A Jane Austen Year

In ‘Summer' we indulge in a series of pleasure parties - we drive through the Pemberley woods, stroll about the strawberry beds at Donwell, and gaze over the cliffs at Lyme Regis. We indulge in a little sea bathing, make a 'sweet pot' of garden flowers, and enjoy some elegant (if surprising) ice creams..  ~ A Jane Austen Year transports you to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, the idy...

Welcome to another year with Jane Austen's House... ‘Spring' is a time of sunshine and showers, fresh beginnings, new homes and new acquaintances. In this episode we see Edward and Elinor fall in love, take a walk on the Ramparts with Henry Crawford, make pancakes, and examine the Dining Room wallpaper. We also visit Hunsford Parsonage for *that* proposal scene... ~ A Jane Austen Year tr...

‘December' is full of winter weather and Christmas cheer. It brings the winter solstice, with its promise of longer days and better weather. It brings advent, candles, parties, and Christmas. It also brings the anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, on a bitterly cold night 250 years ago… ~ A Jane Austen Year transports you to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, the idyllic Hampshire cottage where J...

‘November’ is the twilight of the year, the days short and cold, the air full of frost and woodsmoke. It is a time for lighting fires and wrapping up in woollen shawls and flannel waistcoats. It is also a time for sparkling candlelight, and we enjoy a night of revelry at the Netherfield Ball, complete with White Soup and delicate silk dancing slippers. There is also piano practice, a crisp winter...

‘October' is full of autumn leaves, muddy walks, crisp apples and spooky stories. We take forays into The Watsons and Mansfield Park , celebrate the publication of Sense and Sensibility , play bilbocatch and reflect upon the importance of aunts. As the month draws to a close, we mark the coming of winter with a Hallowe'en special - dipping into Northanger Abbey and The Mysteries of Udolp...

‘September' is a time for holidays, sea bathing, and maybe even a seaside romance. We follow the Dashwood women as they move to Barton Cottage, and Anne Elliot as she leaves Kellynch for Uppercross. We also accompany Jane herself on a visit to London, where she stayed at her brother Henry's house in Covent Garden and enjoyed a trip to the Lyceum and a shopping expedition to Wedgwood&apos...

‘August’ rolls in with heatwaves and thunderstorms. We accompany Jane and her mother on a visit to Stoneleigh Abbey, Jane sends a wedding gift of handkerchiefs to a friend, and she enjoys cheese on toast for supper. August is also the month of the 'insufferably hot' visit to Sotherton in Mansfield Park , whilst in Persuasion it is Anne Elliot's birthday. We finish with Jane's a...

‘July’ sees Jane, Cassandra and their mother move into this house in Chawton, an event that Jane celebrated with a playful poem letter to her brother Frank. In this month also Lizzy Bennet visits Pemberley for the first time, and we admire a painting of Godmersham by William Watts and examine Jane's donkey carriage. July is also the month of Jane's death in 1817, and of her burial in Win...

‘June’ takes us to Emma - the perfect summer novel, with its picnic on Box Hill and strawberry picking at Donwell Abbey. We also mark the birthdays of Lydia Bennet and Elizabeth Elliot, as well as that of Charles Austen - Jane's 'own particular little brother'. We visit the battlefields of Waterloo, Jane attends a gala in Sidney Gardens complete with fireworks and illuminations, and...

‘May’ celebrates the garden here at Jane Austen's House, both as it was in Jane Austen's time and as it is today. We also drive along the Hogs Back, visit Bath and Winchester, examine Jane and Cassandra's 'topaze crosses' and the Austen women's patchwork coverlet, and witness the formation of the Jane Austen Society. We see Lydia joyfully depart for Brighton and accom...

‘April’ is full of rain showers, umbrellas, muddy walks and romantic meetings. We celebrate Reverend and Mrs Austen's wedding day and Jane's passionate letter to the Prince Regent's Librarian in which she declares 'I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way'. We examine a pair of Regency pattens and Frank Austen's handwritten Memoir. We take countless wet w...

‘March’ opens with snowdrops, potatos and many cups of tea. We visit Mr Collins’s humble abode at Hunsford Parsonage and take a sunny stroll on the Portsmouth Ramparts. We go shopping at Twinings and enjoy a bookish letter from Jane to her young niece Caroline.  ~ A Jane Austen Year transports you to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, the idyllic Hampshire cottage where Jane Austen lived and wrote he...

As we move into February, we are delighted to release our second episode… Here you’ll find snowdrops, marriage proposals, stage costumes, dusting and polishing, Mary Queen of Scots, ‘A good salve for sore Lips’ and *that* letter from Persuasion – all bound together with original music and sounds recorded in the House itself. ~ A Jane Austen Year transports you to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, th...

A Jane Austen Year transports you to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, the idyllic Hampshire cottage where Jane Austen lived and wrote her globally beloved novels – now a beloved museum. Each month, join us on a seasonal journey through Jane Austen’s novels, the story of her life and the world she lived in. Discover scenes, letters, recipes, and objects from the museum collection, bound together wit...