she came to be living here. Her elder brother had inherited his uncle’s estate and provided the house for his mother and sisters.
As a private museum, Chawton Cottage has been welcoming devotees since 1947. It contains a fascinating collection of her personal possessions. One of the oddities of the place is the squeaky writing room door which warned Austen of approaching visitors! Not far from Chawton is the historic city of Winchester, which appeared as a location in the recent film version of Pride and Prejudice. Austen herself is buried in the magnificent Winchester Cathedral there.