Jane Austen

For the first 25 years of her life Jane Austen lived in the tiny hamlet of Steventon, near Andover. Here, she began to distill her experiences of the social mores of 18th-century society and country life into her witty, yet acutely observant novels, turning them into the first drafts of both Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey. 

Jane enjoyed walking around her local area immensely and this love of the outdoors and nature is seen in many of her characters too. The tiny 13th-century church of St. Nicholas has remained largely unchanged since her father, and other members of her family, were rectors here. 

Her move to Bath on her father's retirement introduced her to fashionable city life, and while she took part in it and used her experiences there in many of her novels, she still loved to get out in the fresh air and walk. Walking up Becon Hill to the village of Charlcombe, "sweetly situated in a little green valley", was one of her favourite excursions. Claverton Down and Weston were two others. Keen explorers can join the Cotswold Way National Trail near Bath too. 

The Austens were themselves tourists. Jane eagerly anticipated her "summers by the sea" in counties such as Devon and Dorset. They visited the Devon resorts of Dawlish, Teignmouth and Sidmouth in 1801. The South West Coastal Path, just one of many walking routes in this region, goes through all three of these small towns, as well as Lyme Regis. Jane discovered Lyme Regis in Dorset two years later; she once said of it "a very strange stranger it must be who does not feel charms in the immediate environs of Lyme". Lyme, with its dramatic Cobb forming a cradle for the town's harbour, and nearby Special Site of Scientific Interest the Golden Cap Estate, no doubt fired her imagination. The film version of Persuasion was shot in Lyme. 

The Austens also lived in Southampton, during which time they visited the New Forest. 

The last place Jane lived was at Chawton, near Alton, once again in Hampshire. While she lived here, all her novels were finished off and published. The house is now a testament to her life and work, and includes her writings, her small writing table and a lovely patchwork quilt she made with her mother and sister.

Further information

Jane Austen (www.janeausten.co.uk ) 
South Devon (www.southdevon.org.uk)
Lyme Regis (www.lymeregistourism.co.uk)