Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - England's South Coast

92  ENGLAND ’ S SOUTH C O AST REGION B Y REGION

1 Chawton
Hampshire. Map B2. * 380. 3 Alton,
then bus or taxi. @ n The Library,
The Square, Petersfield; 01730 268829.
∑ visit-hampshire.co.uk
This pretty, tranquil village,
with its woods, ponds and old
cottages, is famed as the site of
Jane Austen’s House, where the
author lived with her mother and
sister for the last eight years of
her life. Before she came here
she was unknown. At Chawton
she completed novels such as
Sense and Sensibility and Pride
and Prejudice, and wrote all her
other major novels. The house The idyllic village of Selborne, seen from the woodlands on the nearby Hangers
has a lovely garden and features
items such as the Austens’ dinner 2 Selborne and Oates’s polar exploration and
service and Jane’s writing table. the Hangers family. Away from the museum,
Just outside the village is Selborne has a zigzag path,
Chawton House, a magnificent Hampshire. Map B2. * 650. 3 Alton, laid out by Gilbert White, which
1580s manor house that once then bus or taxi. @ n The Library, descends the Hanger.
belonged to Austen’s brother The Square, Petersfield; 01730 268829. The Hangers are great for
∑ visit-hampshire.co.uk
Edward, who added a pretty walking, with superb views.
walled rose garden. The house Eastern Hampshire has a unique A circular path snakes around
is now a centre for the study landscape made up of a series Hawkley, one of the prettiest
of women’s writing between of precipitous, cliff-like tall villages, and the 33-km (21-mile)
1600 and 1830, with a unique ridges called Hangers because Hangers Way runs all the way
library of related works. they are so steep that trees and from Alton to Petersfield.
bushes seem to hang from
E Jane Austen’s House them rather than stand on top. E Gilbert White’s House
Chawton Village Green. Tel 01420 On one of the highest Hangers The Wakes. Tel 01420 511275.
83262. Open Jan–mid-Feb: 10:30am– is the village of Selborne, where Open Jan–mid-Feb: 10:30am–4:30pm
4:30pm Sat & Sun; mid-Feb–May & naturalist Gilbert White was Fri–Sun; mid-Feb–late Mar, Nov & Dec:
Sep–Dec: 10:30am–4:30pm daily; parish priest for over 40 years, 10:30am–4:30pm Tue–Sun; late Mar–
Jun–Aug: 10am–5pm daily. Closed chronicling flora and fauna and Jun, Sep & Oct: 10:30am–5pm Tue–
24–26 Dec. & 7 ground floor only. every aspect of local life in his Sun; Jul–Aug: 10:30am–5pm daily.
= ∑ jane-austens-house-
museum.org.uk 1789 Natural History of Selborne. Closed 25–31 Dec. & 7 ground
An idyllic Georgian rectory, floor & gardens only. - =
P Chawton House Gilbert White’s House is now ∑ gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk
Chawton. Tel 01420 541010. Open an inspirational museum. The
House: late Mar–Oct: noon–4:30pm house was later owned by the
Mon–Fri, 11am–5pm Sun & public family of Captain Lawrence 3 Winchester
hols. Library: by appt all year. Closed Oates, who died on the 1912 Hampshire. Map B2. * 45,000.
Nov–late Mar. & 7 ground floor Scott Expedition to Antarctica, 3 @ n Guildhall, High St; 01962
only. - ∑ chawtonhouse.org and there are also exhibits on 840500. ( Wed–Sat. _ Jazz Festival:
Sep; Wine Festival: Nov. ∑ visit
Jane Austen (1775–1817) winchester.co.uk
One of England’s most popular writers, Capital of the early Saxon
Jane Austen was happiest when she kingdom of Wessex, Winchester
was living in Hampshire. She was born was also the chief city of the
at Steventon near Basingstoke, where Anglo-Saxon kings of England
her father was a parish priest, and began until the Norman Conquest.
writing very young. In 1801 the Austens William the Conqueror built one
moved to fashionable Bath. Reverend of his first English castles here.
Austen died in 1805, and in 1809 Jane The only surviving part of the
relocated with her mother and sister to
her brother’s estate at Chawton. In 1817 medieval castle is the Great
she moved to Winchester, but died soon Hall, from the 1230s, with its
after. Her gravestone in Winchester Cathedral famous Round Table. According
famously does not mention her writing. English novelist Jane Austen to legend, the wizard Merlin
made the table for King Arthur
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp176–7 and pp186–8

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