Join me on a Guided Tour of Alton

It is Regency Week again and time to return to Alton for Regency Day. You may have read my previous, independent tour of Alton, and this time I decided to take a guided walk as part of the programme. I will take you on this guided tour today!

Alton is a small market town within walking distance from Chawton where Jane Austen spent the last years of her life. Jane would often walk to Alton to meet friends, shop, pick up post or board a carriage to London. 

We met our entertaining and knowledgeable guide, Bob Bookers, who started the tour from 1 Normandy Street - Hill House - the home of William Parker Terry. Jane would often dine with the Terry family of Dummer, close friends of the Austens.

We then crossed the road and saw William Curtis' house at 4 High Street (above). William Curtis was a surgeon apothecary, whom Jane Austen affectionately called "the Alton Apothy". He tried to cure Jane Austen during her final illness, but sadly he was unable to find a cure, and Jane Austen travelled to Winchester in search of a better treatment where she later passed away. I wrote more about William Curtis in this blog. 

6 High Street, was the home of James Battin Coulthard. In 1813, Jane wrote, "The Coultharts were talked of you may be sure; no end of them; Miss Terry had heard that they were going to rent Mr Bramston's House at Oakley."

Number 10 (above) housed the bank of Austen, Grey and Vincent from 1806-1812, the Austen being Jane's brother, Henry. Henry started off his career in the army and then moved onto banking, which ended disastrously in bankrupcy, leading on to a further career change into the clergy. Henry's bankrupcy was a huge financial blow to the Austen family. 

Number 40 (left) was occupied by Richard Marshall, who sublet his farmhouse to the Lefroy family. You may be aware of the Irishman Tom Lefroy, with whom Jane Austen had a brief flirtation at the age of twenty. 

Number 42 (right) was the home of Thomas Clement, an attorney who married the niece of the naturalist Gilbert White. Thomas' son married Jane's neighbour, Ann Mary Prowting in 1811, and in 1813 Jane wrote: " I went with (Mrs Clement) and her Husband in their Tax-cart; - civility on both sides; I would rather have walked, & no doubt, they must have wished I had". A typical example of Jane's rather sarcastic humour!

The Swan Hotel occupies number 29. This is where Jane would board a stagecoach - Collyer's Coach - for London and Southampton. In Southampton, I recently noticed a sign saying that it would take 10 hours to reach Alton by stagecoach. Our tour guide informed us that the journey to London would have taken 6 hours. In 1814, Jane wrote to Cassandra, "I must provide for the possibility, by troubling you (to) send up my Silk Pelisse by Collyer on Saturday." This very pelisse (overcoat) is now on display at the Jane Austen House Museum. 

The oldest house in Alton is situated at 8 and 10 Turk Street. There are guided tours into the house every third weekend of each month.

Lansdowne House at 74 High Street (covered by market canopies on Regency Day) was the home of apothecary and surgeon John Newnham. Jane does not seem to have been impressed by this doctor, as she wrote a mocking poem about her visit to his house in 1811. This is one of the most beautiful buildings here, with gorgeous architectural detail at the top of the building. 

Being a market town, the Alton market was held at the market square every Saturday.

Many of these buildings were known to Jane Austen. 

This building above is the oldest commercial establishment in Alton, dating back to the 1500s.

The town hall dates back to 1813, and Jane would have been familiar with it.  

We then walked on, and came to this house where the poet Edmund Spencer, who wrote "Fairy Queen", lived in the 16th Century.  

The River Wey runs through Alton, and this is where watercress was grown - so famous in this area and rare elsewhere. 

The Church of St Lawrence is medieval, dating back to 1070. 

 

This is where Jane's brother, Henry Austen, officiated after Jane's passing from 1817 to 1818 and, according to our guide, her oldest brother, James Austen, also preached here. 

The Terry family - good friends of the Austens, as mentioned earlier - have a vault and a memorial plaque here. 

Interestingly, I walked past this memorial plaque to someone with the surname of "Steele"! Jane may well have been inspired by this name at some point in time, although she wrote the initial drafts of Sense and Sensibility in Steventon. 

A medieval feature still remains: colourful wall murals from the 15th Century, depicting the bishop, Thomas Beckett, who died a martyr. 

Lastly, we walked past Gill's Almshouses, which provided housing for the poor. The famous magistrate and captain in Cromwell's army, Thomas Gill, built these houses. The almshouses consist of eight flats, and housing is still offered to those living in Alton who cannot afford a home. 

If you would like to read more, please refer to local historian, Jane Hurst's, excellent guidebook. 

For references and further reading: Jane Hurst: Jane Austen and Alton.  

Another Exciting Regency Week!

Alton Regency Week - one of my favourite events of the year - started off with the traditional Regency Market last Saturday. The atmosphere was quiet but festive, with tempting stalls, carriage rides, Morris dances and guided walks. It was wonderful to see so many in costume, enjoying the sunny day in gorgeous Alton. 

It was lovely to meet many friends, old and new, admire their gowns and bonnets and and share our news. 

Jenny Colquhoun was back with her fluffy friend, Freddie Wentworth, who was smartly attired in uniform as he always is! 

Hazel Mills had been busy sewing gowns and reticules besides industriously writing her detailed, fascinating posts in "Jane Austen Daily" on Facebook. 

The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation was represented by Carla Balakgie and Julia Grantham - sadly its founder, Caroline Jane Knight, was not able to make it this year. 

Sophie and Abbie had a great selection of Indian-inspired accessories for sale this year. 

Some of the shops had fantastic window displays up.

This year, I decided to learn more about the local history of Alton and join a guided walk by Bob and Carol. It was fascinating, very informative but also very entertaining. I will take you on my tour in my next post. 

I spotted this cafe during my walk! Needless to say, it was very busy on the day. 

On Sunday, I joined the annual charity walk from Jane Austen's House to Chawton House, in aid of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation. I always love being part of this event to support such a worthy cause. 

 We assembled near the Jane Austen statue for a group photo. 

A short walk across the field to the barn where our picnic was held. Jeremy Knight, a descendant of Jane Austen's brother, Edward, told us that he had salvaged the building from a local Sainsbury's car park, and what a fitting location for an old barn this field is!

Jeremy, Carol and Paul Knight in the barn. 

Local author, Zoe Wheddon, came to talk about her new book, "Jane Austen: Daddy's Girl", which describes the huge influence that George Austen had on Jane Austen. I enjoyed Zoe's earlier book, "Jane Austen's Best Friend", where Zoe explored Jane's relationship with her closest friend, Martha Lloyd.

Zoe Wheddon with Sophie Andrews ("Laughing with Lizzie") and Abbie. 

Our lovely host, Carla Balakgie.

Judges Tony Grant (blogger of "London Calling") and author Helena Kelly, announced the winner for this year's Short Story Competition: Ann Evans who wrote "The Dawn Chorus". This was followed by Ann's lively reading of her cleverly written short story, which delighted us all.  

 

Hazel Mills then entertained us with her detailed stories about Jane Austen's contemporaries. So captivating - one even had a Poldark connection! 

An altogether enjoyable day in great company!

East Meets West at Brighton Pavilion

In May last year, I visited Brighton on a beautiful, sunny day and was as excited as Lydia Bennet herself. I had long planned to visit Brighton Pavilion to get a real feel of Regency Britain and the opulence that the Prince Regent represented through his lavish style. 

Brighton Pavilion was one of the royal residences of the Prince Regent, who replaced his father, King George III, whilst he was unable to reign the country due to mental illness, and later became King George IV. The Prince Regent lead an extravagant lifestyle, building expensive estates and throwing lavish parties, and he was widely considered an irresponsible monarch and had a scandalous reputation.

This fascinating portrait of the Prince Regent by Domenico Moglia (1829) is unbelievably a micro-mosaic made of tiny pieces of marble and semi-precious stones and weighs close to half a ton. The Prince Regent had sent a portrait of himself painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence as a gift to Pope Pius VII, and in return, the Pope had commissioned this fascinating portrait. I believe the portrait shows the Prince Regent in a more favourable light and is likely to be an "airbrushed" version of him. 

                     Detail of the portrait where you can see some of the tiny pieces of marble. 

In 1787, The Prince Regent commissioned Henry Holland to create his pavilion in Brighton, as it had become a fashionable seaside resort and here, away from London, he could enjoy his clandestine affair with his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert (as despised by Jane Austen herself). Later, in 1815-1822, the building was extended and redesigned by John Nash, whose designs are still visible today. 

The design of the building is heavily influenced by Indian and Chinese style. The exterior is typically indo-islamic with its distinctive domed turrets, as seen in many Indian palaces, such as the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad I visited years ago (my image below). 

                                                   The Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad. 

Chinese influences are visible throughout the interiors of the building. 

The opulent banqueting room with its stunning chandeliers is a sight worth seeing. Food and feasting were key to the royal lifestyle here, and one can only imagine the grand dinners that took place in this room. 

The chandeliers inspired by Chinese mythology are exquisite. The central chandelier hangs from the claws of a gilded dragon and weighs a ton!  The walls are adorned with Chinese wall art and everything around you is gilded, shiny, luxurious. 

The saloon was the formal reception room where the Prince Regent would greet his guests before taking them to the banqueting room. The gold theme with Eastern influences continues here in a repetitive, symmetrical design. 

The music room was stunning as well. The Prince Regent entertained his guests with music here, had his own band and often got involved in music making too. This room must have looked incredible at night when illuminated by the many chandeliers. 

The Prince Regent threw lavish parties and you can imagine large balls happening at the ballroom below. 

The king's living areas were moved to the ground floor due to his growing ill health and obesity later in life. The bedroom is less opulent but the oriental influences and Regency style follow through these rooms. 

The obese Prince Regent needed support to get onto his bed. 

The secret door off the bedroom took the prince to his indoor bathroom. 

Queen Victoria, who spent time at the Pavilion later on in the 19th Century, had another bedroom made, which is gorgeous - I adore the handpainted wallpaper that features birds and flowers. 

The kitchen has a unique look to it with cast iron columns topped with palm tree leaves central to the room. The heavily obese, indulgent Prince Regent loved food and entertaining amd his kitchen was technologically advanced. For each banquet, 70 dishes were prepared in this impressive kitchen by French chefs. 

A visit to the Brighton Pavilion is certainly memorable and the Pavilion is still a popular picnic spot today with its lush gardens and vibrant outdoor space.