Join Professor Corinne Fowler for a very special event, drawing on her acclaimed book Our Island Stories: country walks through Great Britain and tying into our special year celebrating the 210th anniversary of the publication of Mansfield Park. 

We’ll begin with a fascinating talk about Jane Austen and her family’s connections to the British Empire, before setting out with the group on a 3km ramble in the fields and woods around Chawton that Jane Austen knew so well, learning how the British countryside was shaped by imperialism. Corinne’s account of our rural history is at once affectionate, honest and unflinching, revealing the hidden histories of our beloved landscapes. 

This event ticket includes House entry so you can also enjoy our Mansfield Park exhibition before or after! 

~ 

Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra would frequently take walks from the cottage in which she lived out her final days, now known as Jane Austen’s House at Chawton.  

In 1993, around 176 years after Austen’s death, the academic Edward W. Said wrote a landmark essay called “Jane Austen and Empire” about her novel Mansfield Park. Said’s piece sparked what remains an ongoing debate about Austen’s attitude to transatlantic slavery. Said believed that Mansfield Park failed to take an ethical position on the links between sugar plantations and the handsome houses and splendid grounds of English country estates. He argued that the novel’s protagonist, Fanny Price, ultimately embraced the worldview of her uncle Sir Thomas, whose Antiguan plantations funded his rural retreat. Many disagree with Said’s view, pointing to Austen’s abolitionist sentiments and her partiality for William Cowper, who wrote anti-slavery poems. Others feel that Said underestimated Austen’s aversion to polemical writing about the issue, and that he failed to grasp the widespread support for abolition among women of Austen’s generation.  

This talk explores the range and variety of the Austen family’s connections to empire: to Antigua, colonial wars and her sailor brothers’ links to both colonial wars and anti-slavery activity as well as Jane Austen’s references to slavery in her novels. It also explores new evidence which has since come to light which might help us resolve some of the questions raised by Said all those years ago.      

Details:

Date: Friday 11 October 

Time: 11am – 12.45pm 

Location: This event takes place at Jane Austen’s House. Find us

Tickets: £16.50  **This event is now fully booked**

☕ The event will include refreshments including tea or coffee and biscuits. Please let us know of any dietary requirements upon booking.  

🥾 The walk is off-road along footpaths and unfortunately is not suitable for those with mobility issues or need to use mobility scooters or wheelchairs.  

☂️ Please wear sturdy, sensible footwear and bring a bottle of water and sun cream or a raincoat – depending on the weather! 

🎟️ This event ticket includes access to Jane Austen’s House and garden on the event day.  

About Corinne Fowler: 

Corinne Fowler is Professor of Colonialism and Heritage in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. In 2020 Corinne co-authored an audit of peer-reviewed research about National Trust properties’ connections to empire, which galvanized the heritage sector to address its colonial stories and became a major media story. The report won the Museums and Heritage Special Recognition Award, 2022 and an Eastern Eye Award 2023. Before this, Corinne directed Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted, a child-led history and writing project (2018-2022), resulting in a book of commissioned writing called Colonial Countryside (Peepal Tree Press, July 2024) which was funded by Arts Council England. Corinne’s new book Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain was published on 2 May 2024 by Penguin Allen Lane. 

This early-morning entry slot is intended for people who would prefer a quieter and calmer environment to experience the House. It is suitable for individuals or families with members who have sensory processing differences, autistic spectrum conditions or other sensory needs.

During this time we will reduce capacity in the House so there will be fewer visitors. We will also make some changes to reduce sensory input, including turning off all audio and video screens in the House. If there are other changes that would make your visit easier, please contact us to let us know in advance.

As part of our early opening, you will be able to explore the House and garden, and have the opportunity to take part in some family friendly activities.

The Historic Kitchen will be reserved as a quiet area for those needing to take a break. In good weather you may also wish to sit in the garden, which is very peaceful.

You can check out the layout of the House in advance by looking at our virtual tour.

For this Quiet Visit, the House will be dressed for Christmas!

This early-morning entry slot is intended for people who would prefer a quieter and calmer environment to experience the House. It is suitable for individuals or families with members who have sensory processing differences, autistic spectrum conditions or other sensory needs.

During this time we will reduce capacity in the House so there will be fewer visitors. We will also make some changes to reduce sensory input, including turning off all audio and video screens in the House. If there are other changes that would make your visit easier, please contact us to let us know in advance.

As part of our early opening, you will be able to explore the House and garden, and have the opportunity to take part in some family friendly activities.

The Historic Kitchen will be reserved as a quiet area for those needing to take a break. In good weather you may also wish to sit in the garden, which is very peaceful.

You can check out the layout of the House in advance by looking at our virtual tour.

Quiet visits will be offered on the first Wednesday of each month, where possible.

We’re kicking off our Pride and Prejudice Festival in style with an exciting collaboration! 

We’re thrilled to be partnering with Goldfinch Books – our local independent bookshop, café, bar and event space – to present an exclusive literary quiz night themed around all things PRIDE and all things PREJUDICE!  

There will be some Austen in there for sure, but come prepared to answer questions on all types of literature.  

The evening will be chaired by Goldfinch’s resident quizmaster, Mr Lee B, and our very own Director, Lizzie Bennet – ahem, Dunford!  

Austen-themed prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed teams, and of course, the coveted trophy, ‘engraved’ with the team name and displayed prominently for the reign of the championship. 

Tables of six available, or buy a single ticket and we’ll put you on a table of soon-to-be friends! 

Details: 

Date: Thursday 23 January 2025

Time: 8pm – 10pm 

Location: Goldfinch Books, Alton 

Tickets: £6.50 per person 

📖 This event is part of our Pride and Prejudice Festival, 23-28 January 2025.

🏠 Please note this event takes place at Goldfinch Books, 24 High Street, Alton.

In this exclusive session, examine a range of illustrations for Pride and Prejudice from the 1890s through to the 1970s.

This special event will examine Pride and Prejudice from a new angle, via a wide range of illustrations from the very earliest illustrated editions of the 1890s through to those of the 1970s. 

We’ll share a range of early illustrated editions and artworks, including Hugh Thomson’s gorgeous Peacock Edition of 1894, original artworks by Joan Hassall and CE Brock and Hugh Thomson’s printers’ proofs, before moving into the twentieth century with the first Penguin paperback of P&P, illustrated silver plaques and some garish pink covers from the 1970s. We’ll discuss how different illustrations were made, printed and how they influenced each other, and how we care for them as part of the museum collection.  

This event will be led by an expert on our collection who will guide you through Jane Austen’s most beloved novel, through illustrations. 

The group will be kept small, so there will be plenty of opportunities to see objects up close, ask questions and discuss as we go along. 

Details: 

Date: Saturday 25 January 2025 

Time: 11.30am – 1pm 

Location: This event is at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton. Find us 

Tickets: £16.50 

📖 This event is part of our Pride and Prejudice Festival, 23-28 January 2025.

A live version of our popular online book club.. join us onsite at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton for a lively discussion of all things Pride and Prejudice!  

Bring your thoughts, ideas and observations… bring your favourite quotes and the questions you’ve always wanted to ask… expect stimulating discussion and debate! 

We’ll get the ball rolling with questions, ideas and provocations about the novel and then it’s over to you – as a group we’ll share thoughts, theories, favourites and best-bits. 

Whether you love the book, audiobook or a film or stage adaptation, join us to share your love of this internationally beloved story. Why does it matter to you? What have you learned from it? Which bits always make you cry? Which characters do you adore, admire or despise? 

This event will be fuelled by plenty of tea, coffee and cake! 

Details: 

Date: Saturday 25 January 2025

Time: 2.30 – 3.30pm (GMT) 

Location: This event will take place at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton. Find us. 

Tickets: £15.00

☕ The event will include tea, coffee and cake. Please let us know of any dietary requirements upon booking. 

👫 Capacity for this event will be kept low so that everyone gets a chance to join in the discussion! 

🎫 Tickets for this event include House entry for this day only. 

📖 This event is part of our Pride and Prejudice Festival, 23-28 January 2025.

Pride and Prejudice was published on 28 January 1813. Jane received her author copies the day before and that very evening she and her mother read half of the first volume to their neighbour, Miss Benn, without letting on that Jane was the author. Jane described the event in a letter to Cassandra:  

‘I beleive it passed with her unsuspected.–She was amused, poor soul! that she cd not help you know, with two such people to lead the way’

For this very special event, join us as we re-enact the first ever reading aloud of Pride and Prejudice over 200 years ago, in the Drawing Room of Jane Austen’s House.  

As part of a small and exclusive audience, we’ll enjoy a welcome from the Museum Director Lizzie Dunford before we settle down for a lively reading by fantastic actors Hollie Hales and Adam Cunis – bringing Jane Austen’s beloved story to life.   

We won’t get through quite as much as Jane and her mother – but we’ll enjoy the first six chapters of Pride and Prejudice, taking us from Mr Bingley’s first arrival at Netherfield to Mr Darcy’s snub of Elizabeth at the Meryton assembly, and on to the evening party at Sir William Lucas’s where Darcy notices Elizabeth’s fine eyes with admiration, and Miss Bingley experiences a twinge of jealousy… 

As a master of dialogue, Jane Austen’s works are best enjoyed out loud, and this delightful performance will bring the characters alive in the very room in which Jane first gave voice to them herself. 

After the reading, we’ll enjoy a warming glass of mulled wine or apple juice in the Historic Kitchen and toast our inimitable and extraordinary authoress.  

Details: 

Date: Saturday 25 January 2025 

Time: 6pm – 7.30pm, 7:45pm-9:15pm 

Performances start at 6pm & 7:45pm

Location: This event is at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton. Find us 

Tickets: £30

☕ This event includes refreshments, please let us know on booking if you have any dietary requirements. 

📖 This event is part of our Pride and Prejudice Festival, 23-28 January 2025.

About the performers:

Hollie Hales trained at RADA. Her recent audio work includes Tales of a Monstrous Heart by Jennifer Delaney, Bookishly Ever After by Mia Page (Audible) and Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire “The Gordon Riots” podcast.

Adam Cunis’s recent work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bridge Theatre), Macbeth Storytelling (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) and The Woman in the Moon (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse).

Join us for a very special musical evening in the Drawing Room of Jane Austen’s House. As part of a small audience, enjoy an exquisite performance as Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride and Prejudice is brought to life through an instantly-recognisable musical score. 

Inspired by the BBC’s beloved 1995 TV adaption of Pride and Prejudice, this performance brings the novel to life with music adapted by Carl Davis from his original BBC score, and a spoken narration written by acclaimed novelist Gill Hornby.  

Performance by Susan Rutherford (narrator), Leora Cohen (violin) and Paul Wingfield (piano). 

This event is a tribute to the film/TV composer Carl Davis, who sadly died on 3 August 2023, and is generously sponsored by Trinity College, Cambridge.  

After the performance, join us for drinks in the Historic Kitchen.  

Details: 

Date: Sunday 26 January 2025 

Time: 3pm – 4pm; 4.45pm – 5.45pm 

Sessions begin at 3pm and 4:45pm

Tickets: £30

Location: Jane Austen’s House 

**This event is now fully booked**

☕ This event includes refreshments, please let us know on booking if you have any dietary requirements. 

📖 This event is part of our Pride and Prejudice Festival, 23-28 January 2025.

This early-morning entry slot is intended for people who would prefer a quieter and calmer environment to experience the House. It is suitable for individuals or families with members who have sensory processing differences, autistic spectrum conditions or other sensory needs.

During this time we will reduce capacity in the House so there will be fewer visitors. We will also make some changes to reduce sensory input, including turning off all audio and video screens in the House. If there are other changes that would make your visit easier, please contact us to let us know in advance.

As part of our early opening, you will be able to explore the House and garden, and have the opportunity to take part in some family friendly activities.

The Historic Kitchen will be reserved as a quiet area for those needing to take a break. In good weather you may also wish to sit in the garden, which is very peaceful.

You can check out the layout of the House in advance by looking at our virtual tour.

Quiet visits will be offered on the first Wednesday of each month, where possible.