The village of Steventon lies nestled in a quiet spot between two main routes from Basingstoke: the Andover road at Deane to the north, where stage coaches to and from London halted twice a day, and the Winchester road to the south near Dummer, which was known as Popham Lane. Like Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, Jane was a keen walker and often walked to Popham Lane, where the family collected their letters at what is now known as the Wheatsheaf Inn.
The late 17th century house, repaired in the 1760s for the Austens' occupation, had seven bedrooms. Its flat facade was broken up by evenly placed windows, and a trellised porch almost more suited to a cottage formed a centrepiece.
Outside there were fields where Mr Austen farmed and his wife grew potatoes (at that time quite an innovation), formal gardens with a turf walk, sundial, strawberry beds, and a grassy bank down which the young Jane, possibly enjoyed rolling as a child, like Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey. There was also a carriage sweep, and a barn used for private theatricals except in winter, when the dining room had to suffice. Later, a double hedgerow with mixed shrubs and wild flowers was added, for use as a private footpath to the church. At the side of the Rectory were chestnut, fir and elm trees. The elms met with a violent end on 8 November 1800, when one of the "great winds" that recurred throughout the 18th century blew down all but one under Jane's very eyes:
"I was sitting alone in the dining room, [she wrote to Cassandra, her elder sister, who was away from home] when an odd kind of crash startled me - in a moment afterwards it was repeated; I then went to the window, which I reached just in time to see the last of our two highly-valued Elms descend into the Sweep!!!!! The other ... sunk amongst our screen of chestnuts and firs, knocking down one spruce fir, beating off the head of another, & stripping the two corner chestnuts of several branches, in its fall. - This is not all. - One large Elm out of two on the left hand side, as you enter what I call the Elm walk, was likewise blown down, the Maypole bearing the weathercock was broke in two, and ... all the three Elms which grew in Hall's meadow and gave such ornament to it, are gone."
Jane's very full social life at Steventon provided her with much of the material for her novels, and most of her life-long friendships were cemented during her time at Steventon. Here she wrote Northanger Abbey, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice, although there were not published at that time. Her father offered Pride & Prejudice to a publisher in 1797 who turned it down without reading it.
Jane attended social gatherings in Basingstoke at the Assembly Rooms. Barclays Bank in the Market Place in Basingstoke stands were the Assembly Rooms used to be. A plaque on the wall of the bank commemorates Jane. She liked shopping, and is known to have gone shopping in Andover, Alton, Alresford, Basingstoke, Whitchurch and Overton during the years she lived at Steventon.
She spent the first 25 years of her life in Steventon, before the family moved to Bath because her father wanted to retire there. Unfortunately the rectory where she lived was demolished soon after her death. If you visit Steventon, however, you can still see the railings around an iron pump in a field which replaced the wooden pump which served the Austens' house.
The 12th century Steventon Church where Jane worshipped, stands almost unchanged from those days. Here there are memorial tablets to James Austen, Jane's eldest brother, who took over the parish from her father, his two wives and some of his relations. Their graves are in the churchyard.
There is also a bronze plaque dedicated to Jane Austen. Another plaque recognises the generous support from members of the Jane Austen Society of North America who paid for the refurbishment of the church bells in January 1995.
As a daughter of the Rector, Jane Austen would have had easy access to the parish registers, hence her mischievous completion of the specimen marriage entry in the front of the register for 1755-1812 (below and signature right).
The Vyne
Cassandra and Jane attended many dances at nearby large houses, some of which are still standing today. The most notable is The Vyne, a National Trust property, near Basingstoke.
James Austen was vicar of Sherborne St John from 1791-1819. During that time, his son became friendly with the Chute family of the Vyne, and there the young man met Emma Smith, whom he went on to marry in 1828. Emma was niece to Mrs Chute.
James Edward, known as Edward within the family, was a favourite nephew of whom Jane Austen once said: "his Aunts … love him better & better, as they see the sweet temper & warm affections of the Boy confirmed in the young Man"
We learn about the love the two elder Austens had for each other, and what a close-knit family they had created; how Henry championed Jane's career and bragged about his sister's authorship; how Edward waited just a tad long to invite his mother and sisters to live in Chawton Cottage; how close Jane felt to Anne Lefroy, who was 27 years her senior; and which character flaws Jane might have had in common with the spoilt and indulged Emma, whose picnic at Box Hill (below) resulted in Mr. Knightley scolding her for humiliating poor Miss Bates.
My favorite section in Part II is Lori's description of the British Library. Its fascinating contents were a revelation on her part (See the previous post), especially the variety of rare and original manuscripts. This section of the books ends with Lori's visit to GodmershamPark (below). She describes a horrendous journey on the A road that ended with the kind gesture of a cabby and a breathtaking view of Edward's fabulous mansion. Lori's next stop is Winchester, which begins the last part of the book. I can't wait to read it.
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