The Curator of Chawton Cottage,
Chawton, near Alton, Hants GU34 1SD
United Kingdom
Mr Carpenter is able to contact the JAS Secretary and Trustees at short notice.
please visit the website of the Jane Austen Society of the UK.
(pro tem)
The Curator of Chawton Cottage,
Chawton, near Alton, Hants GU34 1SD
United Kingdom
Mr Carpenter is able to contact the JAS Secretary and Trustees
at short notice.
Chawton Cottage
The above image of Chawton Cottage is copyright Hampshire County Council, 1999. Enquiries to Hampshire County Council, Winchester, Hants, UK.
Jane Austen lived the last few years of her life
at Chawton Cottage. This is now an independent museum and
in late 1999 it had the following details of opening:
11:00am to 4:30pm 1st March to 31st December and New Year's Day
daily except Christmas and Boxing Day.
January and February: Saturdays and Sundays and local school
half-term days.
Admission fee charged.
Tel. and Fax. (+44) 1420 83262
From within the UK 01420 83262
Suppose you are hiring a car at Heathrow
(Europcar were very good in late 2000). Ask for directions
to the M4 West and for the junction number for the M25 London
Orbital. Take the M4 out to the M25 then head south. At
junction 10, take the A3 twoards Guildford. Near Guildford,
don't take the exit to Guildford, but the A31 towards
Winchester. Watch for the roundabout
where the A32 (Fareham) branches off.
Turn hard left, ie.
take the first exit from the roundabout. Don't speed up.
The church on the right a few hundred metres along is the
Anglican Church of St Nicholas (rebuilt 1871). Jane Austen's
mother and sister are buried there.
Where the street bends
to the left, turn right into the car park. Chawton Cottage is
directly across the road.
There is a charming tea-shop and a
friendly pub on the same side of the street as the car-park.
A resident of Chawton may be able to rent you a house in that village. There is also a village pub at Holybourne (on the other side of Alton) which does bed-and-breakfast and provides pub dinners on some nights. Very comfortable and non-smoking. Enquire for accommodation from the Hampshire Tourist Information Centre in Winchester via the Hanstweb site. The Centre can sell you very good maps.
Sources: Pamphlet (1999?) of the Jane Austen Memorial Trust entitled _Jane Austen's House_ and personal experience.
Jane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral and there are plaques to her memory on the nearby wall. She died at 8 College Street (then College Close, I gather) which is about a 10 minute walk from the grave. There is a very good book-shop in the street. The Tourist Information Centre in Winchester is about a 5 minute walk from the main multi-storey car-park and has friendly staff. From there it is a 10 minute walk to the Cathedral. Allow at least two hours for seeing Winchester, more if you stay over-night. The tombs of early English royalty are excellent.