Chawton
Coordinates: 51°07′58″N 0°59′19″W / 51.13271°N 0.98873°W
| Chawton | |
 Jane Austen's House |
|
 Chawton
Chawton shown within Hampshire |
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| Population | 380 (2000) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU710373 |
| Civil parish | Chawton |
| District | East Hampshire |
| Shire county | Hampshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ALTON |
| Postcode district | GU34 |
| Dialling code | 01420 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | East Hampshire |
| List of places: UK • England • Hampshire | |
Chawton is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1.6 miles (2.5 km) southwest of Alton, just south of the A31 which runs between Farnham and Winchester. The village is famous as the home of Jane Austen for the last eight years of her life. The village lies within the South Downs National Park.[1]
The nearest railway station is 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northeast of the village, at Alton.
In 2000, Chawton had a population of around 380. It is within the census area of Downland which has 2,149 people.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Village history
Chawton's recorded history begins in the Domesday survey of 1086. In the 13th century, there was a royal manor house. The owner, John St John, served as deputy to Edward I in Scotland. Henry III visited the manor on over forty occasions. The descendants of John Knight, who built the present Chawton House at the time of the Armada (1588), added to it and modified the landscape in ways that reflect changes in politics, religion and taste. One of those descendants was Elizabeth Knight, whose progresses were marked by the ringing of church bells and whose two husbands both had to adopt her surname. Later in the 18th century, Jane Austen's brother Edward (who had been adopted by the Knights) succeeded, and in 1809 was able to move his mother and sisters to a cottage in the village.
[edit] Jane Austen
The house in which Jane Austen lived – "Chawton Cottage" – is now Jane Austen's House Museum and is visited by 30,000[3] people each year.[4]
Jane Austen lived in the house with her mother and sister, Cassandra, from 7 July 1809 until May 1817, when because of illness she moved to Winchester to be near her physician. She died in Winchester on 18 July 1817.
Austen published four of her novels while living in Chawton.
Among the items of Jane Austen's furniture on display in Chawton Cottage are a Clementi pianoforte (about 1810) and a Hepplewhite bureau-bookcase containing several of her works.[5]
By the start of the twentieth century the house was tenanted by a workmen's club.[6]
[edit] Visitor attractions
[edit] Chawton Cottage
"Chawton Cottage", Jane Austen's house and garden are open to the public.
[edit] Chawton House
Chawton House, the 400 year old grade ll* listed Elizabethan manor house that once belonged to Jane Austen's brother and 275 acres (1.11 km2) of land, has been restored as part of a major international project to establish the new Centre for the Study of Early English Women's Writing, 1600–1830. It houses a collection of over 9,000 volumes, together with some related manuscripts. Visitors can see the relationship between the library, the house, the estate and a working farm of the 18th and early 19th centuries.[7]
In 1992 a 125-year lease on the house was purchased for £1.25 million by a foundation established by Sandra Lerner, co-founder of Cisco Systems.[8]
[edit] St Nicholas Church
Chawton has a single church, St Nicholas. A church has stood on the site in Chawton since at least 1270 when it was mentioned in a diocesan document. The church suffered a disastrous fire in 1871 which destroyed all but the chancel. The rebuilt church was designed by Sir Arthuer Blomfield and is now listed Grade 2*. [9]
The churchyard was reserved for burial for the Knight family, and the graves include that of Jane Austen's mother and sister, both called Cassandra. [10] [11]
[edit] Services
Chawton C of E Primary School is the only school in Chawton. It is within the Diocese of Winchester and accepts children from ages four to eleven, and has close ties with St Nicholas's church. There has been a school on the site since about 1840, and the site sits opposite the village green and cricket field.[12]
There are no retail stores in Chawton. On Winchester Road, which runs through the village, there is a tea shop opposite Jane Austen's house called Cassandra's Cup, which is named after Jane Austen's sister. Just down the road from this is a Fuller's pub called The Greyfriar which has an oak beamed traditional bar, a secluded beer garden and a large car park.
Adjacent to Gosport Road lies a green containing a cricket pitch and the home of Chawton Cricket Club[13], a newly refurbished playground and a set of allotments.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/new/southdowns/westernsection.aspx
- ^ UK Census data
- ^ Chawton Heritage website
- ^ Chawton House Library
- ^ Wyatt, Sue (ed.) (1997), The Hidden Places of Dorset, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight, Altrincham, Cheshire: M & M Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-871815-42-8.
- ^ Home, Gordon (1908), What to see in England: a guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty, or literary association, London: Adam & Charles Black.
- ^ Chawton House Library
- ^ "A WRITER AT LARGE: Sandy Lerner's Persuasion". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030720/ai_n12741978.[dead link]
- ^ Chawton village information
- ^ Find a Grave
- ^ Find a Grave
- ^ Primary School website
- ^ http://www.chawton.cc/
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chawton |
- Chawton village
- Hampshire Council — Chawton
- Chawton House Library
- The Jane Austen Museum
- Quicktime Virtual Reality image of Chawton
- The Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom
- Chawton Cricket Club
- The Greyfriar Website
- Cassandra's Cup Website
