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Winchester Cathedral: Jane Austen’s Resting Place

Posted in Anglican Church, Architecture, Churches of the Austen family, Jane Austen's death, Jane Austen's World, Winchester, tagged , , on August 24, 2026| 6 Comments »

By Brenda S. Cox

In the 1850s, one of many visitors to Winchester Cathedral asked the verger where to find Jane Austen’s grave. (A verger is a church official responsible for the building, among other duties.) The verger responded,

“Pray, sir, can you tell me whether there was anything particular about that lady—so many people want to know where she was buried?”

Winchester Cathedral

Flagstone over Jane Austen’s grace in Winchester Cathedral

Memorials to Jane Austen in Winchester Cathedral

We could all tell him what was “so particular” about that lady! The verger might have looked at the ledger stone in the north aisle of the cathedral for clues. It reads (italics added):

In Memory of JANE AUSTEN, youngest daughter of the late Revd GEORGE AUSTEN, formerly Rector of Steventon in this County, she departed this Life on the 18th of July 1817, aged 41, after a long illness supported with the patience and the hopes of a Christian. The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her mind obtained the regard of all who knew her, and the warmest love of her intimate connections. Their grief is in proportion to their affection, they know their loss to be irreparable, but in their deepest affliction they are consoled by a firm though humble hope that her charity, devotion, faith and purity have rendered her soul acceptable in the sight of her REDEEMER.

This was probably written by Jane’s brother Henry, perhaps in consultation with the rest of her immediate family. The style fits with other epitaphs of the time—not focusing on worldly achievements or fame, but on spiritual attributes, the love of her family and friends, and her hope of heaven. That verger might only have wondered about “the extraordinary attributes of her mind”—the only clue to Jane’s genius as a writer.

The north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried.

All those Victorian visitors to the Cathedral indicated Austen’s increasing popularity. This encouraged her nephew, Rev. James Edward Austen-Leigh, to write her first biography, the Memoir of 1870. The proceeds paid for an additional plaque in the Cathedral, which does mention her writing, but not in detail.

Plaque on the wall next to Austen’s grave, placed by her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, son of her brother Rev. James Austen. Designed by architect Thomas Henry Wyatt, who had worked on Austen-Leigh’s parish church at Bray.

The plaque reads [brackets and italics added]:

Jane Austen, known to many by her writings, endeared to her family by the varied charms of her Character, and ennobled by Christian Faith and Piety, was born at Steventon in the county of Hants [Hampshire] Dec xvi mdcclxxv [Dec. 16, 1775] and buried in this Cathedral July xxiv mdcccxvii [July 24, 1817]  “She openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” Prov. xxxi v. xxvi [Proverbs 31, verse 26]

Above this memorial tablet is a third memorial—a stained glass window paid for by public donations in 1900, as Austen’s reputation expanded even more. St. Augustine of Hippo is at the top—Augustine can apparently be shortened to “Austin,” who knew? Below him we find King David, writer of most of the Psalms, with his harp; St. John with the first words of his gospel, “In the beginning was the word”; and other biblical writers (the sons of Korah) with quotations from the Psalms. The quotations are about the fear of the Lord, meekness, wisdom, understanding, justice, and salvation. (They are in Latin with slightly different numbering than today, but the modern verse numbers are: Psalm 34:11, 25:9, 49:3, 71:15).

Stained glass window in Winchester Cathedral commemorating Jane Austen. Designed by C.E. Kempe, 1900, paid for by public subscription.

One more memorial to Austen now graces Winchester Cathedral. Outside, in the Cathedral Close, a new statue depicts Austen, installed for the 250th anniversary of her birth. (A “close” is enclosed land belonging to a cathedral, generally including schools, offices, and homes for the bishop and clergy.)

Jane Austen statue in Winchester Cathedral Inner Close.
Photo ©Betty Parker Ellis, 2026. Taken during the 2026 JASNA Summer Tour.

 

Baptismal Font at Winchester Cathedral. The nearby sign says, “The font is used in baptism, by which sacrament a person becomes a member of the Church. This mid 12th century font of black Tournai marble is decorated with carvings showing the miracles of St. Nicholas, patron saint of children.”

 

Pulpit and stalls at Winchester Cathedral

 

Screen at the high altar of Winchester Cathedral

How was Jane Austen connected to Winchester?

Jane Austen and her family were connected with Winchester Cathedral through their churches. Jane lived her early life in the parish of Steventon, where her father was rector of the parish church. Later in her life she lived in the parish of Chawton, where her brother Edward Knight was squire of the parish, and her brother Henry was briefly curate at the Chawton church.

In the Church of England, parishes are combined into dioceses. Each diocese is led by a bishop, whose center is the cathedral. Both Steventon and Chawton are in the diocese of Winchester, led by the Bishop of Winchester from Winchester Cathedral.

Nave and chancel of Winchester Cathedral

The Austens were also connected to Winchester through its school. Winchester College, near the Cathedral, is the oldest of England’s “public schools.” (The approximate equivalent in the US would be an elite boarding school for junior high and high school.) Some students were “scholars,” on scholarships, and others were “commoners” who paid fees to attend.

Eight of Jane Austen’s nephews attended Winchester College as commoners (paying students)—six of her brother Edward’s sons (Edward, George, Henry, William, Charles, and Brook), one son of her brother Frank (George), and one son of her brother James (James Edward). The college was strict and spartan. The boys ate mainly boiled beef or mutton with bread and beer. Student prefects brutally ruled younger students. Students occasionally rebelled—Austen’s nephew Charles Bridges Knight was part of a rebellion in 1818 which led to thirty expulsions.

Memorial to William of Wykeham, who rose from humble beginnings to become Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. He founded Winchester College in 1382; eight of Jane Austen’s nephews attended there.

Jane corresponded with her nephew James Edward and others about the school. On July 9, 1816 she watched “a countless number of Postchaises full of Boys pass by” “full of future Heroes, Legislators, Fools, & Vilains” (going home for the summer from Winchester College). (‘Vilains’ is Austen’s spelling.)

Winchester is only 17 miles from Chawton and 14 miles from Steventon. Jane’s father, George Austen, had an account with John Burdon’s bookshop in Winchester. That shop is now called P&G Wells. Jane loved both books and music. Her piano teacher came from Winchester, where he was assistant organist at the Cathedral. He gave lessons to Jane and others in Steventon. He was George William Chand, later organist of the Cathedral and College.

Winchester bookseller which supplied books to Jane Austen’s family.

Jane also had a friend living in Winchester. Elizabeth Bigg of Manydown Park (brother of Harris Bigg-Wither who proposed to Jane) married Rev. William Heathcote, a prebendary (official) of the Cathedral. Austen might have visited one of their homes in the Cathedral Close. Elizabeth left there when she was widowed, but moved back to the Close when her son entered Winchester College. Cassandra, Jane, and Martha Lloyd did visit her there for a week at the end of 1814.

When Jane moved to Winchester for medical treatment, in her final illness, it was her friend Elizabeth who arranged for her lodgings at 8 College Street. Elizabeth visited her every day.

Jane Austen spent her last eight weeks at 8 College Street in Winchester, where she died.

Austen apparently loved the Cathedral. She might have appreciated its long history, or its medieval beauty. Cassandra wrote,

“it is a satisfaction to me to think that [Jane’s dear remains] are to lie in a Building she admird so much—her precious soul I presume to hope reposes in a far superior Mansion” (July 20, 1817).

Memorial to Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Winchester, 1869-1873; son of William Wilberforce, “The Great Emancipator.” Jane Austen “loved” Thomas Clarkson’s writings; he fought against slavery alongside William Wilberforce.

 

Winchester Cathedral is full of history, and rotates exhibits on various topics. Page from the twelfth-century Winchester Bible. Pigments used to decorate the Bible were also displayed: lead white, orchil (purple), ochres (yellow, brown), red lead, vermilion (red-orange), verdigris (green), lapis lazuli (most expensive, from Afghanistan), carbon black, gold, granular gold, and gold leaf.

Why was Jane Austen buried in Winchester Cathedral?

When Jane Austen died in Winchester (See What Killed Jane Austen?), she was not wealthy or well-known. Because she died in the parish of St. Swithun’s, she had the right to be buried in the Cathedral precinct. However, to be buried inside the Cathedral, she needed social connections, which her family had.

Jane’s brother, Rev. Henry Austen, may have made the request to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral, who would make that decision. He was likely supported by Elizabeth Heathcote, widow of a prebendary, and George William Chad, the organist and Jane’s former piano teacher.

The Dean, Thomas Rennell, was a friend of the Chutes of the Vyne, who knew Jane and her family. The Chutes were also friends and patrons of her brother James, giving him a church living. Jane’s mother’s connections with the aristocratic Leigh family probably also helped. Her father is mentioned in all capital letters on her gravestone, so his holding a Hampshire living for forty years may have been taken into account. Her brother James was too ill at the time to come to Winchester, but he had also held several parish livings for some years.

One more speculation: Henry may have told the Dean that the Prince Regent admired Jane’s work and asked her to dedicate Emma to him. Connections, connections.

It was also expensive to be buried in the Cathedral. The expenses for Austen’s very modest funeral came to £92, paid from her own modest savings. Presumably that included standard burial costs: 10 guineas (£10.50) for burial in the aisle of the Cathedral, plus 6 shillings, 8 pence (1/3 of a pound) for the tolling of the bell. (Burial in the choir would have been 50 guineas; burial near the choir or above the steps, 20 guineas.) Official records say Austen’s estate, after payment of funeral and other expenses, was worth £661 and 2 shillings.

In the end, Jane Austen was buried inside Winchester Cathedral, now considered one of the Jane Austen family churches. She was the only one of her siblings to be buried in a cathedral. Her grave there has attracted many visitors for more than two hundred years. Winchester Cathedral made a great decision in allowing Jane’s grave to be inside!

During the 2023 JASNA Summer Tour, we strewed flowers on Jane Austen’s grave.

 

Winchester Cathedral’s lovely bookshop offers my book, Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England, along with many other excellent books and souvenirs.

Winchester Cathedral is a beautiful, peaceful place of worship. Have you ever visited Jane Austen’s grave? I found it a very moving experience, as have many others. What did you think and feel there?

 

All photos in this post ©Brenda S. Cox, 2026, unless otherwise noted.

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

 

Sources and Further Reading

Jane Austen and Winchester: An Introduction, published by Winchester College.

Jane Austen’s Hampshire by Terry Townsend shows Jane’s connections to various locations in Hampshire, including Winchester.

Jane Austen and Winchester Cathedral, booklet by Michael Wheeler

Deb Barnum’s post on Winchester from the 2025 JASNA Summer Tour shows interior shots of the house in which Austen died; Winchester College; the Epiphany Chapel; bits and pieces of the Cathedral stored in the Crypt; and more.

Winchester Cathedral and Jane Austen

Winchester Cathedral architecture, gorgeous photos

“Austen and Cathedral: Was Interment a Signal Honor?”

 

Other Austen Family Churches

Adlestrop and the Leigh Family

Ashe and the Lefroy Family

Chawton

Deane

Godmersham

Goodnestone

Great Bookham and Austen’s Godfather, Rev. Samuel Cooke

Hamstall Ridware and Austen’s First Cousin, Edward Cooper

Horsmonden

St. Paul’s Covent Garden

St. Swithin’s Walcot (Bath)

Steventon

Stoneleigh Abbey Chapel and Mansfield Park

Tonbridge: Home Parish of Jane Austen’s Father

St. Andrew’s Colyton, Devon

St. Peter’s Hurstbourne Tarrant (the Lloyds’ church)

JASNA Austen Family Churches

 

Churches Mentioned in Austen’s Novels

Garrison Chapel

London Churches

St. Swithin’s, Walcot and other churches in Northanger Abbey

St. George’s, Hanover Square

St. Paul’s, Covent Garden: Actors’ Church

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St. Margaret’s, Horsmonden: Church of Jane’s Austen Ancestors

Posted in Anglican Church, Architecture, Churches of the Austen family, Jane Austen's religion, Jane Austen's World, Religion in Austen's England, tagged on April 29, 2026| 2 Comments »

By Brenda S. Cox

 

“At the end of the sixteenth century there was living at Horsmonden—a small village in the Weald of Kent—a certain John Austen. . . . a man of considerable means, owning property in Kent and Sussex and elsewhere . . .  including in all probability the manor house of Broadford in Horsmonden. . . . [His wealth was] doubtless derived from the clothing trade. . . . John Austen died in 1620, leaving a large family. . . . The fifth son, Francis, who died in 1687, describes himself in his will as a clothier, of Grovehurst; this place being, like Broadford, a pretty timbered house of moderate size near the picturesque old village of Horsmonden. Both houses still belong to the Austen family.”—Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters, 1913, chapter 1 [A “weald” is a heavily wooded area.]

 

George Austen’s family hailed from Horsmonden, a village in rural Kent. Its name means “horsemen’s woodland pasture.” It is 12 miles from Tonbridge, where George Austen grew up, and 29 miles from Godmersham, where Jane’s brother inherited an estate from their Knight relatives in Kent.

The Horsmonden church, St. Margaret’s, looks much the same as when the tower was completed in the late fourteenth century.
Inside of St. Margaret’s Horsmonden church. The rector gave the parish this brass chandelier in 1703. It holds candles.

Horsmonden Village

St. Margaret’s church is about 2 miles outside of the village. The village has been a center at various times for different industries. Their ironworks supplied weapons and ammunition for the English Civil War in the mid-1600s. Earlier in the 1600s, Horsmonden’s clothworks produced Kentish broadcloth, mainly as a cottage industry in weavers’ homes. The Austens were the “clothmasters,” living in homes called “halls” that combined private residences with offices and warehouses. Later the area became known for growing hops, used in brewing beer.

The Austens at Horsmonden

Flagstone on floor of St. Margaret’s Horsmonden commemorating John Austen I (1560-1620) and his wife and children, Jane Austen’s ancestors.

The first John Austen and his son Francis are buried in the Horsmonden church. As the historian who authored St. Margaret’s Church Horsmonden wrote, “This was the family, let it be noted, from which sprang the immortal Jane.” John Austen I was Jane Austen’s grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather.

Railed tomb in St. Margaret’s churchyard for a number of Austen ancestors, with the letter A in the fence.

The Austen lineage:

John Austen I (Jane’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—Francis I (great-great-great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—John Austen III (great-great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—John Austen IV (great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—William Austen the surgeon (grandfather, Tonbridge)

—Rev. George Austen (father, Tonbridge, Steventon)

—Jane Austen (Steventon)

Stained glass window in St. Margaret’s Horsmonden, showing St. Paul and St. Cecilia, inscribed to the memory of John Francis Austen (1817-1893) and his daughters Georgiana (died age 15) and Charlotte.

Historic St. Margaret’s, Horsmonden

The porch, built in the fifteenth century, has many of its original timbers. It was used as a lych gate, where the coffin and coffin-bearers rested before a funeral. Before the Reformation, weddings were held there, and the first parts of the baptism and funeral services.
Brass flagstone at St. Margaret’s commemorating Rev. Henry de Grofhurst, rector 1311 to 1361, who directed the building of the church we see now. Earlier church buildings occupied the site from at least 1100.
A “parclose screen” from around 1500, inscribed in Latin, “Pray for the good health of Alice Sampson.” It would have screened off one of the smaller chapels in the church, which were devoted to various saints. This screen was likely originally painted in bright colors with gilding. Alice’s will (she died in 1508) requested that she be buried in the churchyard within sight of her home.
St. Margaret’s has had bells since at least 1528. Some of the current eight bells date from 1737 but were later recast. This photo shows their positions when not in use.
92 steps lead up to the roof of the tower.
We stopped about a third of the way up (whew!) in the ringing chamber.
A sign at St. Margaret’s celebrating the bell ringers who rang “a peal of 5024 Cambridge surprise major [a complex bell ringing pattern] in 3 hours 18 minutes” and commemorating the death of one of their members whose family included “a line of ringers unbroken since 1799.”
You can see where stone workers finished these Wealdon sandstone stones for the church. On one, someone inscribed his name in 1777. A little Georgian graffiti, apparently!
Stained glass window showing St. Margaret and Sir Galahad (I suppose because he was a knight/soldier) in St. Margaret’s Horsmonden to the memory of Major Simon Willard (1605-1676), who emigrated with his wife to the American colonies. He was the founder of Concord, Massachusetts and served as a soldier under Governor John Winthrop.
The baptismal font, where babies are christened and adults can also be baptized, dates from the early 17th century but was copied from one in the early fifteenth century. The designs on the side alternate between shields and floral figures.
I had to include this tombstone for a William Collins, died 1863, age 74, so he was born when Jane Austen was about 13 or 14.
This lovely organ at St. Margaret’s Horsmonden was built in 1837.
A little science from Austen’s time: A memorial in the church to John Read (1760-1847), a local man who invented a stomach pump (saving many lives), a fire escape, and “many other useful implements for the benefit and relief of suffering humanity. Of humble origins, he yet possessed talents which would have done honour to the highest station.” He used them for doing good “in submission to the will of the Great Creator.” Read’s Stomach Pump

St. Margaret’s Horsmonden Today

The parish includes over 2,000 people. Only about 40 regularly attend services in the church, while another 60-70 watch on YouTube. Many are in the church’s WhatsApp group, supporting one another in prayer. Much larger crowds, up to about 150, attend the church for weddings, funerals, baptisms, and holidays. On Good Friday they put up three crosses on the village green and have a large service there.

The church also hosts community events including concerts, popular speakers, and Jane Austen readings, and they go into the schools once a month to “open the Book,” teaching the Bible to school children. St. Margaret’s varies their services, offering traditional and modern communion services, family-oriented services, outdoor events, a café, and an informal worship time. Modern Anglican churches can range from very formal Anglo-Catholic styles to more relaxed evangelical styles. Horsmonden tends toward the more “low church,” evangelical approach.

The “living churchyard” of St. Margaret’s encourages a biodiverse habitat around the church. The church is part of Eco Church, “a Christian environmental movement encouraging church communities to make changes to their worship, teaching, land and buildings management, community and global engagement, and lifestyle to reflect  God’s care for the Earth.”
St. Margaret’s supports a number of charities, both local and abroad, and encourages recycling and avoiding waste. Another notice board says the church is known for supporting the surrounding community and being welcoming, friendly, and prayerful.

Peaceful

Historian Anthony Cronk closes St. Margaret’s Horsmonden by saying:

“Today St. Margaret’s is essentially a parish church and a place of regular worship . . . it also attracts visitors from far and near. In this rural spot, away from the bustle of everyday life, one can spend a quiet moment savouring ‘the peace which passeth all understanding’. Jesus himself was referring to the need for this kind of occasional withdrawal when ‘he said unto them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile:” for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat’ (Mark 6:31).

“Worship needs its focusing points in time and space; there must be holy places as well as holy days—places set apart for ever because of some association, hallowed by age-long custom—where people expect to find something inspiring and are not disappointed.

“One such place is St. Margaret’s, Horsmonden.”

Gentle readers, may you find such a place of peace and inspiration wherever you are.

 

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

All photos in this post ©Brenda S. Cox, 2026

 

Sources

St. Margaret’s history

St. Margaret’s Church Horsmonden, by Anthony Crook, 1967, 3rd ed. 1995

St. Margaret’s website 

 

Other Austen Family Churches

Steventon

Chawton

Deane

Hamstall Ridware and Austen’s First Cousin, Edward Cooper

Adlestrop and the Leigh Family

Stoneleigh Abbey Chapel and Mansfield Park

Great Bookham and Austen’s Godfather, Rev. Samuel Cooke

Ashe and the Lefroy Family

St. Paul’s Covent Garden (with links to other churches mentioned in Austen’s writings)

St. Swithin’s Walcot (Bath)

Godmersham

Goodnestone

 

More Austen family churches, external posts (will be added to JAW later):

Winchester Cathedral and Jane Austen 

St. Peter and St. Paul, Tonbridge 

St. Andrew’s Colyton, Devon 

St. Peter’s Hurstbourne Tarrant (the Lloyds’ church) 

JASNA Austen family churches 

 

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Godmersham: Inspiration for Pemberley?

Posted in 19th Century Servants, Architecture, Edward Knight, Jane Austen's family, Jane Austen's World, tagged , , , on February 23, 2026| 3 Comments »

By Brenda S. Cox

“I am all alone. Edward is gone into his woods. At this present time I have five tables, eight-and-twenty chairs, and two fires all to myself.”—Jane Austen writing from Godmersham, Nov. 3, 1813

Jane Austen’s brother Edward, adopted by wealthy relatives, inherited not one, but two extensive estates. Jane and her mother and sister eventually lived in a cottage at Chawton in the county of Hampshire, Edward’s secondary estate. You can still visit Chawton House and Chawton Church.

Godmersham Park

Godmersham Park today. This estate was probably one inspiration for Pemberley. Edward Knight’s income was even higher than Mr. Darcy’s, but Edward had to run two estates.

Jane and Cassandra often enjoyed the luxuries at Edward’s main residence at Godmersham Park, in the county of Kent. Edward, his wife Elizabeth, and their eleven children often needed the help and company of Edward’s poorer sisters. Sixty-one of Austen’s surviving letters (out of 161) were written either from or to Godmersham. Jane spent a total of ten months of her life at Godmersham.

Entrance to Godmersham Park today. American owners in the 1930s, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Tritton, remodeled the house. In Austen’s time it was three stories, with painted bricks on the front (which were turned around when the house was remodeled). The back and front of the house were reversed from today.

In 1808, Jane wrote of her brother James and his wife, “James and Mary are much struck with the beauty of the place” (June 15). She herself was enjoying ice cream, a Regency delicacy, and wine: “I shall eat Ice and drink French wine, and be above Vulgar Economy” (June 30). No doubt Elizabeth Bennet, once she marries Darcy, will enjoy such luxuries as well!

One of two “follies” at Godmersham Park built from two facades of white pillars that were originally at the front of the main house.
The Godmersham Park Heritage Centre is a small museum showcasing portraits, photos, and artefacts of earlier times.

Servant-Friends

Jane Austen made two friends among the servants at Godmersham. Anne Sharp was her niece Fanny’s governess; Jane later corresponded with her. Susannah Sackree was the children’s nurse. Both are often mentioned in Austen’s letters. For example:

“Pray say everything kind for us to Miss Sharpe, who could not regret the shortness of our meeting in Canterbury more than we did. I hope she returned to Godmersham as much pleased with Mrs. Knight’s beauty and Miss Milles’ judicious remarks as those ladies respectively were with hers.”—Jane Austen, Aug. 30, 1805

“Sackree is pretty well again, only weak. Much obliged to you for your message, &c.; it was very true that she blessed herself the whole time that the pain was not in her stomach. I read all the scraps I could of your letter to her. She seemed to like it, and says she shall always like to hear anything of Chawton now” —Jane Austen at Godmersham, Sept. 23, 1813

Memorial in the Godmersham church to Susanna Sackree, the Knight family’s beloved nurse. Sackree’s original memorial outside is illegible, so JASNA donated this parchment version. It calls her “faithful servant and friend for nearly 60 years” and says that at her own request the following was written on her tombstone: “Flee from evil, and do the thing that is good, for the Lord loves the thing that is good. Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right, for that shall bring a man peace at the last.” Then, “My dearest friends I leave behind/ Who were to me so good and kind/ The Lord I hope will all them bless/ And my poor soul will be at rest.”
One exhibit at the Godmersham Park Heritage Centre maps the living quarters of the servants and shows items they would have used.

The Library

Austen’s favorite part of the house, not surprisingly, was the extensive library. Like Darcy’s “delightful library” at Pemberley, it was “the work of many generations,” with Edward Knight “always buying books,” like Darcy, to add to it. Jane wrote:

“We live in the library except at meals, and have a fire every evening. . . . I am now alone in the library, mistress of all I survey; at least I may say so, and repeat the whole poem if I like it, without offence to anybody.”—Jane Austen at Godmersham, Sept. 23, 1813. The poem is “Verses on Alexander Selkirk” by William Cowper; Selkirk’s real adventures were the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe.

“The Comfort of the Billiard Table here is very great. It draws all the gentlemen to it whenever they are within, especially after dinner, so that my brother, Fanny, and I have the library to ourselves in delightful quiet.”—Oct. 14, 1813

The 1818 catalogue of the library lists more than 1200 books. The books in the library were removed to Chawton before Godmersham was sold in 1874.  Most were later dispersed. The library’s bookshelves were removed and the area split into offices. The website “Reading with Austen” is an attempt to digitally recreate the library Jane Austen so much enjoyed.

Godmersham Park is now a college of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO College) and is not open to the public. However, we were allowed to see the front rooms. Here you can see the collage of the old, classical decorations of the entry room and the newer apparatus of the opticians association.
Godmersham Park entry area.
Godmersham Park still has beautiful gardens. The grounds were once quite extensive, like those of Pemberley, and you can still roam around and see different types of gardens.
The “Lime Walk” is another lovely part of the Godmersham Park gardens. Emma walks in a lime walk at Donwell Abbey.

When Austen visited Godmersham, she attended church at St. Lawrence the Martyr parish church of Godmersham. On Thursday we explore that church.

All photos in this post ©Brenda S. Cox, 2026

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

 

For Further Exploration

Edward Austen Knight: A tightwad or a man with heavy responsibilities?

Godmersham Library—“Reading with Austen”—Search to see what books Jane might have read there, and see annotations in some of the books.

Reading at Godmersham: Edward’s Library and Marianne’s Books

Godmersham Park Heritage Centre

Godmersham Village

Godmersham Walking Tour

Godmersham Park, history of the house

Review of Godmersham Park, novel by Gill Hornsby

Godmersham Park: A Novel of the Austen Family, is based on the story of Anne Sharpe, governess at Godmersham and friend of Jane Austen.

More Godmersham Photos in this post by Deb Barnum

Regency Ice Cream and Ice Cream in Jane Austen’s Day

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St. Paul’s Covent Garden: The Actors’ Church

Posted in Anglican Church, Architecture, Churches of the Austen family, Jane Austen's World, Religion in Austen's England, tagged , , on March 17, 2025| 8 Comments »

By Brenda S. Cox

“Edward & I settled that you went to St. Paul’s Covent Garden, on Sunday.”—Jane Austen, letter to Cassandra from Godmersham Park, Oct. 26, 1813

Covent Garden

We’ve been visiting London churches mentioned in Austen’s novels. Now let’s go to one mentioned in her letters. In the fall of 1813, Jane was staying with her brother Edward and his family at Godmersham Park. Cassandra was visiting their brother Henry at 10 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London. He lived in a flat above his bank. (For locations Henry lived in London, see Jane Austen’s Visits to London.) Covent Garden was known for its fruit and vegetable market, as well as, unfortunately, its prostitutes.

Jane Austen’s London offered two official theatres, at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Both were in the church parish served by St. Paul’s Covent Garden, and Austen saw plays at both. She was planning to see a play at the Covent Garden theatre when she visited Henry a month earlier:

“Fanny and the two little girls are gone to take places for to-night at Covent Garden; “Clandestine Marriage” and “Midas.” The latter will be a fine show for L. and M.” (Lizzie and Marianne)—Sept. 15, 1813 (Fanny was the eldest daughter of Jane’s brother Edward Austen Knight; her mother had died five years earlier. Lizzie and Marianne were Fanny’s younger sisters. Edward was with them but staying at a nearby hotel.)

Jane and Edward assumed Cassandra would go to church at St. Paul’s Covent Garden, since it was Henry’s parish church. Jane probably attended that church herself when any of her visits to Henrietta Street lasted over a Sunday. She and her family regularly attended church on Sundays, wherever they were.

The old Covent Garden Theatre building is at the center of the modern Royal Opera House.

The Actors’ Church

The Covent Garden area today offers more than twenty theatres. St. Paul’s, called “The Actors’ Church,” hosts concerts and plays in the church and in its walled garden. They have an in-house professional theatre company, Iris Theatre. The church’s summer schedule for this year includes Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, along with several Shakespeare productions and children’s shows. To accommodate such events, the church replaced deteriorating Victorian pews with custom-made movable and stackable pews.

Signs announce upcoming shows and services at St. Paul’s Covent Garden, the Actors’ Church.

The inside of the church commemorates famous entertainers wherever you look. Hundreds of plaques adorn the walls of the church, the backs of the pews, and the garden benches and walls.

Wall plaques at St. Paul’s Covent Garden. Vivien Leigh’s is in the top right center.

Some plaques are memorials to the church’s leaders and parishioners, as you would see in other English churches. But most remind visitors of famous people such as Vivien Leigh (star of Gone with the Wind), Boris Karloff (who played Frankenstein’s monster), Thomas Arne (who wrote “Rule, Britannia” around 1740), Sir Charles Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin), and others.

A variety of memorials line the walls of St. Paul’s Covent Garden. The central memorial is to John Bellamy Plowman, his son who died in 1811 at age 17, his son’s wife, and six children who died in infancy. The monument above it is from 1879. The grey and white plaque to the left is to Thomas Arne, “musician and parishioner,” 1710-1778, who wrote the anthem “Rule Britannia.” To the right are three twentieth century plaques, honoring playwright Sir Terence Rattigan; author, composer, and actor Sir Noel Coward; and actor Sir Charles Chaplin. A line of more modern brown plaques is below.

Besides actors and actresses, plaques commemorate dancers, singers, directors, theatre managers, patrons, choreographers, drama teachers, playwrights, and even a “critic, journalist, wit.” One woman is listed as “Actress, Producer, Supernova.” The church charges hefty fees to install these plaques (around £3000 for a plaque on the wall). These fees have kept the church solvent.

Memorials on the backs of pews at St. Paul’s Covent Garden

History

The church was designed by Inigo Jones and consecrated to St. Paul in 1638.

Covent Garden churchyard statue of St. Paul seeing a vision on the road to Damascus.

Jones designed it with a great East Door into the main piazza of Covent Garden. However, that would have put the altar at the west end of the church, which went against Christian tradition. At the last moment, the Bishop of London decreed that the altar had to be in the east end of the church, so the East Door doesn’t open. Entry is through the churchyard, from the sides of the building.

Front of St. Paul’s Covent Garden, with the false door in the center.

Various famous people are buried in the churchyard, including the painter JMW Turner and the first victim of the Great Plague of London, who died in 1665. In the 1850s, Parliament stopped all burials in central London churches. At that time, the headstones were removed and the gardens laid out as they are today.

Lovely garden in the churchyard of St. Paul’s Covent Garden

A fire destroyed much of the church in 1795, but it was rebuilt so that today it is much as Austen would have seen it.

Entrance from the churchyard of St. Paul’s Covent Garden.

Rectors

When Jane Austen was there, Edward Embry was the rector, from 1810-1817. She might have heard him preach, but she does not mention him in her letters. His portrait is in the National Gallery.

The rector who kindly showed us around when we visited was Rev. Simon Grigg, who has been rector since 2006. His bio says “When not in church you will usually find him in a bar, a theatre or the gym.” The assistant rector, Rev. Richard Syms, is a professional actor and theatre manager as well as a priest.

The pulpit of St. Paul’s Covent Garden was designed by Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) or his students.

Worship

The church offers communion services on Sundays and Wednesdays, and brief Morning Prayer services Tuesday through Friday. Their choir sings Choral Evensong once a month. Rev. Grigg told us that attendance on Sundays is about 50 people, plus those who attend online. The church seats 200.

Chancel of St. Paul’s Covent Garden. Note the camera on the right.

They have larger services for Easter and for midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Of course they also host weddings, baptisms, and funerals. According to their website, “St Paul’s is well known because of its memorial services for members of the theatrical and entertainment community, but we also offer them for the local community.”

Welcome sign to St. Paul’s Covent Garden; text is below.

Inclusion

The church seeks to be inclusive, according to their website and this entry sign:

“We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, widowed, straight, gay, confused, well-heeled or down at heel. We especially welcome wailing babies and excited toddlers.

We welcome you whether you can sing like Pavarotti or just growl quietly to yourself. You’re welcome here if you’re ‘just browsing’, just woken up or just got out of prison. We don’t care if you’re more Christian than the Archbishop of Canterbury or haven’t been to church since Christmas ten years ago.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome keep-fit mums, football dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters.

We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you are having problems, are down in the dumps, or don’t like ‘organized religion’.

We offer a welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell or are here because granny is visiting and wanted to come to church.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced, both or neither. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down their throats as kids, or got lost in Covent Garden and wound up here by mistake.

We welcome pilgrims, tourists, seekers, doubters, . . . and you!”

No doubt Jane Austen and her family would have felt welcome in the church, especially with their love of the theatre.

All photos in this post ©Brenda S. Cox, 2025

More Information about St. Paul’s Covent Garden

Physical dedications 

Self-Guided Tour, explaining parts of the church and giving prayers 

Visitor Information and schedule of events 

History of the church 

Churches Mentioned by Name in Jane Austen’s Novels

Garrison Chapel

St. Swithin’s, Walcot and other churches in Northanger Abbey

St. George’s, Hanover Square

London Churches in Austen’s Novels

Austen Family Churches

Steventon

Chawton

Deane

Hamstall Ridware and Austen’s First Cousin, Edward Cooper

Adlestrop and the Leigh Family

Stoneleigh Abbey Chapel and Mansfield Park

Great Bookham and Austen’s Godfather, Rev. Samuel Cooke

Ashe and the Lefroy Family

 

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

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John Tallis’s London Street Views, 1838-1840

Posted in 19th Century London, Architecture, Jane Austen's World, tagged , , , on November 5, 2024| 12 Comments »

Inquiring Readers,

For over 10 years I have searched for a full digitized copy of John Tallis’s London street views, 1838-1840. It is 328 pages long and includes an introduction with a biographical essay of Tallis by Peter Jackson.This book, digitized by Google from an original copy owned by the University of Michigan, also includes revised and enlarged views of 1847 London.

Purpose of this Blog Post:

The resources in this post are aimed at the interests of:

  • Authors who are researching details of London’s streets and maps during the Regency era and Early Victorian London, as well as contemporary paintings and illustrations from that period.
  • Faculty and teacher research.
  • Student learning regarding research and uncovering historical details.
  • Our readers’ curiosity and for those who are interested in learning more about 19th century London.

About Hathi Trust:

London Street Views can be found on the Hathi Trust website.

Our story:
HathiTrust was founded in 2008 as a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries now preserving 18+ million digitized items in the HathiTrust Digital Library. We offer reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. and international copyright law, text and data mining tools for the entire corpus, and other emerging services based on the combined collection.”

HathiTrust digital library:
The HathiTrust Digital Library is home to millions of digitized books and publications. Our team works diligently alongside research institutions to preserve and grow this collection while providing lawful access to visitors around the world.”

This link leads directly to London Street Views

This very useful site also offers links to many more books from the past, where you’ll find a rich source of 18+ million unique and historic books that have been digitized. Forty per cent can be read by the public, and copyrights and access are explicitly explained. See “How to Search and Access.”

In addition:

Find thousands of Images at the London Picture Archive, which is managed by The London Archives on behalf of the City of LondonCorporation.

For Example, when I typed “Hyde Park” in this site’s search bar, a wealth of images appeared that gave life to Austen’s era. Combined with the Tallis maps, these resources provide a more comprehensive view of life during the Regency era as it was, as opposed to reproductions in today’s film sets, lets say. (Also see Horwood’s Maps in the link at the end of this post.)

New Bond Street

River Thames

West view of St. Paul’s Cathedral and surrounding streets

Who is John Tallis?:

John Tallis: 1816-1876

The biographic introduction to this book by Peter Jackson includes a vast amount of information about his life. (Image @ Hathi Trust)

Other information about Tallis:

“The Life of John Tallis – Map Maker and Cartographer”: biography excerpt from the Old Maps Library blog

“Tallis … produced a series of street views of central London that are breathtaking. His images showed detailed views of the streets using the facades of the buildings. These street views are much like we use Google street view today, giving us a sense of what the city looked like in the early Victorian era.”

“Tallis was born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire in 1817, and moved to London in about 1841… A blue plaque commemorates his final residence at 233, New Cross Road. He died in 3 June 1876.”

Memorial Plaque. Image of his house as well @ London Remembers

More information about London Streets in this blog:

 

Horwood’s 1804 Map of London, blog post published 2021 on this site.

 

 

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