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“Oh, the joy of living here in Hampshire, Cassy. Tis the very king of counties” declares Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra in the new BBC series Miss Austen, the story of why Cassandra burned Jane’s letters.
Throughout the series, Jane’s love of her home county of Hampshire is clearly depicted – from her childhood in Steventon to the cottage in Chawton where she was most prolific in her writing.
Follow in the footsteps of the Austen sisters and visit the real-life locations in Hampshire from Miss Austen.
Coinciding with Jane Austen’s 250th birthday year in 2025, Miss Austen airs on Sundays on BBC One from 2 February 2025. The full series (four episodes) is also available on BBC iPlayer.
Overton Jane Austen Trails credit Richard Gearey
Steventon
Jane Austen grew up in the north Hampshire village of Steventon where she was born in 1775 and spent the first 25 years of her life, penning the beginnings of Pride & Prejudice and other novels.
Miss Austen includes several scenes from the sisters’ time in Steventon, and although the house where Jane and Cassandra grew up is no longer there, visitors can see the small 12th century church where Jane’s father was the vicar, and follow in the footsteps of a young Jane Austen on the new Overton Jane Austen Trails.
Basingstoke
In the first episode of Miss Austen, Jane and her sister attend a county ball in Basingstoke. As the closest town to Steventon, the Austens regularly attended balls at Basingstoke Assembly Rooms, and at Tudor mansion The Vyne, now run by the National Trust and open to visitors.
Southampton
In episode four of Miss Austen, Jane and Cassandra move back to Hampshire, firstly to Southampton. During the three years that the sisters lived in the city from 1806 to 1809, they would have regularly walked Southampton’s historic streets and the Jane Austen heritage walking trail takes in locations connected to the author’s life.
Chawton
Seeking a solution to their housing quandary, in the final episode of Miss Austen, Cassandra suggests to her recently widowed brother Edward that he and his children move to the ‘great house’ in Chawton and she, Jane, and their mother move into the cottage close by.
The family’s move to Chawton, nestled within the South Downs of Hampshire, was to ignite Jane’s most prolific period in her writing. During her eight years there she wrote and revised her globally beloved novels – Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion.
Jane Austen’s House is now a devoted museum that still retains its homely feel throughout its rooms that carefully encapsulate their contents – including her modest walnut writing table.
A visit to Jane Austen’s House can be combined with a trip to see Chawton House. The Elizabethean manor house that belonged to Jane’s brother Edward, now celebrates early women writers. Visitors can see Austen heirlooms and the Jane Austen Garden Trail can be found in the grounds featuring quotations from Jane’s writings.
Winchester
In the final scenes of Miss Austen, Cassandra moves her sister to Winchester to seek medical help for a rapidly deteriorating Jane. This is the place where, under the loving care of her sister, Jane was to spend the last few weeks of her life.
No. 8 College Street, Winchester where Jane Austen wrote her last poem and died in 1817, will open to the public for the first time on selected dates in summer 2025 as part of the Jane Austen 250 celebrations.
Around the corner, gaze down the endless nave of Winchester Cathedral where Jane Austen is buried, and from September admire the new life-size statue of the writer that will be installed in front of the cathedral.
Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary in 2025
An itinerary to visit Jane Austen’s Hampshire
Jane Austen inspired days out in Hampshire
Find out more about Jane Austen in Hampshire
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Related
The village of Steventon is best known as the birth-place of the author Jane Austen, who lived in the village from 1775 to 1801, after which she moved to Bath.
Dedicated to St Nicholas, the church is a small, simple, Norman building which was originally constructed around 1200. The first recorded evidence for the existence of the church at Steventon was in 1238, but it is best known for its associations with Jane Austen.
Born in 1775 and brought up in Steventon, less than three miles from Overton, this corner of Hampshire was home to Jane Austen for the first twenty-five years of her life. To celebrate this anniversary, the Overton Jane Austen Trails have been created to provide walking and cycle trails through the footpaths and bridleways of Overton, Steventon and the surrounding countryside, following in the footsteps of Jane Austen, her friends and family.
The Vyne is a warm red-bricked Tudor mansion built in the 16th century for Lord Sandys, Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain, which later passed into the hands of the Chute family, who cared for the house and estate for over 300 years. It was remodelled to its present configuration in the mid-17th century.
Jane Austen’s House in the picturesque Hampshire village of Chawton is one of the most important literary sites in the world. It was in this inspiring cottage that Jane Austen’s genius flourished and where she wrote, revised, and had published all six of her globally beloved novels.
Chawton House was owned by Jane Austen’s brother Edward, and known to her as ‘the Great House’. Jane lived in a cottage on his estate and would stroll up to ‘dawdle away’ many an hour in the grand Elizabethan manor and its picturesque gardens.
Jane Austen spent the final weeks of her life at No. 8 College Street, Winchester, and died there on the 18th July 1817. In the summer of 2025, Winchester College will open the house to the public for the first time, as part of a worldwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of Austen's birth. Through displays and artefacts, visitors will learn about Jane's connections with Winchester and the story of her last days.
Nestled in the heart of Hampshire, one of Southern England's most historic buildings, Winchester Cathedral boasts centuries of English heritage, magnificent architecture, priceless treasures and works of art.
