Category: Museum Exhibitions

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Adventures with Jane! Day XIII & XIV: Books, Fabrics, a Palace, ‘Clueless,’ and Home!

BookLady DebLeave a comment

Started the morning with Joy spotting yet another famous person – in the lobby of the hotel – a Gerald-Ford-Lookalike – Joy is very good at finding these people! [recall Churchill last night at The Wellington!]

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We are off and running this morning to see as much as possible before the play tonight…

We hit Hatchard’s on Piccadilly first thing – one of those must-see places whenever in London [I go again when I came back in July] – founded in 1797, claims to be the oldest in the UK, it offers five floors of books, mostly new but also a brilliant collection of used and rare…one could be here all day, or more – so we do a rather fast scurry to all the floors, find this book, newly out that we both have to have…

Always check the Churchill section…how much can you possibly say about one man??


– and after a few purchases we head next door to the other must-see London shop Fortnum & Mason: their windows alone drawing you in…


Did not do Afternoon Tea this time – but here it all is awaiting your arrival….

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Passing Carnaby Street on our way to Liberty London on Great Marlborough St., with its array of fabrics for all manner of fashion and household goods. I had not been here before and what a treat! There was an exhibit on the history of the store and its variety of fabrics – could not get enough of this!

Then off to do the Royals – Kensington Palace – have been a number of times before but with different exhibits, this time going through most of the place to see its history – then a fine café lunch and then just wandered back to the hotel to pack and prepare for the play – A few photos from the Palace:      

Queen Caroline of Ansbach [consort of George II]

The great Peter the Great

[Here is a great post on the various portraits at Kensington Palace: https://anhistorianabouttown.com/royal-portraits-at-kensington-palace/ ]

The exhibit on Queen Victoria’s childhood included this:

Loved this display on ‘what to where when’:

Fashion! the ‘Dress Codes’ exhibition – but I only focused on this one dress of Queen Alexandra…

I want one…

-and then this, which I very much wanted to see – it is quite something…

One of my favorite places: The Orangery

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Then the play! No photos allowed during the performance, so only these from the outside [with Nelson in the background]:

and the opening screen:

Clueless did not disappoint – completely faithful to the original film AND Emma, there were catchy tunes, with great actors / singers / dancers; enough plaid to satisfy any tartan-obsessive; and enough energy in the playhouse to keep us all tapping and clapping all the way home. It was pure delight! [It is closing soon – get your tickets if you can…]

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So this short stop in London ended our tour – my hopes to see some of those places on my to-do list [the Sherlock Holmes Pub. and the National Portrait Gallery, closed for renovation the last time I was there] – I was not too disappointed as I was coming back at the end of June – and happy to report I did see Richard III in his new digs at the NPG [Room 1, Floor 3] as well as my favorite pub, under new management and with a new sign, but all the same inside with the Holmes memorabilia upstairs – the pub sign has changed a number of times through the years – here is the new one:

[Mr. Holmes is a topic for another day – a full post just on these changing signs is way past due…]

[this sort of creeped me out – my mother’s name was Elsie…]

–

And of course a Richard III – because even Jane thought he was an innocent man…

Jane Austen on Richard III ~ Guilty, or “A Very Respectable Man”?

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Day 14: Home!

I was off very early for a 10:30 am flight – the hotel packed me a lovely breakfast; the taxi driver and I had the best conversation about Life and Current Politics I’ve had all year [lots to talk about!]; Heathrow was smooth sailing – and I was home via Charlotte NC and to Savannah in what seemed like a jiffy..

Such a nearly three-week journey! – very well-spent – with a hearty Thank You to JASNA and Pathfinders [and Marian our leader and driver Paul], to Liz Cooper for all her planning and just being there for all of us. And to everyone in Britain who welcomed us with such open arms despite our political nonsense! All the tour participants were a joy to spend some quality-Jane-time with – Thank You all for making this trip one of a lifetime – all in celebration of Jane’s 250th – seeing all the spots from her birth to her death, and all the glorious writing in-between. I am more devoted than ever – we are all nuts, of course, but justifiably so!

[You can visit the JASNA site for information on this years two tours – you should start planning for next year – JASNA will be announcing the 2026 tour early in the new year…just do it!]

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Tea Towel – Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral – at the Jane Austen wall memorial

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Adventures with Jane! Day XII: Bath to London Wanderings…

BookLady Deb2 Comments

Hotel Indigo [from their website – I forgot to take a picture!]

Our last group breakfast at our Hotel Indigo in Bath – hugs and goodbyes and “safe travels” to all who boarded the bus to Heathrow – and those of us doing the London extension boarded ours – we were a small group, and each of us with our own London agenda. We would be gathering only for breakfast each day  and then on our own until the next evening’s play Clueless [more on that tomorrow…]

Our London hotel in Bloomsbury [love staying in Bloomsbury!] was a tad bizarre with the ugliest couch I have ever encountered – but we managed for the two nights as were never there…

[Not sure what that shadow is – appears to be a Knight in Shining Armor – but he too was frightened away by the couch…]

But first, a photo of this wallpaper – I think it was in the hotel in Bath – but this is a favorite pattern of mine so have to share:

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As Joy and I had a few of the same agenda high spots, off we went, walking everywhere, just so overJOYed to be in London again…

First, the John Soane Museum, comprising three houses in Lincoln’s Inn Fields – Soane’s architectural office, his home and library, and later home to his extraordinary collections. Since his death in 1857, everything has remained the same – all the works of art, sculptures, and furniture – all as he had it arranged (similar again to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston) and why there is minimal signage and no labels.

Exterior of the Soane Museum [from their website]

Soane is considered one of Britain’s greatest and most innovative architects – though his design for Whitehall, here as a model, was never executed:

Some of his work is found: [for a full list see here]

  • Bank of England [Threadneedle St London]
  • Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
  • Holy Trinity Church Marylebone
  • Royal Belfast Academical Institution
  • Royal Hospital Chelsea
  • St John’s Church, Bethnal Green, London

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As you first enter the dining room and library, you come face to face with his portrait by Thomas Lawrence.

The entire museum is a maze of rooms filled from top to bottom with Soane’s collections – one couldn’t take it all in in with daily visits for months – a few hours just leaves one quite overwhelmed [not to mention humbled…]

Let’s take a quick tour with a few of the photos I took [not enough!]

The Picture Room:

– Venetian scenes by Canaletto [alas! no photos…idiot]

– hidden behind large wooden doors that open up to another group of paintings – only about 10 people are allowed in for the timed viewings – we were SO lucky to arrive just in time – behind the panels we found Hogarth’s The Rake’s Progress – here just a few (but you can see the whole series here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rake%27s_Progress

   

Austen as we know knew her Hogarth – she references him in a letter to Cassandra [8 Sept 1796]:

she has decided to not go to London with Frank for fear her friends will not be there –

“…for if the Pearsons were not at home, I should inevitably fall a Sacrifice to the arts of some fat Woman who would make me drunk with Small Beer.”

She is referencing here in her witty way the first plate of Hogarth’s The Harlot’s Progress – Austen understands the reality of a young woman alone in London:

You can see the rest of the plates here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Harlot%27s_Progress

The Basement:

In the basement you find the Monks Parlour: Soane here making fun of the Gothic style – the “monk” was Padre Giovanni, Soane’s imaginary alter ego – you could be invited here to tea – between this and the nearby sarcophagus of King Seti I (1303-1290 BC), considered one of the most important of all surviving Egyptian antiquities, I might have rethought a nighttime visit to Mr. Soane’s basement parlour…

[from the Soane fb page]

[from the Soane Museum website]

The Kitchen:

I can never resist an old kitchen – and here we have a patent range dating from 1812, as well as the china pantry with my favorite blue and white…

We find Shakespeare with his own hallowed place in the stairwell:

And the Drawing Rooms, painted in “Turner’s patent yellow,” we find family portraits and fine furniture:

[South Drawing Room – from the Soane Museum website]

And can we ever have a day without finding a George IV on the wall??

One of the dome ceilings:

And a secret photo of Joy and me! [I didn’t see this until I got home!]

The Apollo Belvedere [a cast from the one in Rome]: a very odd angle, not sure what I was thinking…

And the famous Dome Ceiling:

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Lovely time here – wish we could have spent more, but I was quite dizzy as we emerged into the light of day…and now time to just do a little more wandering to must-see places:

I passed LSE where I had gone to classes on my semester abroad in 1968:

Passing the Royal Courts of Justice, we saw much press activity about a famous court case about to be decided – I knew nothing about any of it and still don’t and cannot find anything in the news!

Of course a trip to London is never complete without a visit to Twinings [Jane would approve as well]

I have never understood why in a country founded and sustained by Tea, they do not serve iced tea – yet, here at Twinings at the sample tea bar in the back of the store, one of the “flavours of the day” was an iced tea – here is the recipe: Enjoy, wherever you are…

Dinner at The Wellington [appropriate since I started this trip engrossed in the guy – see first posts of this trip] was to finish our day – delicious beef pie – with Joy spotting a Winston Churchill behind her!

Walking back to hotel we took in the Royal Drury Lane Theatre,

And The Marquess of Anglesey – I feel connected to the good Marquess because I use an image of him in his curricle in my talks on Regency carriages and travel in Jane Austen’s time:

Passing by this artful extravaganza: quite the magical show – we could not stop smiling!:

Found the home of Randolph Caldecott, complete Hero in the history of children’s literature – I love him:

Caldecott’s John Gilpin

And finally the London Review of Books Bookshop, a favorite spot, but this evening closed because of an author event in progress…

So ‘til tomorrow – last day! Aren’t you exhausted??

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Adventures with Jane! Day XI: Bath, Bridgerton, and Rugby…

BookLady Deb4 Comments

What a day! And the final one for those not doing the London two-day extension…

To continue with our adventure yesterday touring around Austen-related places in Bath, you can see this map

and this website where much is explained: https://18thc-cities.sorbonne-universite.fr/-Map-of-Bath-1803-Jane-Austen-s-.html#3

and this map from JASNA.org:

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But now we are off first thing to the Holburne Museum – with a stop along the way to No. 4 Sydney Place, at the end of Great Pulteney Street, where Jane and her sister and parents lived for their first three years in Bath – it is also the only house in Bath to have a plaque telling us that she had lived here: here are Joy and I, and Michele and Vicki in the required photos at the front door [people who live here must love this constant invasion of their doorstep…]

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Then into the Museum, with again a terrific guide, who pointed out the salient pieces to see on a fairly quick tour – so much here to ponder over: the artwork, decorative arts, and history of the owner:

At the heart of the Holburne Museum is the collection of Sir William Holburne (1793-1874), fifth baronet of Menstrie. William seemed destined for a naval career but, following the death of his elder brother Francis, he inherited the family title and a modest fortune. He left the navy and embarked on an eighteen-month Grand Tour of Europe, visiting Italy, the Alps and the Netherlands. This sparked a life-long interest in art and his enthusiasm for collecting. He particularly loved bronze sculptures, silver, porcelain and Dutch landscapes.

Sir William never married. He lived with his growing collection and his three unmarried sisters on the North side of Bath. It was his wish that his collection be left to the City of Bath for everyone to enjoy. Since his death, more than 9,000 items have been added to his collection including portrait miniatures, porcelain, embroideries and portraits by some of the greatest artists of the eighteenth century.”  [from the website]

We just missed the Turner watercolor exhibit which was to open on May 23 – but to celebrate Austen in this 250th year, coming up are two evenings of adaptations – the 1995 Emma and 1995 Sense and Sensibility. And from Sep 11, 2025 – Jan 11, 2026, an exhibit on “Illustrating Austen”:

[Marianne Dashwood, by William C. Cooke, S&S, 1892]

I could have stayed here all day taking photos – so here just a few of my favorites:

Queen Charlotte:

English silver:

A chamber pot designed as a planter:

More porcelain:

Richard Cosways’ miniatures:

I was interested in these Bruegels because I was heading off to Belgium on a Flemish art trip at the end of June – apparently this one is definitely attributed to him, the one below has not…:

And hurray! A Woman Artist! Angelica Kauffmann:

And, where there is a harp, can Mary Crawford be far behind??

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And must make a note of the setting of the Holburne Museum as Lady Danbury’s house in the Netflix series Bridgerton – it appears in all three seasons and also in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. The museum’s exterior is particularly recognizable when guests arrive at balls, and it’s also the setting for a scene in season 3 where Penelope is upset with Colin.

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Then more walking around Bath – across the Great Pulteney Bridge with its great shops – here Joy and I found the perfect spot for tea: Pulteney Bridge Coffee where we had “lemon drizzle” – yum…

And where you then come upon Laura Place, the widest street in Bath, and where Lady Dalrymple lives – the very upper-class (and expensive) location and where Sir Walter is chuffed to bits to be invited…

Here is a great summary of places in Bath that show up in Persuasion:

https://www.janeaustensummer.org/post/here-s-where-jane-austen-s-real-life-and-persuasion-intersect-in-bath

And we cannot in good conscience leave out Hannah More, who lived on Great Pulteney Street from 1792 – 1802:

And this because who could resist:

…an Italian restaurant with Bath’s best Sunday Roast [or so their marketing tells me…]

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Back to the hotel and then onto the bus for the drive to our dinner location: Farleigh House, home to the Bath Rugby Club! You can read about its interesting architectural and ownership history here.

If you want to get married here or throw yourself an elegant party [and I highly recommend it!}, go here: https://www.farleigh.house/

I was most interested in the rugby! My husband played rugby in college and later for a club in Washington DC – but alas! no rugby players in sight, only some views of the playing fields – more about them here: https://www.bathrugby.com/

On entering the house, we were vastly and beautifully entertained by a Regency Ensemble of three: pianist and two singers singing Jane Austen-era songs: “A Delightful Diversion” performed by The Literary Music Ensemble:

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Then into the main hall that serves as the VERY large dining room – on offer was a delicious buffet…

No going upstairs, but one could wish…

Dessert!!

A perfect place for a Regency gathering of like-minded souls – JASNA went all out here for our last evening together:

Claire and Marcia!

Back on the bus heading back to the hotel on a beautiful evening, all very well-fed, very well-entertained, and quite sad to be bidding adieu to each other…:

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A rose at the Holburne Museum…

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Adventures with Jane! Day X: It’s all about Bath

BookLady DebLeave a comment

So, today I messed up Royally – was supposed to meet a friend, but misplaced days of the week in my head – travel can do that to you [anyone else out there have this happen??]. To me, today was a Monday, because yesterday felt like a Sunday – everything contrived against my really knowing today is a Tuesday, the day set up to meet my friend  – it was to be my second day in Bath, but I didn’t count the first day because we only got there in the evening – I am still trying to make sense of it – my only consolation is that we shall see each other in Baltimore!

So to carry on – today started with the usual to-die-for English breakfast (Tea + everything else) – then off on a walking tour of Bath – with a Terrific guide starting at St. Swithin’s Church where George Austen is buried – and also where he and Cassandra Leigh were married in 1754, their register below – and for those interested, William Wilberforce was married here also in 1797:

And of great interest to me, this is where Frances Burney is also buried, her grave in the churchyard, along with the remains of her husband Alexandre D’Arblay and their son. Burney had lived in Bath for a number of years and died here in 1840.

There is this memorial to her on the wall, and one to her sister and also novelist Sarah Harriet Burney:

These plaques were installed in 2013, replacing the originals what disappeared in 1958 during renovations to the church organ [are they perhaps somewhere with Jane Austen’s missing head??]

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From there we walked to the Royal Crescent, perhaps one of the most photographed spots in all of England? – completed by John Wood in 1775, Mrs. Austen’s sister Jane Cooper lived at number 12.

We hit all the mentioned locations in both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion – and easy to imagine Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney and Ann Elliot and Captain Wentworth wandering along the streets – the movies have made them all very real to us, and nothing has much changed really, other than the errant car or two, or people holding cell phones and wearing flip-flops…

The Queen’s Parade, the Gravel Walk [Ann and the Captain along with us]…we walked it, but in those early days it was a way for the gentry to be transported to the baths in their sedan chairs.

We passed the World War I Memorial which features the “Cross of Sacrifice” and erected in 1923, now has the additional names of WWII fallen, including civilian deaths – you can read more about it her: http://bath-heritage.co.uk/war-memorial.html

We followed around former haunts of the Austens and family:

No. 13 Queen Square is where Jane stayed with her mother and Edward in 1799 – he had come to take the waters… [it is now being renovated…] – and then along to Trim St, the final lodging of the Jane, Cassandra, and Mrs. Austen, and the “very bottom of the social scale, populated by prostitutes, beggars, and thieves.” [Jane Austen’s Bath, JA Centre]

25 Gay Street, just down from the Jane Austen Centre, is where the Austen’s lived following Mr. Austen’s death – [the Jane Austen Center is at #40]

And here several photos of various sites as we walked around:

The St. John’s Hospital, recently dedicated by the then Duchess of Cornwall [now Queen Camilla],

The all-important Circulating Library and Milson Street, Beau Nash, the baths, and shopping!:

and a sign worth a photo:

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After the tour, Joy and I went to the Jane Austen Centre – I had visited this several years ago when it was first starting out – much improved, and they do a terrific newsletter, and the long-time greeter Martin Salter is worth the price of admission… [these pictures from Joy]:

And some pictures from there worth sharing [I didn’t take many! – see the website for a great collection]:

And Joy found this in the WC!

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We visited the main Marketplace as Joy was in dire need of Gillards of Bath teas, and I spot a Snoopy:

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And then we went our separate ways – me finding it ironic that though I was supposed to be meeting my friend, I felt quite foot-loose and fancy-free and wandered all around Bath with no itinerary – what an idiot! And here is the final glitch – I did not stop to eat or go anywhere where I connected to the internet – if I had I would have seen the various messages from my friend asking where I was!

So off to Bath Abbey for an in-depth visit – and started it with a tour of the Jane Austen-related memorials – and here I found Stephen Herring of Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine * giving tours at the Abbey! What a grand surprise! Though disappointed to not see Jackie as well – but Stephen was great taking a small group of us all around the Abbey – I took notes but took NO PHOTOS! – but we did learn about:

  • The Nibbs Family [James Langford Nibbs]
  • Dr. William Bowen – doctor to Mrs C Auysten in 1804
  • William Siddons, husband to Sarah
  • Admiral Sir William Hargood [Francixs Austen’s Canoppus
  • Caleb Hillier Parry
  • The Famous Castrata Rauzzioni

The Abbey also has an exhibit on through September 27, Austens at the Abbey – Jackie Herring is on the video and it covers much of what I had just learned on the tour with Stephen.

Wandered around the other exhibits at the Abbey, hit the bookshop (of course) and then wandered back to the hotel which was very nearby – and when I found the note from my friend letting me know I had missed her – it was too late as she was already on the train heading home – a lost adventure with a friend… but Marcia DID see Hazel in the Topping bookshop…so that was something I suppose…

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Dinner on our own and several of us headed to the absolutely required eating spot in Bath: Sally Lunn’s – a few photos for your pleasure!

And another day is done…

* Latest issue of JARW: [always a pleasure to see Mr. Darcy in the fog…]

and another great sign:

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Adventures with Jane! Day IX: On the Trail to Lyme Regis…         

BookLady Deb6 Comments

Well, finally back to recounting this Jane adventure – I have been to London again and then to Belgium for a Flemish Art tour [fabulous trip with Martin Randall Travel] – so working on remembering the details of this JASNA tour while reentering from an immersion into the art world of the 14th – 16th centuries…with enough artist-rendered crucifixions to last a lifetime…

I left off with our visit to Chawton on Day 8 – now on to Day 9 when we left our excellent Winchester Hotel and headed on to Bath – with the absolutely required stop in Lyme Regis – no Wentworth in sight as yet, but one can only hope. Actually I was more on the lookout for Jeremy Irons, but that is another story entirely…

I have been to Lyme Regis before, where I stayed with friends in a bed & breakfast – the owner a sailor and the house fitted up like a ship – and with gorgeous views of the cliffs. Today was a perfect day, but very hazy and the cliffs barely visible the whole time we were there – unfortunate because it gives you a whole different perspective on this town, both now and when Austen would have visited.

What does get prime attention here, and rightly so, is Mary Anning, famous for her fossil hunting and contributions to the study of paleontology. [You can read about her in Tracy Chevalier’s Remarkable Creatures for the historical fiction approach, but also here for a complete history lesson: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/mary-anning-unsung-hero.html

There is also the recent movie (2020) with Kate Winslet: Ammonite, which adds quite a bit to the historical record. And also the 2024 Mary Anning and the Dinosaur Hunters. Mary getting her just due finally!

So, one of my main quests in our short visit to Lyme Regis was to see the Mary Anning statue, recently unveiled in 2022 – its creation a story in itself: a crowdfunding campaign called “Mary Anning Rocks” started by an 11-year old girl in Dorset – [did you know that 85% of the statues in the UK are of men??? Why am I not surprised…].

Designed by Denise Dutton, it is beautifully placed with a Mary in active pursuit looking out to sea with her dog in tow. It is quite lovely:

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As for Jane here [and she is everywhere!]: we did a stroll on the Cobb – we listened to Marian [our tour manager] read the passage on Louisa Musgrove’s famous fall from the Cobb in Persuasion – we did this before attempting the treacherous Cobb itself as it was quite windy – we did not need a reenactment of anyone falling – especially as I have already noted that Wentworth was nowhere to be found…

…and pictures do no justice to the extent of the slant on the Cobb – treacherous is too gentle a word…

Louisa’s fall is quite a tale, and it lives on in the imagination of us all, but none perhaps as renowned as these two:

Alfred Lord Tennyson visited Lyme primarily for its Austen sites, walking the nine miles from Bridport to Lyme on 23 August 1867—“led on to Lyme by the description of the place in Miss Austen’s Persuasion.” Arriving, Tennyson called on his friend Francis Palgrave, and “refusing all refreshment, he said at once, ‘Now take me to the Cobb, and show me the steps from which Louisa Musgrove fell.’

Charles Darwin’s son Francis expounded a good deal on the actual location wondering how a strong man such as the Captain could have entirely failed to catch her – he hypothesizes that Wentworth slipped, as he did himself: “I quite suddenly and inexplicably fell down. The same thing happened to a friend on the same spot, and we concluded that in the surprisingly slippery character of the surface lies the explanation of the accident.”  (see Peter Graham, “Why Lyme Regis?” Persuasions 26 (2004): https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions/no26/graham/ )

[This portrait at the NPG of a young quite-to-die-for Tennyson is no longer on display – here is the one there now – a shock to discover this when I just returned to London again last week and finally got to the renovated NPG:

I told the guard, here holding the earlier painting on her ipad, that she must speak to the powers that be and get young Tennyson back on view!]

But, back to the steps – the confusion continues as to which steps Louisa actually jumped from – “granny’s teeth” on the left being the most decided upon: but another treacherous walking adventure on the Cobb… two of my photos:

Illustrators of Austen’s Persuasion went wild with this scene, showing both options in their drawings: do you show her jumping?, or lying “lifeless” on the ground, Wentworth pleading “Is there no one to help me?” – here are just a few:

C. E. Brock – Dent, 1898 /  Dent, 1909

Hugh Thomson – Macmillan, 1897

Joan Hassall – Folio Society, 1975, shows Henrietta in a swoon:
“nay, two dead young ladies”!

Niroot Puttapipat – Folio Society, 2007, gives us an action image
“I am determined I will” – perfect!

and the 1995 film of Persuasion is also perfect – the first jump when Wentworth catches her…:

© RICHARD AUSTIN 2003

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Despite all these dire images in our heads, Joy and I bravely trekked along the Cobb, and here as you can see I am channeling Meryl Streep in The French Lieutenant’s Woman – but again, no Jeremy Irons in sight to rescue me…a precarious place this Cobb…

Then we walked around town in our limited time here, in pursuit of the Anning statue, had lunch at a delightful restaurant, Rock Point, sitting outside on this now sunny day [still hazy…]

– and found that the Lyme Regis Museum was closed on Mondays so we were unable to see much of the local history: info here on the Museum

– we did just pass by the place where there is a Jane Austen Garden, but her stone bust disappeared a number of years ago, never to be seen again… sort of like the paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum – I didn’t take any photos sorry to say, but here is one from their website:

Also of interest walking around town is the current Stampede by the Sea – a collection of decorated painted elephants auctioned off for a charity event – you can find them all here on the map below, but here are two that captured my imagination: [look closely at this first one – what do you see??]

Map of all these hefty fellows about town – it is quite the fundraiser:

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Some sights in town to give you a sense of place:

Benwick Cottage!

Boats awaiting the tide…

My now favorite shop: Seasalt Cornwall

A clear reminder you are at the seaside!

Always in search of poppies….

a farewell to Lyme Regis…the Cliffs just appearing…

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Then, back on the bus to head to Bath, home to some of the finest architecture in England, as well as a home to Jane Austen for several years, and as a plot-solving location in her book-end novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

A very proper waistcoat on our “butler”…

After settling into our room at the Hotel Indigo, perfectly located right downtown, Joy and I took a stroll around the places familiar to us and all the set locations for the various Austen films – a delightful walk as few people were around and most of the stores were closed, excepting our favorite Topping & Company Booksellers:

“Oh! what a Henry!…”

Dinner at the hotel restaurant to end a very full day, well-spent of course – Bath adventures will fill our next few days, can’t wait…

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Adventures with Jane! Day VIII: The Delights of a Visit to Chawton

BookLady Deb6 Comments

Where oh where do I begin to tell of this joyous day? All places I have been before, but more engaging touring about with a group of like-minded people, and the chance to see so much more behind the scenes…

We are today off from our Winchester hotel to Chawton – and there to see the two most important sites having to do with Jane Austen: Chawton House and the Jane Austen House Museum.

Chawton House is an Elizabethan manor house still in the Knight family, owned by Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen’s brother. Edward was adopted by the Knight family and he inherited three estates: Steventon, Chawton and Godmersham Park. You can read all this interesting history here – https://chawtonhouse.org/visit/house/

…the main point being that Edward’s ownership of this Chawton estate gave him the ability to offer the steward’s cottage on the property to his mother and two sisters in 1809 [this is now called the Jane Austen House Museum] – and so, like Godmersham Park, Jane would have visited this house often – a short walk up the road – again, giving her the knowledge of life on a gentleman’s country estate. Edward’s stewardship of his land and properties certainly served as a model for her grand land-owning Heroes in her novels: Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, and Col. Brandon.

[If you have any doubts about Edward’s generosity, please read Linda Slothouber’s book: Jane Austen, Edward Knight, & Chawton: Commerce and Community [Woodpigeon Publishing, 2015.]

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Chawton House is far more than a visit to a grand manor – complete with a tea room, numerous indoor and outdoor events throughout the year, a splendid garden and a place to wander, an Airbnb stay, and a wedding venue – it is most importantly a Library and Centre for the study of early women writers, 1600-1830. https://chawtonhouse.org/the-library/using-the-library/ – which is exactly what it says, a library of early women writers with many rare and unique titles; they also present changing exhibits on the many aspects of these women writers – right now one on “Sisters of the Pen.” [more on this below] – and do not miss their regular online offerings to us far afield.

The history of this library is novel-worthy itself – the American Sandy Lerner, taking on the lease of the property and keeping it from becoming a golf course [!] – the renovations to the house and outlying buildings, the housing of her book collection of these mostly forgotten women writers, and the creation of the now self-sustaining manor we can visit and study at today.

[Become a Friend! The House counts on your support to continue their mission; you can become a Friend of the library directly – https://chawtonhouse.org/get-involved/support-us/become-a-friend/

or if you are in the US or Canada, you can join the North American Friends of Chawton House here: https://www.nafch.org/ ]

Lots more to say here, but let’s get to our visit and some photos!

Katie Childs with Edward Austen Knight

We were first greeted by Katie Childs – the Chief Executive [if you have been paying attention, we also met Katie at Godmersham Park!] – who gave us some of the history of the house, the library, current plans and exhibitions. We were able to tour the house on our own [ascending the grand staircase such an experience!] – seeing all the portraits of Knight family members, hung along with some of the famous women writers, actresses, manor house owners – and admiring the heraldic windows that I have posted about before.

Elizabeth Knight – Edward Knight Jr – Montagu George Knight

George Sand – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu – Mary Robinson

and what manor would be complete without an image of the Duchess of Devonshire:

Roomies at rest ….

Roomies at rest surrounded in Austen novels…

The Tea Room

the Knight Family china – a Wedgwood pattern

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Exhibition: Sisters of the Pen: Jane Austen, Influence, Legacy

The current exhibition is quite eye-opening, especially if you were not previously aware of the numerous women writers before and during Jane Austen’s time [spoiler alert: Jane Austen did not invent the novel as we know it, nor was she the only woman writing in the late 18th / early 19th century!] – it is called “The Great Forgetting” – the removal of 100s of women writers from the canon, now subject to the ongoing process of being recovered – this exhibition “Sisters of the Pen: Jane Austen, Influence, Legacy” tells this history with both signboards, objects and books – it is beautifully done and no way to quite capture it with random photos – here are a few to give you a sense:

[and for the rest, you just must visit yourself!]

It was nice to see the display on the Godmersham Park library and the Reading with Austen website and the blog which tells of the GLOSS finds: “Bulstrode Peachey”, one of the volunteers, was very happy to tell me all about it, and even happier to learn I worked with Peter Sabor in returning the “Lost Sheep” to Chawton House:

It was grand to meet a number of the Chawton House volunteers – those that keep it all going and preserving and sharing the grand history here to visitors like us.

Katie invited us to see some of the recent acquisitions from the Deirdre Le Faye Archive: here is a Mary Robinson print:

and here an example of Le Faye’s numerous fashion prints:

and one of Le Faye’s carriage prints:

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Then a delightful lunch:

….and of course a chance to SHOP and then to wander about the grounds – I did visit the marker at the Upper Terrace, donated to NAFCH by the Vermont Region:

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A short walk down the drive takes us to the Church on the grounds – do I dare say it is a St. Nicholas??! – where Jane and family would have worshipped and where we will find the graves of Mrs. Austen and Cassandra:

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We were then off down the road to the “Chawton Cottage” – now called the JAHM: https://janeaustens.house/ – a short trek in Jane Austen’s footsteps, nothing much changed from her own time here, excepting macadam and sidewalks, and cars roaming about rather than horses and carriages and stagecoaches rumbling by their front window….

Warmly welcomed by house Director Lizzie Dunford, we could tour the house on our own, a living monument to seeing how Jane and her sister Cassandra and her mother lived in this “cottage” but actually quite a large home:

The rooms decorated with the newly minted wallpaper, recreated from the existing fragments, it all feels as though Jane herself is just around the corner…

As there was a concert scheduled for that evening, we were fortunate to be there when the pianist and singer were rehearsing – a Jane Faifax / Frank Churchill moment for sure!

Here is a slideshow of various spots and objects in the house, starting with the infamous writing table where Austen “scribbled” her letters and novels: [scroll right to see all the photos]

The exhibit here at the Jane Austen House, celebrating like everywhere else the 250th anniversary, is on “Jane Austen and the Art of Writing”  https://janeaustens.house/display/jane-austen-and-the-art-of-writing/

And were incredibly lucky again to see the exhibit on “The Art of Cassandra” on view til Sept 7, 2025, and curated by Professor Janine Barchas – a first-time ever display of 10 works by Austen’s sister:

This seemingly modest exhibition of ten artworks is the largest-ever public display of the confirmed works of Cassandra Austen.  Not since Cassandra’s creative years in this very cottage have so many of her surviving artworks been gathered together in one place. Four of these were only recently discovered to exist among the possessions of Austen descendants. I’m thrilled that they will once again be displayed in the home where the Austen women lived and worked.’

– Janine Barchas, 2025

[Sorry! I did not take any more photos of Cassandra’s drawings, I was so enchanted by them – this link takes you to the online exhibition!]

The shop here at JAHM is yet another treasure trove as well as a danger to one’s wallet – I regret not buying the ring – I rarely wear gold, and somehow the silver one just doesn’t feel like the real thing…so I shall get through my disappointment by looking at the photo [image from JAHM]:

The garden at JAHM is a delight and you can imagine Jane and Cassandra working in it, enjoying it every day:

Our young Piony [sic] at the foot of the Fir tree has just blown & looks very handsome; & the whole of the Shrubbery Border will soon be very gay with Pinks & Sweet Williams, in addition to the Columbines already in bloom. The Syringes too are coming out. – We are likely to have a great crop of Orleans plumbs…

Jane Austen, 29 May 1811 from Chawton
to Cassandra at Godmersham Park

These tulips will have to do!

Time for afternoon tea! [we did not want for food on this tour!]

And then back to the hotel…the evening on our own… a glorious day!!

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…cannot have a day without wisteria!

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Adventures with Jane! Day VII: Winchester, the Beautiful and the Sad…

BookLady DebLeave a comment

We are off to Winchester College to learn of its history and its connection to Jane Austen – several of her nephews went here – and we were privileged to see many of the treasures in the library, as well as the what was to be an exterior visit to 8 College Street, the location where Austen dies on July 18, 1817….

What a wonderful and unexpected surprise to find that the College, who owns the building, had just the day before put some of the finishing touches on the house, readying it for the onslaught of Jane people in this 250th anniversary year. They had literally just finished painting some of the wall signs and quotations just the day before, and while the restoration is still ongoing, this very welcome gift to us on the JASNA tour is too much to put into words. I have been to this house before a couple of times, standing across the street and looking longingly at the spot where Austen spent her last weeks – but to go inside and see the interior walls, painted now as they were in her time, was so much more emotional than I expected [this now just edging out my seeing where Keats* died in Rome as the saddest literary moment I’ve experienced…]

Just showing a few of the photos I took – you really do need to be there yourself to feel the intensity of this place…tears flowed from many of us.

Matching the original paint colors…[the colors surprised me – different in every room, colorful and deep – I didn’t take photos of every room sorry to say…]

It was here at 8 College Street that Austen penned her final verse about St. Swithin’s Day – “Venta” just a few days before her death. You can read the poem here.

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Then we headed back to the College:

And then to the library where the Special Collections Librarian Dr. Richard Foster spoke to us about the several items of interest to a crowd of Janeites – including the rolls of students where we could see the names of her attending nephews.

here is a poem written out by James Austen / and a charade by Jane:

a book on the history of the College with a fantastic fore-edge painting of the College [for more information on fore-edge paintings, visit here – and here – an exhibition at the Lilly Library.]

and a door in need of a photo…

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Our guided walk to Winchester Cathedral followed:

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Inside the Cathedral, we find Austen’s grave, another somber spot – and the wall memorial – here one of the deacons awaited our arrival to perform a short celebratory service of prayers and a short eulogy as we stood around the memorial – each given a pink carnation to then leave on the tomb:

– it was quite lovely –

– a quick chat with the flower lady cheered me immensely – how they replace all the flowers around the wall memorial on a weekly basis – she agreed with me when I said I thought she had the best job in the entire cathedral!

And of course one cannot but sing [or at least whistle] the tune “Winchester Cathedral” – have I really spent my entire life since the 60s thinking the Beatles sang this song??

It is actually by the New Vaudeville Band – also appearing here on the Ed Sullivan Show… [lots of others think the Beatles sang this too – it comes up in Google as a common search!]

Following the service we went to one of the private chapels to listen to Cathedral Curator and Librarian Eleanor Swire talk on the poem Jane Austen wrote about the death of her dear friend Madame Lefroy – the manuscript of the poem is housed here and it was another emotional moment to gaze on it for a bit… written four years after Anne Lefroy’s death on Austen’s birthday after falling off a horse – you can read the poem here.

This Epiphany Chapel houses the most stunning stained glass windows, designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne–Jones. Here is one image I took:

but you can read and see more about them here:

Edward Burne-Jones and Winchester Cathedral

and here at the Victorian Web.

We were then sent off on our own to explore the Cathedral as we chose, so I just wandered around for a bit to find this kneeler by the author Tracy Chevalier memorializing Hampshire women (Florence Nightingale, Charlotte Yonge, and Jane Austen):

And then I could not resist a trek to the nether regions of the crypt and the guided tour did not disappoint. Who knew that any piece of absolutely anything that falls off the Cathedral has to be kept in perpetuity – that means any pieces of exterior sculpture or stone or anything inside that has fallen or removed is moved to the crypt – so it is full of all sorts of disused figures, columns, etc. – quite fun – these original pieces are then sourced for any ongoing restoration work:

Even more interesting was to find that the entire Cathedral at one point risked collapsing because of how the water table rose to such heights in the crypt that it was only a matter of time until it all fell down – an amazing story of one man, William Walker, an experienced diver who would spend several years diving below the surface and reinforcing the foundation with concrete  – today the water still rises in the crypt and you can see the levels on the walls – along with this very modern sculpture “Sound II” by Antony Gormley that periodically finds itself knee-deep in water as well as actually holding water in his cupped hands… :

 [quite unnerving really because you come upon it unexpectedly from various vantage points]

During lunch at the Cathedral café I found this monument to William Walker, known affectionately as “Diver Bill” – “The diver who with his own hands saved Winchester Cathedral.” Nothing to do with Jane, but good to know the building which holds her tomb is safe from disintegrating…

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The Cathedral exhibition “Kings and Scribes: Birth of a Nation” tells the over 1,000 year history of Britain with many treasures, as well as this nicely done explanation of the architectural differences through the ages:

And the various illuminated manuscripts – you can see a bit of it here in this video: [since I didn’t take many photos]

https://www.facebook.com/winchestercathedral/videos/307368896851773

Leaving the Cathedral, I had lunch at the café, then wandered around in search of Bookshops – first finding the current building of The Hampshire Chronicle, publishing since 1772 – and certainly a paper the Austens would have read:

The Hampshire Chronicle estb 1772

The P&G Wells bookshop is just down the street from 8 College St and where the Austens had a standing account with the then bookseller John Burdon. I missed an exterior photo but I do have this tile of the front, a gift from my roomie Joy! : it looks just like this:

– the interior retains much of the original Georgian furniture – the bookshelves, drawers, etc.

Here is the flier they have celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th:

[I didn’t buy anything, but did find this Ladybird book [didn’t buy; didn’t handle…] – apparently “specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them” – what a concept…

The Deanery Bookstall in the Cathedral’s Inner Close, run completely by volunteers, was a book searcher’s delight – not enough time to spend as one would want… but did find a few things [and knowing now I would have to buy another suitcase to get home…once you pass that point, there is no stopping you…will tell the tale of the actual suitcase in the last of these posts…]

Found The Winchester Bookshop on St. Georges St – and DID find a few things there, including this sign, one I had never seen before, though it certainly could be my mantra…

I like nothing better than a staircase in a bookshop that beckons…

A day is always well-spent with it ending in random book searching … and of course, yet another dose of wisteria:

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*There is a Keats walking tour in Winchester – he visited here for about two months in the late summer and early fall of 1819,  his daily walks inspiring his poem “To Autumn”. I did not follow the tour but you can download the guide here:

Keats-TrailDownload
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Adventures with Jane! Day VI, Part 2: Winchester and the Hampshire Cultural Trust.

BookLady Deb5 Comments

Coming off our visit to Steventon, we were given some free time to explore Winchester on our own, the Cathedral and College to be part of the Day 7 adventure. I have been to Winchester before, have seen all the spots associated with Jane, and at the 2003 AGM we had a grand banquet at the Great Hall. [There was a talk by the then woman mayor of the City – a Jane Austen follower! Her name was Jean Hammerton, and I see that she passed away in 2020 – she was a delight!]


Considered one of the finest surviving medieval aisled halls of the 13th century, it is all that remains of the vast Winchester Castle, begun by William the Conqueror. I was largely alone here today, and lacking banquet tables and all that food, you can see the vastness and majesty of the place:

It is also home to the “Round Table”:

Which is nearly 800 years old, has a diameter of 18 ft, made of 121 separate pieces of English oak – and is considered the symbol of medieval mythology – think Camelot – King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Since recent dating proves it is from the 13th century and not an original table of Arthur’s 6th century, much conjecture remains as to who ordered this to be made (probably Edward I), and why (part of a great banquet for an ‘Arthurian’ tournament during celebrations in 1290). The painting on the Round Table is dated to the early 16th century and has been determined to be the image of Henry VIII as a young man – Henry wanting to reinforce the Tudor claim to be direct descendants of Arthur [what a Henry…]*:

…as well as a nice reference to John F. Kennedy.

Queen Victoria has her own place of honor here – a HUGE statue for her Golden Jubilee in 1867:

and a 6-ft wide bronze sculpture for Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee:

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Exiting the Hall is a recreation of Queen Eleanor’s Garden [Queen Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, and Queen Eleanor of Castile, wife of his son Edward I], opened in 1986 by Her Majesty The Queen Mother – it also includes an herb garden, filled with medieval plants, for their beauty as well as their medicinal purposes.

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I then went to the Westgate Museum, next to the Hall and within the West Gate into the City, which holds some interesting artifacts of medieval and later times – always impressed by a fine coat of armor:

A hanging gibbet, not so much…

Great views of the Hall and the City from up top of the Gate:

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And finally a return to Jane’s times, as we head to The Hampshire Cultural Trust.

We were greeted by Louise West, Trustee for the HCT, and Jaane Rowehl, Director of Programme and Collections, and two of the people working on their upcoming exhibit  “Beyond the Bonnets: Working Women in Jane Austen’s Novels”

Dates: 2 Nov 2025 – 22 Feb 2026 – you can read about it here:

We were first treated to a talk on and a viewing of some of the artifacts that would have been used by these “working women” of Hampshire: domestic servants [lady’s maids, housekeepers, washer women]; governesses and teachers; and business women [seamstresses, milliners, glazers]; and the inevitable houses of prostitution – the artifacts that will be in the exhibit about their working lives, much of what has been discovered from diaries, receipts, and letters:

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Then a behind-the-scenes tour of the HCT’s costume and textile collection – fascinating work being done here [as well as rows and rows of costumes that are rented out for plays, etc]. Here we could see some of the actual dresses in the collection that are being preserved and studied:

And this fascinating bonnet!

And the necessary Fan:

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But nothing was quite so moving [some of the group on the verge of fainting] of Austen’s original pelisse:

Many of us have seen the various replicas, but to see this so close up [no touching allowed!] was quite something… and nice to know the care it is being given…

We were treated to a proper cup of tea and refreshments and then back to the hotel, where we had the evening to ourselves – we took advantage of the lovely outdoor patio with a fine glass of wine and pub fare – another perfect day [one can get used to this…]

Tomorrow brings us to the Cathedral, final resting place for Jane, so come visit again… [this blog posting is taking longer than the trip itself!]

*Source: Hampshire City Council. The Great Hall: Where History and Legend Meet. [no date]

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

BookLady Deb4 Comments

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 19th 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 11th 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:

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Adventures with Jane! ~ Day III: Sevenoaks, Knole, and Tonbridge

BookLady Deb1 Comment

Another day begins with a full English breakfast in this lovely morning room at Chilston Park, the piano serving as a buffet table!:

[One of the hardest things about returning from travel in England is the loss of that daily English Breakfast – if one had a maid, it could be sorted, but alas! I do not…I am the maid and chief swabby…and cereal works just as well to start the day, or so it has to…]

We are off today to Sevenoaks to learn more about the John Austen family. Several members of the Kent Branch joined us again – we walked down the High Street to see the Red House, where George Austen’s uncle Francis lived, Sevenoaks School where George’s father William had been a pupil, and to learn more about John Austen’s wife Elizabeth Weller, Jane’s great grandmother. Weller had to take a housekeeping job at Sevenoaks School in 1708 to keep her family together –

Here is the plaque to her on the Sevenoaks School building, a fitting tribute to a very strong woman in Austen’s ancestry.

You can read more about Weller in this recent Persuasions On-Line essay by Azar Hussain with an extensive bibliography for further sources on this side of the family.

Then off to visit yet another St Nicholas Church, where a number of Austen family are buried, and where the Kent JAS members offered us some fine refreshments before we wandered around the churchyard [you can see it is now freezing!].

[You can just make out the “Austen”]

And another “Twinned Toilet”!

And another wisteria fix:

[NOTE: Sheila Johnson Kindred wrote a fine blog post about this whole area of Kent – you can read that here.]

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A Beatles aside: a quick return to the 20th century with this advert in a window in the former antique shop at 44a High Street – you can read about it on this sign and how John Lennon made a song from it all…on their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album:

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Ok, now we head back to the 15th century – we are off to Knole, one of the largest country houses in Britain, and in the hands of the Sackville family since 1605 [and now part of the National Trust]. The history here is startling and a guidebook essential to understand the intricate maze of rooms – I could not get out of my mind the joys of playing hide-and-seek in such a place, participants never found and now likely molding skeletons around every corner. The history covers every century since its inception, the walls filled with portraits of all manner of famous people, rooms you know Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf [writing her Orlando] knew well. I loved it here, and was so engrossed I forgot to use my camera! – but here are a few of things that spoke to me – none of this does justice to the place – you must add it to your next trip itinerary:

The exterior:

The leopard stone statues:

The Great Stair with its stunning artwork [leopards here too]:

Guess who?! [he is everywhere…]

The Orangery, awaiting the upcoming Beatrix Potter exhibition:

The winding staircase to Eddy Sackville-West’s gatehouse tower [do not attempt after a glass of wine…]:


I was captivated by the story of Lady Betty, Lady Elizabeth Germaine (1680-1769), who lived at Knole in the 18th century – her bedroom and dressing room are presented as historically accurate to her times. She had a passion for porcelain, and here on display are some of her blue and white collection [my own passion…]

We were on our own for lunch and the tea room here was most accommodating…

It is a worthwhile endeavor to give Knole and its history a bit of your time: at the National Trust site, and Wikipedia does not disappoint.

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More Austen family history as we drove to Tonbridge, to see where George Austen was born in 1731 and went to school; as well as another church visit to St Peter and St Paul’s. You can follow our walk with this guide “In Austen Family Footsteps: A Circular Walk in Tonbridge” – again with the Kent Branch members.

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The School:

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, where Jane Austen’s grandfather William is buried with his first wife Rebecca Hampson and his second wife Susanna – the grave is now protected with glass so you can read the inscriptions and no more trodding on them:

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And the day ended at the Woodbury Park Cemetery in Tonbridge Wells, where Henry Austen (1771-1850) is buried, along with several other notables. It is a lovely spot, all maintained by volunteers, with new walkways recently installed. I felt a sadness here, thinking of Henry here all alone, with Eliza buried in the cemetery of St John-at-Hampstead in North London, and his second wife Eleanor Jackson, who died in 1864, who knows where? [does anyone know?] So here lies Henry, the liveliest of Austen’s brothers, the likely model for her various Henrys [Oh! What a Henry!], as well as her publishing champion, all alone in Tonbridge Wells – I was quite overcome really…

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Dinner again at our hotel, joined by several of the Kent Branch members who had so graciously guided us at the various spots to give us a deeper understanding of George Austen’s family in Kent. I hate to repeat “a day well-spent” but it was, as each proceeding and succeeding day proved – the “Beautifull Cassandra” would be quite jealous with her only one such day…

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The hot-air balloon shower in the Montgolfier room: