Chawton House is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Elizabethan

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. It is run as a historic property and also houses the

research library A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...

of The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830, using the building's connection with the English novelist

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

. Chawton House, just outside the village of that name, used to be the home of the writer's brother,

Edward Austen Knight Edward Austen Knight (born Edward Austen; 7 October 1767 – 19 November 1852) was the third eldest brother of Jane Austen, and provided her with the use of a cottage in Chawton where she lived for the last years of her life (now Jane Austen's ...

. It remained a private family home into the late 20th century. At the turn of the millennium it was purchased by a charitable trust, extensively restored, and re-opened as a research centre. The centre, which runs study programmes in association with the nearby

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, incorporates a significant library, a collection of over 9000 books and related manuscripts. The house is now open to visitors, as well as library readers, for tours and during public events.

The house

It is set in of

countryside, and is used for conferences, filming and more recently as a venue for weddings. The present Chawton House was built in 1580, principally by John Knight. Based on a

owned by the Knight family since 1551, it was subsequently extended and altered about 1655 and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. The house is built of flint with stone dressings and a tiled roof. The 17th-century south front has two storeys with an attic and three gables. John Knight served as MP for

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

from 1593 to 1597 and

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

for 1609–10. The house passed down in the family until the male line failed with the death of Sir Richard Knight, after which it was devised to a relative by marriage, Richard Martin, who thereupon changed his name to Knight. It then passed to Thomas Brodnax, a relative, who did the same. His son, Thomas Knight, died childless and bequeathed the house to his distant relative Edward Austen, the elder brother of

, who also added Knight to his name. It then descended in that last Knight family until inherited in poor condition by Richard Knight in 1987, who sold it in 1992.

The library

In 1992 a 125-year lease on the house was purchased for £1.25 million by a foundation established by Sandra Lerner and

Leonard Bosack Leonard X. Bosack (born 1952) is a co-founder of Cisco Systems, an American-based multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking and communications technology, and services. His net worth is approximately $200 mi ...

, co-founders of

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...

. Opened in 2003, it has a collection of over 9,000 books together with related original

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s. The library works in partnership with the

, and provides an important resource for the university's MA in 18th Century Study. In 2015 the house opened to visitors (not only scholars). In 2016 Lerner resigned from the board and her foundation has since directed its funds to other projects. The Library is now The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830.

Women Writers

Chawton House Library is an independent

and study centre which focuses on women's writing in English from 1600 to 1830. The library's main aim is to promote and facilitate study in the field of early women's writing. Below is a list of some of the female authors whose works are to be found at the Library. The full on-line catalogue is searchable, and can be accessed via th
Chawton House website

Knight Collection

The Library also houses the Knight Collection, a private collection of books belonging to the Knight family who owned and lived at Chawton House for 400 years. This collection of books was once owned by

, the brother of

, and it is known that she used this collection of books. The library was started by Sandra Lerner, co-founder of Cisco Systems and philanthropist.

Novels Online project

The ''Novels Online'' ongoing project makes freely accessible the full-text transcripts of some of the rarest works in the Chawton House Library collection to stimulate interest in these works amongst a new generation of readers. . These texts explore broad-ranging themes including satire, slavery, marriage, witchcraft and piracy. The texts are completely unedited, and have been copied from the originals as accurately as possible. Even printer errors have been retained.

Chawton House Library: Women's Novels

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

has published, to date, thirty-four novels from the Chawton Library collections as part of their Chawton House Library: Women's Novels series. * non.''Celia in Search of a Husband: By a Modern Antique''. Ed. Caroline Franklin, 2022. * non.''The Histories of Some of the Penitents in the Magdalen House''. 1759. Ed. Jennie Batchelor and Megan Hiatt, 2016. * Marguerite Blessington. ''Marmaduke Herbert; or, the Fatal Error''. 1847. Ed. Susanne Schmid, 2018. *

Frances Brooke Frances Brooke ( Moore; 12 January 1724 – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator. Hers was the first English novel known to have been written in Canada. Biography Frances Moore was born in Claypole, ...

. ''The History of Lady Julia Mandeville''. 1763. Ed. Enit Karafili Steiner, 2016. *

Mary Brunton Mary Brunton (née Balfour) (1 November 1778 – 7 December 1818) was a Scottish novelist, whose work has been seen as redefining femininity. Fay Weldon praised it as "rich in invention, ripe with incident, shrewd in comment, and erotic in i ...

. ''Discipline''. 1814. Ed. Olivia Murphy, 2018. * Mary Brunton. ''

Self-Control Self-control, an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's b ...

''. 1811. Ed. Anthony Mandal, 2016. * Sarah Harriet Burney. ''The Romance of Private Life''. 1839. Ed. Lorna Clark, 2016. *

Sophie Cottin Sophie Cottin (22 March 1770 – 25 August 1807) was a French writer whose novels were popular in the 19th century, and were translated into several different languages. Biography Marie Sophie Ristaud (sometimes spelt Risteau) was born in March ...

. ''Malvina''. 1803. Ed. Marijn S. Kaplan, 2015. *

Charlotte Dacre Charlotte Dacre (1771 or 1772 – 7 November 1825), born Charlotte King, was an English author of Gothic novels. Most references today are given as Charlotte Dacre, but she first wrote under the pseudonym "Rosa Matilda" and later adopted a seco ...

. ''Confessions of the Nun of St Omer''. 1805. Ed. Lucy Cogan, 2016. *

Dorothea Du Bois Lady Dorothea Du Bois (1728–1774) was an Irish poet, autobiographer and musical dramatist, whose claims on her father's estate were never met. Life Du Bois was the eldest daughter of Richard Annesley, afterwards sixth earl of Anglesey, and An ...

. ''Theodora, A Novel''. 1770. Ed. Lucy Cogan, 2021. *

Sarah Fielding Sarah Fielding (8 November 1710 – 9 April 1768) was an English author and sister of the novelist Henry Fielding. She wrote ''The Governess, or The Little Female Academy'' (1749), thought to be the first novel in English aimed expressly at chil ...

. ''The History of the Countess of Dellwyn''. 1759. Ed. Gillian Skinner, 2022. * E. M. Foster. ''The Corinna of England, or a Heroine in the Shade; A Modern Romance''. Ed. Sylvia Bordoni, 2016. * Stephanie-Felicite De Genlis. ''Adelaide and Theodore''. Ed. Gillian Dow, 2016. *

Phebe Gibbes Phebe Gibbes (died 1805) was an 18th-century English novelist and early feminist. She authored twenty-two books between 1764 and 1790, and is best known for the novels ''The History of Mr. Francis Clive'' (1764), ''The Fruitless Repentance; or, t ...

. ''The History of Lady Louisa Stroud, and the Honourable Miss Caroline Stretton''. 1764. Ed. Mike Franklin, 2022. * Ann Gomersall. ''The Citizen''. 1790. Ed. Margaret S. Yoon, 2016. * Sarah Green. ''The Private History of the Court of England''. 1808. Ed. Fiona Price, 2016. * Sarah Green. ''Romance Readers and Romance Writers''. 1810. Ed. Christopher Goulding, 2016. *

Anna Maria Hall Anna Maria Hall (6 January 1800 – 30 January 1881) was an Irish novelist who often published as "Mrs. S. C. Hall". She married Samuel Carter Hall, a writer on art, who described her in ''Retrospect of a Long Life, from 1815 to 1883''. She was ...

. ''Sketches of Irish Character''. 1829; 1844. Ed. Marion Durnin, 2016. * Elizabeth Ham. ''The Ford Family in Ireland''. 1845. Ed. Jennifer Martin. Forthcoming, 2022. *

Mary Hays Mary Hays (1759–1843) was an autodidact intellectual who published essays, poetry, novels and several works on famous (and infamous) women. She is remembered for her early feminism, and her close relations to dissenting and radical thinkers ...

. ''Family Annals, or the Sisters''. 1817. Ed. Li-ching Chen. Forthcoming, 2022. *

Eliza Haywood Eliza Haywood (c. 1693 – 25 February 1756), born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. An increase in interest and recognition of Haywood's literary works began in the 1980s. Described as "prolific even by the standar ...

. ''The Invisible Spy''. 1755. Ed. Carol Stewart, 2016. * Eliza Haywood. The Rash Resolve ''and'' Life's Progress. 1724; 1748. Ed. Carol Stewart, 2016. * Elizabeth Hervey. ''The History of Ned Evans''. Ed. Helena Kelly, 2016. *

Christian Isobel Johnstone Christian Isobel Johnstone (1781–1857) was a prolific journalist and author in Scotland in the nineteenth century. She was a significant early feminist and an advocate of other liberal causes in her era. She wrote anonymously, and under the pseud ...

. ''Clan-Albin: A National Tale''. 1815. Ed. Juliette Shields. Forthcoming, 2022. * Elizabeth Hays Lanfear. ''Fatal Errors; or Poor Mary-Anne. A Tale of the Last Century''. 1819. Eds. Timothy Whelan and Felicity James, 2019. * Alicia LeFanu. ''Strathallan''. 1816. Ed. Anna M Fitzer, 2016. *

Isabelle de Montolieu Isabelle de Montolieu (1751–1832) was a Swiss novelist and translator. She wrote in and translated to the French language. Montolieu penned a few original novels and over 100 volumes of translations. She wrote the first French translation of ...

. ''Caroline of Lichtfield''. Trans.

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Rights of Man ...

, 1816. Ed. Laura Kirkley, 2016. *

Sydney Owenson Sydney, Lady Morgan (''née'' Owenson; 25 December 1781? – 14 April 1859), was an Irish novelist, best known for '' The Wild Irish Girl'' (1806)'','' a romantic, and some critics suggest, "proto-feminist", novel with political and patriotic o ...

. ''Florence Macarthy: An Irish Tale''. 1818. Ed. Jenny McAuley, 2016. * ''Translations and Continuations: Riccoboni and Brooke, Graffigny and Roberts''. Ed. Marijn S Kaplan, 2016. *

Elizabeth Sophia Tomlins Elizabeth Sophia Tomlins (1763–1828) was an English novelist and occasional poet. She was born in 1763. In 1797, her brother, later Sir Thomas Edlyne Tomlins (1762–1841), published ''Tributes of Affection by a Lady and her Brother'' (London, ...

. ''The Victim of Fancy''. 1787. Ed. Daniel Cook, 2016. *

Helen Maria Williams Helen Maria Williams (17 June 1759 – 15 December 1827) was a British novelist, poet, and translator of French-language works. A religious dissenter, she was a supporter of abolitionism and of the ideals of the French Revolution; she was impri ...

. ''Julia''. 1790. Ed. Natasha Duquette, 2016.

The gardens

The gardens are open to the public, with access to a tearoom. The restoration programme for the gardens was extensive, and focused in particular on the restoration of the walled garden. Edward Knight had the idea to build a new

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

during Jane Austen's lifetime. In 1813, she wrote to her brother Frank, "He

night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...

talks of making a new Garden; the present is a bad one & ill situated, near Mr Papillon's; — he means to have the new, at the top of the Lawn behind his own house." Knight's original walls are mostly still intact, but the glasshouses and potting sheds, had to be rebuilt. The gardens have been restored using Edward Austen Knight's original planting scheme. The central space is used for the production of vegetables, soft fruits, herbs and flowers. Chawton House is registered with the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establis ...

, and is now certified as an organic producer. Everything grown in the walled garden is for use by the Library, with any surplus being sold locally in aid of the charity. The park and gardens of Chawton House are Grade II listed on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

The Jane Austen connection

Chawton house is situated about 400m away from the cottage where Austen lived for the last eight years of her life. This now houses the Jane Austen's House Museum, which is a large 17th-century house in the centre of the village of Chawton, owned by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust since 1947 and preserved in her memory. The two houses, Chawton House and Jane Austen's House, are separately run charities. Austen is known to have been a frequent visitor to what she knew as the 'Great House', and she references it a number of times in her letters. Edward Austen also loaned it to his brother, Francis Austen. Edward Austen himself resided at

Godmersham Park Godmersham Park is a Grade I listed house in Godmersham in the English county of Kent. The house is on the edge of the North Downs between Ashford and Canterbury. It has associations with the writer Jane Austen, and is depicted on the new B ...

, but his son, Edward Knight II, moved to Chawton House following his marriage, and sold Godmersham Park following his father's death. Chawton House is the venue of the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom. In 2003 the Jane Austen Society of North America held its 25th Anniversary AGM in the grounds of Chawton House.

Visiting Chawton House

Chawton House & Gardens is open to the public seven days a week. Members of the public can tour the house and gardens. Access to the Library itself is available, free of charge, to members of the public who would like to use the library collections.

Events

Events are held regularly at the library, covering a range of topics relating to the House and Gardens, and material held by the Library; these include: * Lectures and Talks by Visiting Fellows and other experts * Exhibitions * Arts Events * Other Events, including Heritage Open Days, Garden Tours, and Early Morning Rambles. The Library also offers educational visits to schools, colleges and universities allowing the chance for teachers and students to engage with a variety of themes within a working, historic building. Both a formal programme of sessions and a bespoke service, to study specific areas in more detail, can be provided.

References

Sources

* Wheeler, Michael. "Chawton House Library: Transforming the Literary Landscape." ''Early Modern Literary Studies'' 6.3 (January, 2001): 9.1-16 . *Laura Tennant "A WRITER AT LARGE: Sandy Lerner's Persuasion". ''Independent on Sunday'', The. 20 July 2003. FindArticles.com. 3 January 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030720/ai_n12741978

External links

*
Hampshire County Council: "Chawton – Jane's literary home"Jane Austen Society of North AmericaJane Austen Society of the United KingdomSoil Association
{{Authority control Museums in Hampshire Country houses in Hampshire Tourist attractions in Hampshire Literary museums in England Grade II listed parks and gardens in Hampshire Grade II* listed buildings in Hampshire Historic house museums in Hampshire Places associated with Jane Austen