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Friday, August 9, 2019

Adventures Around Jane Austen's Neighbourhood

After my visit to Steventon, I decided to explore some of the neighbouring villages in connection with Jane Austen and her family. I used Terry Townsend's fascinating picture book, "Jane Austen's Hampshire", as a guide to the area - I really recommend his book if you ever wish to learn more about the area around Steventon.



This map produced by Hidden Britain Tours shows you the areas around Steventon that I explored on my day trip. I have previously visited the villages of Deane and Ashe, as I wrote in my blog from a few years ago, as well as The Vyne (Sherborne St John). This time, I decided to explore somewhere new.

As I left Steventon, I enjoyed the beautiful leafy ride back to the main road (north from Steventon) where I noticed this pub at the crossroads, Deane Gate Inn.



Deane Gate Inn is a seventeenth-century inn, which used to function as a coaching inn at the time of Jane Austen. I'm not sure if the pub is still in business, as the building looked rather dilapidated to be quite honest. The road opposite the inn takes you to Deane, whose parish George Austen was also in charge of and where Jane visited friends on foot.

Stagecoaches to London would use the road through Deane twice a day, and Jane's family members would often walk here to catch a stagecoach to Basingstoke. It is known that Jane's brother, Charles, would sometimes find the coach full and had to walk back home disappointed. Jane would not have travelled in a stagecoach alone, as it was not considered appropriate transport for ladies travelling alone. "I want to go in a stagecoach, but Frank will not let me", wrote Jane.

I then stopped at Overton, a small, lively town closer to Andover.


Overton is a town where Jane sometimes went shopping and, according to Townsend, in 1798 there were five grocers, a fishmonger, butcher, and a mercer selling textiles, a glazier and a clockmaker in the town.



Jane wrote to Cassandra on 25 November 1798, "The Overton Scotchman has been kind enough to rid me of some of my money, in exchange for six shifts and four pair of stockings." The Overton Scotchman she referred to was was John Irving, a mercer with whom the Austens probably had an account. The shop was unfortunately pulled down some years ago and now houses a Domino's pizza takeaway :)





Overton also had two principal coaching inns, one of which still exists, the White Hart (above). Jane must have been very familiar with this inn. The building is charming, with old beams still visible inside the building, as well as the stables, which has been converted into some guest accommodation. I had a lovely leisurely drink at the pub before setting off on my next adventure.



I then went to visit St Mary's Church (above), where Jane's oldest brother, James, took up his first job as curate in 1790. James lived in the Old Rectory (below) until his marriage to Anne Mathew two years later. Anne's brother was vicar at Overton.



The couple then moved to the elegant Court Farm House across the road (below), which was a much more spacious home. Quite an inviting prospect, isn't it?



The couple then had a baby, but unfortunately James very soon became a widow. He later married Mary Lloyd, and they moved to Deane and eventually Steventon where he became vicar following the retirement of George Austen.

On the way back, I visited Oakley, a charming little village closer to Basingstoke. The village is is picturesque, with several thatched cottages and a pond.







Jane came here to shop at a haberdasher's. She often gave gifts as a form of charity and, on the 25th October, 1800, she wrote, "At Oakley, we bought ten pair of worsted stockings and a shift; the shift is for Betty Dawkins, as we find she wants it more than a rug; she is one of the most grateful of all whom Edward's charity has reached".

I also stopped at Oakley Hall on the way, which was a place very familiar to Jane Austen. Now a luxury hotel, the manor house was built in 1795 and home to the Branston family who Jane Austen socialised with and whose home she mentions in her letters. Jane wrote to Cassandra (in the same letter), "On Thursday we walked to Deane, yesterday to Oakley Hall and Oakley, and to-day to Deane again. At Oakley we did a great deal - ate some sandwiches all over mustard, admired Mr Bramston's porter, and Mr Bramston's transparencies...".

Jane was a great walker, as walking was one of the only forms of exercise accessible to ladies.



The road leading up to Oakley Hall was very scenic.


The building itself has changed somewhat since Jane visited there. A second storey and the carriage porch, as seen in the picture, were added in the 1860s.

Some believe that Jane was inspired to create the character of Lady Bertram  (Mansfield Park) based on Mrs Bramston. Mrs Bramston read Mansfield Park and thought Lady Bertram like herself. She "preferred it to either of the others - but imagined THAT might be her want of Taste, as she does not understand Wit." Augusta Bramston, on the other hand, did not enjoy Mansfield Park at all, as Jane wrote in her letter: "she thought S & S and P & P downright nonsense, but expected to find MP better; having finished the 1st vol. - flattered herself she had got through the worst". People seem to have been very direct with their feedback at the time of Jane Austen!

I am intrigued to see the interiors of the hotel - perhaps at some point, I will go and have an afternoon tea at the hotel. It would be lovely to stay there, too, relaxing on a chaise-longue a la Lady Bertram and take in the breathtaking view from the hotel, admiring the lush, green slopes that go on for miles...


I will leave you now to admire these views of beautiful rural Hampshire...

(Last, but not the least, I visited Wootton St Lawrence - a fascinating visit with links to Jane Austen's love life. But more about that in the next post!)


References:

Townsend, T. (2014) Jane Austen's Hampshire. Halsgrove.

2 comments:

  1. I must get Terry Townsends book now Anna. What a great post you have written. I have never been to Overton. I must go. I am now looking forward to your future post about Wooton St Lawrence. You are opening up a whole new chapter in my Jane Austen adventures. Thanks, Anna.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Tony! Glad you enjoyed the post. It is an interesting book with lots of information on the area. Watch this space for the next one (fascinating!).

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