It's ten years since I last paid a visit to the house where one of my literary idols, Jane Austen, spent her final years.
Jane Austen's House Museum is a mere 15-minute drive from Farnham, in the village of Chawton in Hampshire.
The house is charming, though sadly many of its original features have been lost over the years - the same for the garden which now bears little resemblance to the way it was in Jane's time.
However real Austen aficionados could easily spend a couple of hours there, reading about Jane's life in detail and admiring a large collection of letters, household items and personal effects that belonged to Jane or her extended family. Most are reproduction but there is a small wealth of gems - jewellery that Jane and her sister Cassandra owned, a shawl hand-embroidered by Jane, letters written in her own fine hand.
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| This beautiful, delicate muslin shawl was embroidered by Jane herself |
Perhaps most precious of all is the tiny walnut table at which Jane wrote each morning after breakfast. It was upon this humble piece of furniture that Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility were edited and completed, having been drafted some years before. This is a quote from the museum's website:
The number of visitors who arrive in the dining parlour at Jane Austen’s House Museum and simply stop when they see Jane’s table cannot be counted. For so many the small occasional table is the highlight of their visit to Jane’s home and the moment of spotting this unassuming piece of furniture is the moment when they feel as if they really are in the place where Jane wrote and conjured up her much-loved novels and memorable characters. Standing by the table, fingers itching to touch it, as if the wood itself contains something of Jane, some visitors hold their breath. Others cry.
I fall into both categories - I vividly recall sucking in my breath and holding it, then weeping, on my first visit in 2008. It had the same effect on me this time.
As for Chawton, could it be the cutest village in the county of Hampshire?
Judge for yourself.
- Maree xo
