Anne-Marie Edwards - Jane Austens England: A Walking Guide

Anne-Marie Edwards is the best-selling author and broadcaster of over 40 travel guides to the English countryside. She is uniquely qualified to lead readers through Austen country as a member of the Ramblers Association, the Backpackers Club, the British Shakespeare Association and the Jane Austen Society.

Jane Austens
ENGLAND

A Walking Guide

ANNE-MARIE EDWARDS

This new edition published in 2017 by

I.B.Tauris Co. Ltd

London New York

www.ibtauris.com

Copyright 1979, 1980, 1991, 2003, 2017 Anne-Marie Edwards

The right of Anne-Marie Edwards to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

ISBN: 978 1 78831 002 4

eISBN: 978 1 78672 285 0

ePDF: 978 1 78673 285 9

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

C ONTENTS

I LLUSTRATIONS

Photographs by Mike Edwards

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank all those I have met on my travels who have helped me to make this book: Mr Richards, Mr Burrell and the staff of Southampton Library, the staff of Totton Library, the staff of the West Country Studies Library in Exeter, and the curators and staff of the Lyme Regis Museum and the Winchester City Museum. Rev. Turner, Rev. W. B. Norris and Mr G. Mann gave me valuable information about Steventon; Mrs E. Hogg, Rev. Gardner and Mr Steward assisted me with the Ibthorpe chapter; Mr Montgomery gave me information about Goodnestone and Mr Berrett guided me at Godmersham. Mrs M. E. Coleman helped me with my research. In London I was assisted on my first visit by Mr Stimpson and the staff of the Greater London Council Covent Garden Team and recently by Mr Chris Curry of Acorn Computers and John and Bev Murphy. We were also assisted by Mr Clifford S. Sympson of Goodwin's Court. I received more information about Lyme Regis from Mr Batten and information about Deane Gate from Peter Fuller. I am very grateful to Alec and Sue O'Connor, the Dowager Countess of Iddesleigh, Ms Pam Stephens, Mr and Mrs Russell Cornall and Mrs E. M. Cornall for valuable help with the Devon chapter. For splendid work on the photographs I am grateful to Alex and Amanda Hawkes. My thanks to Mrs Anne Mallinson for help and encouragement, to Mr Tim Neale at Radio Solent for his support and to my friends at Countryside Books, Nicholas and Suzanne Battle, for their advice on editorial and production in earlier editions. I would also like to thank my friends at I.B.Tauris: Tatiana Wilde my editor, David Campbell production editor and Kate Reeves my copy editor. It has been a pleasure to work with them on this new edition.

For the friendly welcome and help I have always received at Chawton Cottage I would like to thank all the staff and Mr Tom Carpenter, Mrs Rose, Mr and Mrs John Coates and Miss Jean Bowden. Miss Bowden helped with notes for the third edition, and gave me many valuable suggestions. On my last visit I received the same warm welcome and assistance from Mr Jeremy Knight.

Pictures of the interior of Chawton Cottage were taken by permission of Mr John Coates on behalf of the Jane Austen Memorial Trust; of the interior of 10 Henrietta Street by permission of Mr Chris Curry; of Chawton House by permission of Mrs Knight; of Deane House by permission of Oliver and Veronica Baring; of Ashe House by permission of the proprietor; and of Ibthorpe House by permission of Mrs E. Hogg. The print of Northam Bridge is reproduced by courtesy of Southampton Library, the print of Godmersham House by courtesy of Kent County Library and the print of the Pump Room, Bath by courtesy of the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath City Council. The engraving of a group of waltzers, from La Belle Assemble, 1 February 1817, is reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

I am grateful to all my friends for their encouragement, especially Mary, whose cheerful support in earlier editions never failed. For all their help with this new edition I thank our daughter Julie, who drew the roughs for the maps, carefully re-walked and checked some of the routes and still found time to type the manuscript, and her friends Val Fullam and Sue O'Neil who accompanied her. My husband Mike was with me every step of the way, performing miracles with map and compass and managing to take the photographs as well! Without him this book would never have been written.

Quotations from Jane Austen's Letters, ed. R. W. Chapman, are made by kind permission of Oxford University Press (spelling has been modernised). The maps are based on Ordnance Survey maps.

A N OTE ON THE R OUTES

All the routes have been carefully checked, before going to press, with the appropriate County Definitive Maps, and follow public rights of way or paths to which the public have been granted access by the landowner. However, these are vulnerable to change and the publisher and the copyright owner accept no responsibility for any consequences arising out of use of this book, including misinterpretation of the maps and directions. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish a right of way across farmland. Supplement these directions with a good map. I recommend you arm yourself with the relevant Ordnance Survey Explorer map mentioned at the end of each chapter. To protect our good name and the livelihood of the farmer, ensure that grazing animals are not disturbed, guard against fire and fasten all gates.

The tours in this book are easy walking and demand no special equipment apart from strong, comfortable footwear. If you are unfamiliar with the English countryside, you may find it helpful to read the Walking in England section at the end of this book for some useful tips before setting out.

C ALENDAR

1760 Accession of George III 1762 Rousseau Social Contract 1764 Horace Walpole The Castle ofOtranto. Foundation of The Club which included Boswell, Burke, Garrick, Goldsmith, Johnson and Reynolds 1765 Robert Adam designed Lansdowne House. Launching of HMS Victory 1776 Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations 1778 Fanny Burney Evelina 1780 Johnson Lives of the Poets 1788 Haydn Oxford Symphony in G. Mozart Jupiter Symphony 1789 French Revolution began (Jane's cousin, Eliza, escaped but Eliza's husband, the Comte de Feuillide, was executed) 1790 Repton summarised the new natural principles applied to landscape gardening which Lancelot Capability Brown had been applying to English estates since the mid-century (discussed by Jane's characters) 1791 Tom Paine Rights of Man 1792 Outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars (the effect of these long wars is in the background of Jane's work). Gilpin published essays on the picturesque in art and landscape (much discussed by Jane's characters) 1798 Wordsworth and Coleridge