As the Wind Blows

‘Hampshire: The Home of Jane Austen’ the sign greeted us and let us know we were in the right place. Driving up to the winding path up to the old manor house which had been converted into a hotel, we craned our necks in anticipation to see how grand the place actually was. While the house itself was impressive from the outside, it turned out that we were staying in the converted stables - what a disappointment! Even more so because we had spent hours driving around in circles in the dark trying to locate the manor which was off a small road into a smaller turn off to the driveway. Though retrospectively, the stables were more appropriate accommodation, as it is most likely where we would have stayed if we were living in the 19th century.

Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, where she wrote most of her books, is quite a non-descript place from the outside but luckily the village of Chawton is still quite tiny so there’s only so many houses you can go to before you find the one. It’s quite a charming house and you can imagine how she would have pictured all her heorines going about their daily lives.

If you want to experience what it would have been like for Jane Austen, there’s a Jane Austen trail from Chawton to Farringdon on the internet which was supposedly a walk that the famous author and her sister liked to take. The trail is surprisingly still countryside and woods, where you have to climb over stiles to get into and out of the fields (a bit like Lizzy going to visit Jane when she sick at the Bingley’s). The path itself is barely visible in the some of the sheep fields but very apparent when you walk along the abandoned railway section.  Again, you can conjure up scenes from the author’s books as you wander down the trail.

Bath is the next apparent Jane Austen place to visit, but my excuse for not visiting Bath from a Jane Austen perspective was that the author really hated living there because she was forced to move with her family. Really though, it was because there wasn’t enough time!

Instead we went to Lacock.(No comment). While this tiny little village doesn’t have any apparent connection to Jane Austen, it is where they have filmed a lot of movies including the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. And whilst wandering through Lacock Abbey I discovered it’s also where they shot some parts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone! A friendly local man even pointed out the house they used when ‘ ‘you know who I mean’ went to kill Harry’s parents’ :D That man was hilarious! Lacock is really quite old and quaint and I can see why so many film directors would shoot movies in that adorable little village.

Winchester is where the author is said to be buried. I didn’t go into the church to see the grave but I’ve justified it in my mind as I have already seen the Jane Austen memorial in Westminster Abbey. I did however get to see King Arthur’s Round Table. I don’t know if it’s the real thing, but the Great Hall is quite impressive and old as is the random underground passageway near by. Supposedly Winchester was the capital of England in it's hay day.

Visiting Lacock and particularly Hampshire really made me appreciate Jane Austen’s novels a lot more and it really is such a shame that she died so young. At least her works inspired people to keep her alive through films and the numerous number of novels revolving around her unforgettable characters.