Literary Heroes
Explore the 17th century house and tranquil cottage garden where Jane Austen lived with her mother and sister, Cassandra, and their friend Martha Lloyd.
Now known as Jane Austen’s House Museum, Jane’s home in Chawton north east of Petersfield is the only house where Jane lived and wrote that is open to the public. Jane spent the last eight years of her life here until 1817, revising her three previously unpublished novels and writing three more.
Feel the connection with Jane and her life here, as you follow the Jane Austen Literary Walk and see the sights that Jane mentions in her letters to family and friends.
| Getting around | |
|---|---|
| Distance | 4 ½ mile circular route |
| Duration | A half day including a visit to Jane Austen’s House Museum |
| Grade | MODERATE |
| Directions – Bus | Stagecoach bus service 38 from Stop R outside Petersfield railway station takes 45 minutes to Jane Austen’s House Museum on Winchester Road. |
Useful Information
As you follow the Jane Austen literary trail from Chawton to Farringdon, you can see the Elizabethan home of Jane’s brother at Chawton House Library and visit the graves of Jane’s mother and sister at St Nicholas’ Church.
You may also like
The Writer’s Way connects a number of key attractions linked to famous authors including Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton and The Gilbert White Museum in Selborne. The 13-mile trail links Alton to surrounding villages using a mixture of existing paths and rural lanes and is suitable for walkers, cyclists, and where possible, horse-riders.
EXTEND YOUR VISIT
East Hampshire was the home of several renowned authors and offers a series of Literary Walks exploring the landscape and the sights that inspired them. Walk around Steep in the footsteps of poet, essayist and biographer Edward Thomas. Follow the life Flora Thompson, author of the Lark Rise to Candleford trilody, in and around Liphook.