Jane Austen’s Hampshire
A lofty lime tree marks the spot where Steventon Rectory once stood – the place where the country’s favourite author, second only to Shakespeare, spent the first 25 years of her life. Jane Austen’s roots run deep in this pretty part of the world, known for its traditional thatched cottages, gently rolling hills and chalk streams. It was in Chawton, a small, picturesque village in east Hampshire, that Jane was happiest, and most prolific. She was proud to call herself “a Hampshire-born Austen”, and the county shares its pride in its literary daughter with a host of sights, attractions and trails.
Of course, Jane Austen’s six novels (seven, if you count the unfinished ) are cherished the world over, and each new film or TV adaptation introduces her work, directed by Autumn de Wilde and scripted by Man Booker Prize-winning author Eleanor Catton.
