Hampshire, England: Jane Austen and Thatched Roofs

I have to say it was downright thrilling to walk through the house that Jane Austen actually lived in for the last 10 of so years of her life. The house, in Chawton, Hampshire is situated in a charming village with thatched roof houses and gorgeous gardens.

Inside, you wander through a very modest home that’s outfitted with some period furniture and photos and narrative about the Austen family. There’s a lock of Jane’s hair and a cross that she wore around her neck. Portraits of Jane reveal a pretty woman, who had many suitors, but chose not to marry. That was a pretty radical step in those days.

From there, we drove to several small towns in the area. One of the most picturesque was Farmingdon, another center of thatched roof structures. In Farmingdon, we stopped at the local pub, the Rose and Crown, and had a quite good lunch of homemade pate and salad. The day was warm and the sky perfectly blue. Off in the distance, cows were grazing. It probably doesn’t look much different than when Jane was inhabiting the area.

If you’re a Jane Austen fan, this web site listing sites in Hampshire related to her life is very useful.