Good afternoon!
Would you like to join me for the second part of my road trip in the South-West of England? A long time wish of my daughter came true: visiting the village where Jane Austen lived and worked for the last years of her tragically short life, Chawton.
It turned out to be a wonderful visit. The Jane Austen Society had restrained itself and used taste, and refrained from turning it into a sugarcoated tourist trap.
We took our time wandering around the rooms, and read the plentiful information provided. There were lots of original furnishings to look at, and one of the things we liked the most was the small round table Jane used to write her books on.
The role of her sister Cassandra was documented very well, and we realized for the first time that it was Cassandra who made it possible for Jane to write in peace, by taking it upon herself to run the household.
In her cottage we learned that although Jane herself is buried in Winchester
Cathedral, her mother and Cassandra are buried in the village church, near
the manor house that used to belong to Jane's brother Henry.
So we decided to visit their graves, and leave a tiny floral tribute for Cassandra.
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Jane Austen's cottage, Chawton |
It turned out to be a wonderful visit. The Jane Austen Society had restrained itself and used taste, and refrained from turning it into a sugarcoated tourist trap.
We took our time wandering around the rooms, and read the plentiful information provided. There were lots of original furnishings to look at, and one of the things we liked the most was the small round table Jane used to write her books on.
In her cottage we learned that although Jane herself is buried in Winchester
Cathedral, her mother and Cassandra are buried in the village church, near
the manor house that used to belong to Jane's brother Henry.
So we decided to visit their graves, and leave a tiny floral tribute for Cassandra.