Chawton House

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Chawton House Known to Jane Austen as 'the Great House'. Beautiful estate with tearoom, gardens & Austen heirlooms.

Chawton House Library is a charity with a unique collection of books focusing on women's writing in English from 1600 to 1830. This specialist collection, set in the home and working estate of Jane Austen's brother, provides the opportunity to study and savour the texts in their original setting and inspires passion in readers of all ages.

This week in the Gardens weā€™ve been up to all sorts! šŸŒ¾The Gardens Volunteers have harvested beetroot and apples from the...
16/10/2026

This week in the Gardens weā€™ve been up to all sorts! šŸŒ¾

The Gardens Volunteers have harvested beetroot and apples from the Kitchen Garden, which are ready to be made into delicious Beetroot & Feta Quiches, likely on our specials board in the Old Kitchen Tearoom over the weekend šŸ˜‹

The Parkland Volunteers have started clearing away brambles from the Wilderness, ready for our Snowdrop display in February! ā„ļø

They will be fitting this clearing work in alongside their various other jobs all the way until December, making sure our beautiful snowdrops shine come February.

Here our Garden Volunteers got to work cutting the Yew ā€˜bottlesā€™ found on the Lower Library Terrace.

These were planted by Montague Knight when the terrace was updated to the Arts and Crafts style around 1906.

In the future we may cut them back into their ā€˜bottleā€™ shape, but for now they just have a yearly trim!

The Gardens Volunteers have wonderfully harvested all of these Pumpkins and Apples which have beautifully come together into an Autumn Harvest display in our Old Kitchen Tearoom! šŸŽƒ

It wonā€™t be long until Gothic Season where this display will get more of a Gothic twist!!

Come back next week to see what weā€™ve been up to in the Gardens! šŸŒ³

Rakes, society beauties, men of fashion and famed actresses - come and meet the colourful characters of Georgian nightli...
14/10/2026

Rakes, society beauties, men of fashion and famed actresses - come and meet the colourful characters of Georgian nightlife, and discover the fashions, entertainments and dangers of a night out in 18th century Hampshire. We've just released two new Curator's Tour dates - Thursday 12 November | 5.30ā€“7pm, & Sunday 15 November | 11amā€“12.15pm. Tickets: Ā£15.
To book, visit www.chawtonhouse.org/whats-on

Join us for a Guided Estate Walk this Friday 16th October. šŸŒ³šŸ‚Step into the landscape Jane Austen knew and was inspired b...
12/10/2026

Join us for a Guided Estate Walk this Friday 16th October. šŸŒ³

šŸ‚Step into the landscape Jane Austen knew and was inspired by with a member of our Curatorial Team.

šŸŖ¾On your walk with us you will hear about Austenā€™s own walks and also how she used both walking and the features of the landscape in her works to build her characters!

For more information, just head to https://chawtonhouse.org/whats-on/in-austens-footsteps-guided-estate-walk-8/

This Halloween bring the kids to Chawton House for some spooky fun!šŸˆā€ā¬›The Poison Puzzle Trail (21 October-1 November)Fol...
10/10/2026

This Halloween bring the kids to Chawton House for some spooky fun!

šŸˆā€ā¬›The Poison Puzzle Trail (21 October-1 November)
Follow the clues around the House, hunt for hidden evidence and put your detective skills to the test as you investigate suspicious plants, peculiar potions and mysterious ingredients. Can you crack the clues and solve the poison puzzle?

šŸŽƒKids' Craft Day (Tuesday 27 October)
For one day only, the House is theirs! They can be as noisy as they like while exploring our poison puzzle trail, running around the gardens, and joining for some hands-on Halloween crafts.

Throughout the day, broomstick-making will be available in the Courtyard. Get creative in the Old Kitchen Tea Room in our Potion-Marking Workshops at 11am or 2pm.

For more information about our Gothic Season, and to buy tickets, just head to https://chawtonhouse.org/whats-on/

This week in the Gardens we had a mix of weathers with some rainy Autumn days šŸ‚ and some sunny moments ā˜€ļø, and our team ...
09/10/2026

This week in the Gardens we had a mix of weathers with some rainy Autumn days šŸ‚ and some sunny moments ā˜€ļø, and our team had a varied list of jobs to do!

We had new hedge cutting going on down at the bottom of the drive which tidied up the lovely view we have looking up the drive. Trimming the hedge also has health and growth benefits for it too!

Our Head Gardener found this Harvest Mouse nest tucked away in tussocks grass in our Parkland!

Harvest mice are small and native to Europe and Asia and are typically found in fields of crops or tall vegetation! šŸ­

Tussocks grass refers to perennial grass species which grows in dense clumps or tufts rather than forming flat ā€˜lawnā€™. šŸŒ¾

This week our volunteers got to work on trimming epicormic growth on the Lime Trees which run down our front drive!

Epicormic growth refers to the formation of new shoots and branches from dormant buds buried beneath the bark of a tree trunk, stem or branches! šŸŒ³

Come back next week to see what we get up to in the Chawton House Gardens!

Join us in the Great Hall for a solo performance of three ghostly tales by actor Dominic Gerrard as part of our Gothic S...
08/10/2026

Join us in the Great Hall for a solo performance of three ghostly tales by actor Dominic Gerrard as part of our Gothic Season on Monday 26th October.

Dominic will be performing The Monkeyā€™s Paw by W.W. Jacobs, The Lawyer and the Ghost by Charles Dickens, and The Dead Hand by Wilkie Collins.

For more information, just head to https://chawtonhouse.org/whats-on/indoor-theatre-ghost-stories-after-dark/

We opened our doors to the very first visitors to see Dressing Up: Fashion & Nightlife in 18th-century Hampshire over th...
08/10/2026

We opened our doors to the very first visitors to see Dressing Up: Fashion & Nightlife in 18th-century Hampshire over the weekend, and it was a delight!

We still have some tickets left for you to join our first Curator's Tour on Monday 12th October, just head to our website for more information.

šŸ“†Opening times for the rest of 2026:

10AM - 4.30PM
(last entry at 4PM)

October:
Wednesday - Sunday

November:
Friday - Sunday

December*:
Wednesday - Sunday
*21 December - 3 January: Every day except 24,25,26.

Always check our website for updated day-to-day information! We look forward to welcoming you to Chawton House.

A Rare Opportunity to Acquire Original Artwork by Juliet McMaster for Jane Austenā€™s 'The Beautifull Cassandra'!Twenty-on...
05/10/2026

A Rare Opportunity to Acquire Original Artwork by Juliet McMaster for Jane Austenā€™s 'The Beautifull Cassandra'!

Twenty-one original illustrations and one reproduction by lifelong Austen scholar and highly regarded illustrator Professor Juliet McMaster will be offered together at auction as a single lot by the North American Friends of Chawton House. The proceeds will support us to do what we do!

First created for Prof. McMasterā€™s 1993 edition of Austenā€™s youthful story 'The Beautifull Cassandra,' these drawings bring Austenā€™s comic tale to life through a charming cast of animal characters. This is a unique opportunity for Austen collectors, lovers of illustrated books, and admirers of Professor McMaster and Chawton House to acquire the complete set of artwork created for this publication.

The auction begins on October 10, 2026 at 12pm ET and closes on October 31, 2026 at 5pm ET. For more information, just head to www.nafch.org/bcass-art

02/10/2026

This week, the Chawton House team have been very busy installing our new exhibition, Dressing Up! Therefore, weā€™re taking a moment now to enjoy some peace and relaxation in our beautiful Gardens as we transition into Autumn! šŸšŸ‚

Be one of the first to tour our brand-new exhibition, Dressing Up!Join a member of the Curatorial Team on Monday 12 Octo...
01/10/2026

Be one of the first to tour our brand-new exhibition, Dressing Up!

Join a member of the Curatorial Team on Monday 12 October at 11.30am for the very first Curatorā€™s Tour of Dressing Up: Fashion & Nightlife in 18th-Century Hampshire.

From getting dressed for the evening and travelling after dark to glittering assembly rooms, theatres, card tables and fireworks, discover what it took to enjoy a Georgian night out between 1750 and 1820. Along the way, get a closer look at historic costume and accessories, rare books, prints and artworks, and immerse yourself in the people who dressed to be seen over 200 years ago.

Monday 12 October, 11.30am
Tickets Ā£15, including tea or coffee on arrival.
Booking essential: https://chawtonhouse.org/whats-on/curators-tour-dressing-up-fashion-nightlife-in-18th-century-hampshire/

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Chawton
Alton
GU341SJ

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+441420541010

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