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

June 10, 2025 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 13^th 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 13^th century and not an original table of Arthur’s 6^th 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 16^th 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 VI: Hampshire…

June 8, 2025June 10, 2025 BookLady DebLeave a comment

[Handout from P&G Wells Bookshop]

Today we journey from Winchester to Jane Austen’s home ground – where she lived for the first 25 years of her life: Steventon.

The house she and her siblings were born and raised in no longer stands, but thanks to her niece Anna Lefroy (or possibly her nephew-in-law Ben Lefroy), we have these drawings of the house:

and this rear view:

All that is left today is this fenced-in location of the house pump: so our imaginations have to run wild…

It is the Church we come to see here [a St. Nicholas of course]: you can also see we are done with the cold of Kent, and welcome the warm and cloudless sky of lovely Hampshire – [I am reminded for a moment of Margaret Hale in Gaskell’s North and South and the loss of her beloved Hampshire and her favorite “Helstone” roses, as she makes her way in northern cold and dark Manchester…]

Members of the Jane Austen Society warmly greeted us on this lovely day, offering delicious fare and Austen-related merchandise to buy. Then a quiet visit inside the church to see where Jane would have worshipped, her father rector here from 1761 (and of Deane from 1763) until his retirement in 1801 and death in 1805.

Michael Kenning, rector here from 1992-2012, introduced us to the Church and its Jane history – I have had the pleasure of meeting Canon Kenning in 2003 for the JASNA AGM trip to Winchester – he is little changed, and still an avid Austen “fan” – the vice-chairman of the Jane Austen Society Trustees. He shared this baptism note in the church records:

And some of the documents that Jane had written in, in one or more of her imaginative fits marrying herself off to various people, as well as her serving as a witness to a marriage (Kenning noted that she wasn’t actually old enough to serve as a witness, so what does that do the married couple?!]:

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Kenning also showed us the massive and heavy key to the church – the door having a lock that was unmanageable, the key hidden in a nearby tree [did EVERYONE know this?!]

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The church interior is lovely, with these William Morris-like decorative designs, but not there during Austen’s time.

The Austen neighbors the Digweed family are very present with large memorials and many graves in the churchyard:

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James Austen has a few memorials and is buried in the churchyard – it states that Mary Lloyd Austen is buried here, but no mention of Ann, his first wife, though records show she is buried here as well…

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A sad memorial to encounter is the one for William Knight, Jane’s nephew [Edward’s son] – he was rector here from 1823-73. This memorial shows the death of his three young daughters within days of each other from scarlet fever – and the graves in the yard:

The iron pieces at the edge of the grave indicate there would have been an iron-fence enclosure around the grave – many such metals were removed for use during wartime in the 1940s.

I have already written a bit about the parsonage that Austen grew up in – and while today there is nothing but the pump to give us a sense of time and place, when William became the rector, Edward Austen demolished the Steventon Rectory, his own boyhood home, and built a new one for William on higher ground – sometime in around 1826 [it is all quite confusing as these two blog posts about Steventon indicate]:

The Saga of the Steventon Parsonage;

and a follow-up post.

– this rectory still stands…

…..and was recently on the market – here a grand example of just how wrong some real estate listings [and history in general] can be: this Steventon House [as it is called] was not built on the same location where Jane Austen lived and wrote…

.https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/jane-austen-steventon-house-for-sale

But see the great pictures of the house interior and gardens…! It sold, the going price £8,500,000 – not sure how much it actually went for…

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A few more images to leave you with – a magical place here:

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UPDATE: Tony Grant reminded me of the archaeological dig at Steventon – here from the BBC in 2011:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-16002088#.

And here from Jane Odiwe in 2015:

https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/jane-austen-life/jane-austens-china-and-the-steventon-archaeological-dig?

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We then headed back to Winchester for some time on our own to explore the city – the afternoon finding us at the Hampshire Cultural Trust, which I shall write more about in a Day 6, Part 2 post…so much there to talk about! [think the “pelisse”… and do not faint…]

So stay tuned…

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[Joy and I “dressed” for the occasion…]

Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · JASNA · Travel

Touring Jane Austen’s England with Edventures, September 2019

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 BookLady DebLeave a comment

JASNA offers an annual tour of Jane Austen’s England, this past summer one that focused on Persuasion, with trips to Portsmouth, Lyme Regis, and Bath (you can see the itinerary here: http://www.jasna.org/conferences-events/tour/itinerary/] and pine over the fact you missed it! (I still am!) Next year’s tour will again be in July, details not yet announced, but expecting it will have some sort of Gothic theme to celebrate Northanger Abbey. I highly recommend these tours, as they bring JASNA members from all over together, as well as help to support JASNA.

But sometimes you cannot go when these JASNA tours are offered, or it sells out before you register, or your best friend can’t go when you can … We know there are all manner of tours evoking Jane Austen – I have created my own tours on a few occasions to try to see the salient spots; and I’ve developed friendships in England with people happy to tour me around (thank you Tony Grant and Ron Dunning!!); and I’ve recommended to friends where they should go if they are touring on their own. The only drawback of such a plan is that there are places to see, people to meet, that only an organized tour can arrange for you – this is why every year I say “this is the year I will do the JASNA tour” – and every year something gets in the way. So I look to see what other tours are available, and right now I find that friends of mine who run a tour company out of Saratoga Springs, are offering an “English Heritage Tour with Jane Austen” next year, September 3-12, 2019.

I recently traveled with them this past summer to Switzerland – it was a terrific adventure (or “edventure” as they call their company), with a great group of fellow travelers; so I can highly recommend them! This Jane Austen tour was offered a few years ago with a different itinerary – I could not go then and I cannot go on this one either, much to my dismay and disappointment. But I did want to share the details with you in hopes YOU can go… the joy of this trip being not only the sites of Jane Austen’s England, but also that it is being led by David Shapard, the knowledgable and engaging author of the annotated editions of all six of Austen’s novels – David knows his Jane Austen!

Here are the details:

“English Heritage Tour with Jane Austen”

This tour uses the lens of one of England’s greatest writers to explore some of the finest examples of English heritage. These include the gorgeous eighteenth century city of Bath as well as other historic towns and villages, the cathedrals and churches of traditional England, the Royal navy, and the grand houses and gardens of the gentry and aristocracy. She knew all these places and institutions well and made them the principal settings for her novels and we will follow in her footsteps to get to know them ourselves.

Tour highlights:

—Begin with a two-night stay in Bath, the leading spa in England in the 18th century, known for its natural hot springs and Georgian architecture.

—Explore the city of Lacock, a 15th century village that retains its design and look of many centuries ago and served as the setting for a small town in the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice.

—Travel to Winchester for a five-night stay. On the way, visit Stourhead, whose grounds are perhaps the finest examples of the new style of irregular landscaping that emerged in England in the18th century. A renowned temple on the ground was used for the proposal scene in the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice.
—In Winchester we will visit its cathedral, and from there explore the Austen family cottages and estates in Chawton and Steventon. In what is now the Jane Austen House Museum, Austen composed Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion.

—Explore the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for harbor tours and a close look at the celebrated warships and seamen of Britain’s naval history.

—Visit Salisbury with its stunning cathedral and Mompesson House, a Queen Anne house used for the film Sense and Sensibility.

Meals: Daily Breakfast, 3 lunches, 2 dinners

Tour Leader: In keeping with Edventure’s mission of “Adventure Travel That Educates,” the trip will be led by Dr. Shapard, a historian and scholar. David is the author of The Annotated Pride and Prejudice as well as annotated versions of Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Emma. He has given numerous talks about Jane Austen to Austen societies and other groups and has undertaken several trips to England to study gardens, estates, and other sites on the tour. Travelers will benefit from his vast knowledge of the areas we will visit as well as his enthusiasm and his expertise in English history.