Adventures with Jane! Day IV: Goodnestone, Godmersham, and Canterbury

What an extraordinary day this was!

First, we traveled on our bus today to Goodnestone [did I mention yet our very-talented bus driver on this trip, Paul? A master of small lanes, hedgerows, and city maneuvers, Paul brought his expertise, patience (with all the Jane talk!), and humor to each day. The bus was smaller than the average bus, but with NO SIDE MIRROS, which proved his abilities beyond possibility…[I have a picture thanks to Joy!..]

– but I bring this up because today, traveling down a country lane on the way to Goodnestone, this big red behemoth attracted a herd of sheep like none of us have ever seen – unlike a Gary Larson cartoon, where the cows keep eating and ignoring the passing-by humans, these sheep raced to the fence to visit the huge bus – did they think it was their Mother?? Many of us got out to greet them, all running toward us – whatever they expected or what was on their minds we were unable to determine – but it gave us all a good laugh and we felt more welcomed than ever to the Kent countryside [I did have a Thomas Hardy moment of all the sheep racing to and jumping over the cliff edge in Far From the Madding Crowd, one of the most distressing moments in 19^th century literature…but no such sad outcome for us – the fence stopped any such disaster and we just bid them all adieu and continued our journey smiling all the way…]

Goodnestone was the family home of Elizabeth Bridges, wife to Edward Knight. Brook Bridges purchased the home in 1704 [more on him in a bit…]  – it remains in the family and now you can visit the house and gardens and it serves as a wedding venue. I was looking forward to seeing this house and having tea there, but alas! our plans were sent all askew by a film crew taking over the house for a “Marriage at First Sight” filming… the UK series has been on TV since 2015 – I did watch ½ an episode on TV while there and was quite stupefied by its stupidity…but if it helps support the Goodnestone estate, then that is a mere quibble of taste…

So, only distant shots, and a visit to the Church of the Holy Cross, where we were introduced to one of the family who gave us the low-down on the family history, and a tour around the church. This is the church where Edward and Elizabeth were married – it was actually a double wedding [Elizabeth’s sister Sophia and William Deedes], perhaps giving Austen the idea for her Pride and Prejudice double wedding of the Bennet sisters, Elizabeth and Jane.

Of interest to Janeites is the plaque to J. David Grey, one of the founders of JASNA, and installed here in his memory with JASNA’s support.

Then off to Chilham, the village that served as the location for Highbury in the 2009 Emma series. We were able to walk around the village and had lunch at the Woolpack Inn, established in 1480 [so delicious, I forgot to take a single picture!], and an appropriate spot considering our sheep welcome…

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Then to Godmersham Park, my most anticipated spot on the tour. First to the Church, surprisingly not a St Nicholas, but a St. Lawrence: here we had a history lesson about its connections to the Austens.

Godmersham Park was Edward Austen’s home, inherited from his adoptive parents that required him to change his name to Knight. Here he and Elizabeth raised their 11 children [Elizabeth died after the birth of the 11^th at the age of 35 in 1808] and where his extensive gentleman’s library was housed, the source of Professor Peter Sabor’s project Reading with Austen – the website offers an interactive plan of the library showing what books were on the shelves and their location as Jane Austen would have experienced. The goal of the project has also been to return as many of the books that were originally in Edward’s library if at all possible – we call ourselves The Godmersham Lost Sheep Society – you can read all about it at these links – we actively fundraise to help in the purchase of any books that might show up at auction or in booksellers’ catalogues.

Godmersham Park

We were honored to be present for the unveiling at the Church of the Susannah Sackree memorial, here with Katie and Kim from Chawton House:

Susannah Sackree was the nursemaid to the Knight children, and memorialized by them in the church and now with this grand memorial on the exterior. It was a very moving moment to see a servant, often forgotten by their employers and history, so lovingly remembered by the Knight family.

Susannah Sackree, Edward Knight, and Thomas Knight Memorials

You can read more about her in this Persuasions On-Line essay by Jennie Batchelor (2023) .

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The Heritage Centre tells the story of the house and grounds – it now serves as home to the Association of British Dispensing Opticians and so you cannot tour the house, BUT, we were allowed into [under a code of silence] the entrance foyer, nearly the same as it was in Austen’s time – but no library to visit or any of the other rooms Jane would have stayed in – it is all classrooms now…

The grounds however we could walk around, and as we know that Jane, being an avid walker, would have strolled around these very spots – one could almost feel her there hovering about…

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Refreshments were gratefully received, and then we were off to Canterbury. Some of us went to the evensong at the Cathedral [one of my favorite things to do when in England], this after walking around the city for a while – we had two goals in mind: to see the portrait of the scandalous father of Elizabeth Bridges, Sir Brook Bridges (1733-91), whose portrait hangs in the Beaney House of Art & Knowledge – here he is in all his glory:

[Bridges married Fanny Fowler, who was heiress to the title Baron Fitzwalter, and still the prominent name here at Goodnestone]:

Another draw here was the statue of Aphra Behn, lately unveiled by Queen Camilla – such a tribute to Behn, right here on the main street of Canterbury, she finally getting her just due. See here for an explanation of all the features of the statue – and more here at Fine Books & Collections – I especially liked her foot revealed from under the back of her dress…

And Joy and I giving tribute to this early woman writer par excellence:

Our walk around Canterbury found us in delightful conversation with a gentleman who asked where we were from: Joy says California – “You must be a hippie” he says. I in South Carolina but from Vermont, and he goes into rhapsodies about Bernie Sanders! [Bernie’s brother has long lived in England and has served in the Labour Party, and this fellow apparently knows him…it was good to have a conversation about the troubles in the US right now – everyone sympathetic to us but also not appreciative of the tariff situation and concerns about ally relationships…] – it was an enlightening conversation, but we were off to Evensong – which was beautiful, as always, – reserved seats just for JASNA, and though we were unable to take photos during the service, I captured a few on the way out…and the exterior [much restoration work going on covering up the main entrance]:

So, until tomorrow, when we leave our gorgeous Chilston Park Hotel and head to Winchester for four nights, by way of Worthing…

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Feeling a bit like a “Canterbury Traveller”… [from the Beaney Museum]

and I loved this: