(1775 –1817)
St Nicholas Church, Chawton,
Market Square, Basingstoke and
Grounds of Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England
Writing at the end of the 18th century, her six novels have been translated and circulated prolifically. Her first books were published anonymously when she was around 35 years of age with her last two published posthumously. Most of you will at least know the name of her most famous works, ‘Sense and Sensibility’, ‘Emma’, and ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
And what of her statues? You may recall that Florence Nightingale holds the record for the most decorated woman in statues, but Jane is having a resurgence, some 200 years after her death. It seems her work is appreciated now more than ever.
Up first – St Nicholas Church in Chawton where Jane attended services in her time in the village between 1809-1817. Her gaze looks over a picturesque grazing field to where she lived. This is not the original statue, but a maquette cast and based on the original in Basingstoke, where Jane would have attended dances near the Market Square.
Alas, when I hit Basingstoke it is market day, but not the market of Jane’s day. Here I find her sandwiched between a bunch of crates and a dumper bin. Poor Jane.
Things improve little (with me and Jane) with a move to Winchester where Jane spent her final days. Unveiled in 2025 to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, I find Jane fenced outside the annual Christmas market as a backdrop, somewhat obscuring the cathedral’s inner close housing. Christmas market foibles are a speciality of mine when statue hunting it seems (don’t get me started on Belfast). On this occasion my friend is reprimanded by a security guard who appears out of nowhere to chastise him for touching the sculpture. Naughty!
Jane’s dedications don’t end here it seems – not far from Chawton a bust was unveiled just two months before my local visit but only discovered by me some 10 months later. Don’t fret. It’s on the list.
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