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Archive for the ‘Jane Austen’s World’ Category

Goodnestone and Holy Cross Church (Jane Austen’s Family Churches)

Posted in Anglican Church, Churches of the Austen family, Jane Austen's family, Jane Austen's World, tagged , , , on March 23, 2026| 1 Comment »

By Brenda S. Cox

“We dined at Goodnestone, and in the evening danced two country dances and the Boulangeries. I opened the ball with Edward Bridges . . . We supped there, and walked home at night under the shade of two umbrellas.”—Jsane Austen, Sept. 5, 1796.

More than thirty times in her letters, Jane Austen mentions Goodnestone (pronounced “GOOD-nuh-stun” or “gunston.”) The original name was Godwynestone, after the Anglo-Saxon family who lived in the area from before the Norman Conquest until the reign of King Henry VIII. The founder of the family, Earl Godwyn (or Godwin), was the father of King Harold II, killed in the Norman Conquest.

The estates of the area passed through a few other families. They were eventually acquired by Brook Bridges, Esq. in the early 1700s. He built Goodnestone Park. His son became a baronet, like Sir Thomas Bertram and Sir Walter Elliot in Austen’s novels. He passed that title down to his descendants, a Brook Bridges in each generation.

Jane Austen visited Goodnestone several times, and often refers to the comings and goings of her friends and relations there. What was her connection to this place?

Goodnestone Park and Farm and Rowlings

Last month on this site we “visited” Godmersham, home of the Knight family who adopted Jane Austen’s brother Edward. Edward Austen married Elizabeth Bridges, daughter of Sir Brook William Bridges, owner of the nearby estate of Goodnestone. When Edward and Elizabeth were first married, they lived at Rowling, about a mile from Goodnestone. Their first four children were born there. Jane Austen visited them there, socializing with Elizabeth’s family at Goodnestone Park. (See “A Walk in Kent” for photos of Rowling.)

Goodnestone Park, where Austen danced with Edward Bridges.
Photo by Nick Smith / Goodnestone House, 2007, CC BY-SA 2.0
Goodnestone Park in the 1770s
Public domain via wikimedia

“The Mrs. Finches were afraid you would find Goodnestone very dull; I wished when I heard them say so that they could have heard Mr. E. Bridges’ solicitude on the subject, and have known all the amusements that were planned to prevent it.”—Aug. 24, 1805, from Jane Austen at Godmersham Park to Cassandra Austen at Goodnestone Farm, Wingham

Edward and his wife inherited Godmersham and moved there at the end of 1797. Jane and Cassandra continued to visit other Bridges family members at Goodnestone Farm. Her nephew described Goodnestone Farm as “a comfortable house very near the great house, which has generally been inhabited as a dower house or by some younger member of the Bridges family, to whom it belongs.”

Jane’s friend Harriot (or Harriot-Mary), one of her sister-in-law Elizabeth’s younger sisters, insisted Jane stay longer on a visit in 1805. In the following year, Harriot married Rev. George Moore. He was the son of an archbishop and held four church livings. One of Elizabeth’s younger brothers, Rev. Brook-Edward, was perpetual curate of Goodnestone from 1802-9, as well as holding five other church livings at various times. His older brother, Rev. Brook-Henry, held two church livings. (They did like hyphenated names.) The Bridges family apparently had “considerable patronage in the church,” like the Darcys of Pemberley, or at least they had close connections with families who had patronage (the right to assign church livings).

The dower house at Goodnestone, where Jane Austen stayed on later visits to the Bridges family.

Holy Cross Goodnestone church

On  her visits, Austen must have attended the local church, Holy Cross Goodnestone. This is now considered an “Austen Family Church,” like others we have visited in this series. Jane’s brother Edward married his wife Elizabeth in this church in 1791.

Holy Cross Goodnestone church
Faced flints (chipped or “knapped” to make them flat) cover the south wall of the Goodnestone church, giving it a unique appearance.
Path between yew trees at Goodnestone church. See Yew trees in churchyards. The path was recently renovated for easier access to the church. JASNA’s churches fund helped finance the renovation. Photo ©Sue Kittle, 2026
View of the Goodnestone church tower from one of the many beautiful gardens. Once used as a beaon tower and fortress, it is still a bell tower, with four bells, one of which was made in 1628. The church now has six “Ringers” who ring the bells on special occasions. A single bell is rung for church services. Photo by Adam Hincks, CC BY-SA 2.0
On one face of the Goodnestone church tower, a sundial, shown here, was inscribed “Every hour shortens life,” though the markings are very worn now. On another face is a Victorian clock, which has to be manually wound every eight days.
Detail of photo by Adam Hincks, CC BY-SA 2.0

Holy Cross Goodnestone church interior

The interior of the church was remodeled in the Gothic Revival style in 1841, so it looks different now than it did in Austen’s time.

An inscription over this arch commemorates Sir Brook William Bridges (Edward Austen’s father-in-law) who rebuilt the nave and chancel of the church in 1841.
Monuments on the church walls, and flagstones on the floor, still commemorate influential families. This is a monument to Sir Edward Engeham, who purchased the estate from the de Godwynstones, and his family. He died in 1636, age 65, a year after his wife’s death at age 52.
In Austen’s time, the nicer pews would have been rented or owned by wealthy families. These Goodnestone church pews are Victorian, and the organ dates from 1904, restored and augmented in 2014.
The Goodnestone organ also has wooden pipes, for the pedals.
Jane Austen may well have read these engravings on the wall, similar to those in many English country churches. The left side displays the Lord’s Prayer, the right side lists the Ten Commandments.

“We have walked to Rowling on each of the two last days after dinner, and very great was my pleasure in going over the house and grounds. We have also found time to visit all the principal walks of this place, except the walk round the top of the park, which we shall accomplish probably to-day.”—Jane Austen at Goodnestone Farm writing to Cassandra at Godmersham, August 30, 1805. 

Church and Community

A congregation of about twenty people gather for Sunday services at the church (fewer when their excellent choir is not singing). But they may have 100 to 120 participants at services for holidays and weddings.

Like many country churches, the Goodnestone church is also used for various community services. Concerts are held there regularly, and the choir is excellent. They have sung Evensong in cathedrals as well. Schoolchildren come to the church once a week from the Church of England primary school in the village. The church even serves as a post office, open two mornings a week.

News article about the post office being opened in the Goodnestone church.

Goodnestone is part of the Canonry Benefice, which includes seven churches in East Kent. The vicar and other clergy for the benefice serve all the churches, at services alternating between the churches. For example, during the upcoming Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, fifteen church services will be held at the various churches (at least one per day). Three of them will be at Holy Cross, Goodnestone.

The church is well worth seeing if you visit the area. It is generally open during daylight hours. You can contact the church if you have questions. Jane Austen enjoyed the gardens and walks in the area, and you can also walk through the lovely gardens and the “Serpentine Walk.” See Visitor Information. Goodnestone Park is now used as a wedding venue.

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, unless otherwise marked, ©Brenda S. Cox, 2023

For Further Exploration

Holy Cross, Goodnestone

Goodnestone, Godmersham, and Canterbury

Rowling and Rowling House

Edward Austen Knight

Detailed History of Goodnestone and Church, written in 1902

More photos of Holy Cross, Goodnestone

Old Photographs of Goodnestone

History of Goodnestone Park with paintings

Goodnestone Park Grade II* listing (Grade II* means a “particularly important building of more than special interest.” Listed buildings require special permissions before any significant changes can be made.)

Church of the Holy Cross Grade I listing with photos (Grade I means “of exceptional interest.”)

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

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Elizabeth Bennet’s Travels: Oxford, Blenheim, Warwick, Kenilworth, Birmingham

Posted in 18th Century England, Jane Austen Novels, Jane Austen's World, Pride and Prejudice, Regency Travel, Travel, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2026| 6 Comments »

This is the time of year when I start to dream of traveling to England or other beautiful places over the summer. I know just how Elizabeth Bennet felt when looking forward to her trip with her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner.

What a delightful thought! Anticipation is half the joy of any exciting pursuit. Her words could not be more true:

Her tour to the Lakes was now the object of her happiest thoughts: it was her best consolation for all the uncomfortable hours which the discontentedness of her mother and Kitty made inevitable; and could she have included Jane in the scheme, every part of it would have been perfect.

“But it is fortunate,” thought she, “that I have something to wish for. Were the whole arrangement complete, my disappointment would be certain. But here, by carrying with me one ceaseless source of regret in my sister’s absence, I may reasonably hope to have all my expectations of pleasure realized. A scheme of which every part promises delight can never be successful; and general disappointment is only warded off by the defence of some little peculiar vexation.”

A view of the Lake District: Parker, John. Ullswater from Above Patterdale. 1825. Wikimedia Commons.

Travel Plans

Like many of us who have had our plans amended, Elizabeth has high expectations of all they might see on their trip, but eventually she finds contentment in the final plans to visit Derbyshire and the Peak District but not venture to the Lakes:

…they were obliged to give up the Lakes, and substitute a more contracted tour; and, according to the present plan, were to go no farther northward than Derbyshire. In that county there was enough to be seen to occupy the chief of their three weeks; and to Mrs. Gardiner it had a peculiarly strong attraction. The town where she had formerly passed some years of her life, and where they were now to spend a few days, was probably as great an object of her curiosity as all the celebrated beauties of Matlock, Chatsworth, Dovedale, or the Peak.

Most of us can relate to Elizabeth’s feelings on the topic:

Elizabeth was excessively disappointed: she had set her heart on seeing the Lakes; and still thought there might have been time enough. But it was her business to be satisfied—and certainly her temper to be happy; and all was soon right again.

Wright of Derby, Joseph. Dovedale by Moonlight. c.1784–1785, oil on canvas. Wikimedia Commons.

Travel Route

Her trip was revised, but there was still much for her to see. I’ve always been intrigued by this paragraph that tells us about the route they took on their way to Derbyshire, for there would have been many interesting sights along the way:

It is not the object of this work to give a description of Derbyshire, nor of any of the remarkable places through which their route thither lay—Oxford, Blenheim, Warwick, Kenilworth, Birmingham, etc., are sufficiently known. A small part of Derbyshire is all the present concern.

If Elizabeth and the Gardiners stopped along the way, what might these locations have looked like at the time? Most scholars agree that this trip would have taken several days, which means they would have had to change horses several times and stop for food and rest and lodging. It’s fun to imagine what all they saw and where they stopped, though we know they would have wanted as much time as possible in Derbyshire.

For anyone curious about how far and how fast people could travel in Jane Austen’s England, I highly recommend Wade H. Mann’s article, “Distance and Time in Regency England” on Quills & Quartos. It breaks down the realities of journeying by carriage, horseback, and foot, giving a clear sense of the distances and travel times that shaped the world Austen’s characters inhabited.

Pollard, James. London to Brighton Stage Coach. c. 1822, coloured aquatint, engraved by Matthew Dubourg (attributed), Wikimedia Commons.

Oxford

Austen’s contemporary readers would have recognized Oxford as a center of learning and culture. High Street and Cornmarket Street bustled with shops, inns, and markets. The architecture would have also been of interest. There are many gardens and parks to explore and walk, museums and libraries, and several religious sites. There would have been much for Elizabeth and the Gardiners to experience along the way.

High Street, Oxford, J. M. W. Turner, Wikipedia, 1810.

Blenheim

Blenheim Palace, the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough (which would later become the birthplace of Winston Churchill), was also on the route. As we see later when Elizabeth and the Gardiners visit Pemberley, by the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many famous estates in England had become informal tourist attractions. Wealthy travelers, and even respectable middle-class visitors, often toured grand houses while traveling through the countryside.

Morris, F. O. Blenheim Palace. 1880. Wikimedia Commons.

Warwick

Today, Warwick is a lovely little village, and the castle is one of my favorite sites to visit. During Austen’s time, Warwick Castle would have boasted recent new landscaping by Lancelot “Capability” Brown (1716–1783). Warwick Castle’s grounds were redesigned in the 18th century, and Brown’s landscapes created sweeping lawns, gentle vistas, and picturesque trees. Visitors like Elizabeth Bennet might have enjoyed exploring the grounds.


Canaletto. Warwick Castle, the East Front from the Courtyard. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Wikimedia Commons.

Kenilworth

Kenilworth Castle, already a famous historic ruin during the Regency Era, offered visitors sweeping views, crumbling walls, and picturesque gardens. Tourists like Elizabeth Bennet might have strolled the grounds and enjoyed the romantic, dramatic scenery that made it a highlight of Warwickshire travel.

Turner, Joseph Mallord William. Kenilworth Castle. c. 1830, watercolour, bodycolour, and graphite on paper. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Wikimedia Commons.

Finally, in Austen’s day, Birmingham was a bustling market and industrial town rather than a landscaped estate. Travelers might stop for lodging, shopping, or supplies, experiencing the commerce of an emerging urban center instead of picturesque grounds or aristocratic architecture.

Derbyshire

Once they arrive in Derbyshire, we know whom Elizabeth and the Gardiners visit and what they see. Unlike Elizabeth Bennet, most of us will never enjoy living at such a glorious estate as Pemberley. But we can visit many of the real, historic sites. And if we’re very lucky, perhaps we might be invited to visit a historic estate or home one day, such as my visit to Sherbourne Park.

Most of all, Elizabeth’s travels remind us that the journey is often just as important and interesting as the destination. Unless, of course, Mr. Darcy is waiting at one of those destinations.

Tune in for more about Elizabeth’s travels in the coming months!

Rachel Dodge teaches writing classes, speaks at libraries, teas, and conferences, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional, The Little Women Devotional, The Secret Garden Devotional, and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. She has narrated numerous book titles, including the Praying with Jane Audiobook with actress Amanda Root. A true kindred spirit at heart, Rachel loves books, bonnets, and ballgowns. Visit her online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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The Church at Godmersham: St. Lawrence the Martyr

Posted in Anglican Church, Churches of the Austen family, Jane Austen's family, Jane Austen's religion, Jane Austen's World, tagged on February 26, 2026| 2 Comments »

By Brenda S. Cox

A few days ago we “visited” Godmersham, the estate of Jane Austen’s brother in Kent. Today we’ll continue that visit with the church she attended while she was there. Like so many English churches, it is named after a Christian saint.

St. Lawrence the Martyr: Who Was He?

More than 200 churches in England are named after St. Lawrence. The church at Godmersham, where Jane Austen often visited her brother Edward, is one of them, as is the church at Alton, closest town to Austen’s village of Chawton.

St. Lawrence the Martyr, parish church of Godmersham, which Jane Austen often attended.

The original St. Lawrence’s story is inspiring but rather grisly. He was a deacon in charge of the treasures of the church, and of distributing alms to the poor. When the Roman Emperor Valerian demanded that Christians sacrifice to the Roman gods or else be killed, they refused. Pope Sixtus II and his deacons were beheaded. Lawrence was told to hand over the church’s treasures. Instead of bringing gold, he brought in many of the poor and said they were the church’s treasure.

Valerian supposedly commanded that Lawrence be roasted on a gridiron, and Lawrence even made a joke as he was dying. (Some think he was actually beheaded and the gridiron is a transcription error; scroll down at this link.) He became the patron saint of comedians and poor people as well as those who work with open fires, such as bakers, and those who fear fires, such as librarians.

And, guess what else? He’s apparently the patron saint of barbecues. On August 10, St. Lawrence’s Day in the church calendar, many churches like this one celebrate by having a community-wide barbecue. Okay, that’s the grisly part. Moving on . . .

Godmersham Church and Jane Austen’s Family

Godmersham church plaque mentioning Jane Austen
Memorial to Jane Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight “of Godmersham Park in this parish, and of Chawton House in the country of Southampton,” and his wife Elizabeth. It tells about Edward’s name change and inheritance. Edward is described, “Living peaceably in his habitation, he was honored in his generation, a merciful man whose righteousness shall not be forgotten.” (This combines verses from Ecclesiasticus 44:6, 7, 10; Ecclesiasticus is a book of the Apocrypha.)
Memorial in the Godmersham church to the Knights that Edward inherited from, cousins of the Austens. The broken pillar symbolizes the end of the Brodnax family they were descended from. Thomas Brodnax, who built Godmersham Park (which was originally called Ford Place) in 1732, changed his name to May and then to Knight in order to inherit fortunes from distant relatives. His son, also named Thomas Knight, adopted Edward Austen as his heir.

Jane Austen, in a total of ten months staying at Godmersham, must have attended this church at least forty times. More likely eighty times, if they had morning and evening Sunday services as many churches did at the time. So she would have known it well.

In her time, the chuch had a triple-decker pulpit: a high wooden pulpit with a sounding board over it (a wooden structure reflecting the sound forward), from which the vicar would preach. Below that was the vicar’s “prayer desk,” from which he would lead the service, reading prayers and Scriptures. And below that, the “parish clerk’s pew,” from which the church clerk would lead congregational responses. (These are the three “decks” of the pulpit.) (See another example here.)

Across the church from this pulpit were two huge “box pews” for the major families of the parish. These were on top of burial vaults, so Austen would have walked up five steps and through an arched doorway to get to the Knight family’s “pew,” actually a separate room which enabled them to see over everyone’s heads to the top pulpit (See pages 70 and 73–pp. 26 and 29 of the pdf file– of The Parish Church of St  Laurence). Quite a different experience than her tiny churches at Steventon and Chawton, where only the squire of the area and his family would have a box pew, on a much smaller scale.

Box Pew at Steventon Church, for the squire of the area and his family. The box pews at Godmersham were much larger and more ornate, but were demolished in the 1860s.
While the Godmersham church’s triple decker pulpit is gone, like most of this era, you can still see a triple-decker pulpit at the John Wesley’s New Room Chapel in Bristol. The congregation heard preaching from the top level, Scripture reading and prayers from the middle level, and responses led by the parish clerk from the lower table.

Like so many of the Austen-era churches, the Godmersham church was remodeled and expanded in the 1860s. According to the “Souvenir Guide” for the church, at that time “The Georgian furnishings (triple-decker pulpit, parlour pews, western gallery and box pews) were swept away and the entire building restored and refurbished.”

Interior of Godmersham church, much changed from Jane Austen’s time
This chapel under the tower of the Godmersham church was built in the twelfth century. Next to it hang ropes for ringing the bells in the tower. The eagle lectern, a stand for reading the Bible, is typical of English churches.
Church Bell-ringing is a challenging skill to learn. Five bells in the Godmersham church tower were cast in 1687, while a sixth was added in 1999.

Vicars

The Godmersham church had vicars over the centuries. English churches traditionally either have rectors, who received all the tithes of the parish, or vicars, who received only part of the tithes. For a church with a vicar, a nominal rector elsewhere received the main tithes. The only vicar in Austen’s novels is Mr. Elton, who thus received a lower income and needed to marry money. (Tithes are ten percent of the income of the people of the parish; in Austen’s time, it was legally required that this be paid to the parish priest, in either cash or in agricultural produce. The system and these definitions have changed, of course, in modern times.)

The Vicars of Godmersham Church

The “rector” of the Godmersham church, who received most of the tithe money, was the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, meaning the leaders of the Cathedral: the dean, canons, and prebendaries. Much of the parish income went to them, but some went to the vicar, who performed the daily responsibilities of the church and preached and led services. In Austen’s time, Francis Whitfield was vicar (1778-1811), then Joseph Godfrey Sherer (1811-1823). Jane visited Mrs. Sherer, and said in a letter that she liked Mr. Sherer very much (Sept. 23, 1813). She wrote to her brother Frank (Sept. 25, 1813):

“Mr. Sherer is quite a new Mr. Sherer to me; I heard him for the first time last Sunday, and he gave us an excellent Sermon—a little too eager sometimes in his delivery, but that is to me a better extreme than the want of animation, especially when it evidently comes from the heart, as in him. The Clerk is as much like you [Frank] as ever, I am always glad to see him on that account.”

Here we get a personal view of what Jane Austen liked in sermons: not too much emotion, but enough to show that the preacher is speaking from his heart. It reminds me of a section in her unfinished novel The Watsons, where Emma’s father, a clergyman, commends the sermon of the local minister (Emma’s love interest). Sermons were generally “read”:

“He [Mr. Howard] reads extremely well, with great propriety, and in a very impressive manner, and at the same time without any theatrical grimace or violence. I own I do not like much action in the pulpit; I do not like the studied air and artificial inflexions of voice which your very popular and most admired preachers generally have. A simple delivery is much better calculated to inspire devotion, and shows a much better taste. Mr. Howard read like a scholar and a gentleman.”

Mr. Sherer would have lived in this vicarage (also called a parsonage) close to the church. It is possible that Mr. Collins’s rectory is partially based on this building. It was enlarged in the 19th century.

Austen continues in the same letter,

“But the Sherers are going away. He has a bad Curate at Westwell, whom he can eject only by residing there himself. He goes nominally for three years, and a Mr. Paget is to have the Curacy of Godmersham—a married man, with a very musical wife, which I hope may make her a desirable acquaintance to Fanny.”

A curate was an assistant or substitute clergyman, generally paid a low salary. Mr. Sherer will hold the office of vicar of Godmersham for life, unless he resigns it. But he can hire a curate to take his place while he resides in another parish for which he is presumably also rector or vicar.

Austen mentions several more visits by the Sherers until on Nov. 7 she says they are actually gone, although Mr. Paget has not yet come. As we often see in Austen’s novels, the clergyman was a central person in a country community.

Baptismal font and organ in the Godmersham church
This memorial on the church’s outside wall, to Susanna Sackree, the nursemaid who raised the Knight children after their mother’s death, was recently unveiled. Photo ©Deborah Barnum, 2025.

The Godmersham Church Today

Like so many English churches today, the Godmersham church is now combined with several other churches in the area, and they take turns hosting services. Our guide estimated that there are about three hundred people in the parish, and only 15 or 20 show up for regular Sunday services. However, larger crowds show up for events such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, and church holy days. The church is blessed to have funding from wealthy former owners of Godmersham Park who left money for the church.

Our guide said he loves the peace and quiet of the church area, and enjoys the changes in the seasons, seeing the snowdrops, the daffodils, and the holly berries. The Pilgrim’s Way from Winchester to Canterbury brings modern-day pilgrims down a path next to the church, where they can enjoy it also.

This lovely, historic country church welcomes visitors, but be sure to make arrangements beforehand. And check on visiting hours for the Heritage Centre.

 

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 (except for Deb Barnum’s photo, which is labeled).

 

For Further Exploration

St. Lawrence the Martyr church at Godmersham 

Brief History of the church

Services at the church

Detailed history of the Godmersham church (pp. 66-77, “The Church in Jane Austen’s Time” includes sketches of the church interior as Austen knew it. Note the huge box pews on p. 73. Austen would have sat in one of these when she was visiting her Knight relatives.)

The reference to Mr. Sherer’s church at Westwell may refer to this church in Kent. 

See also Deborah Barnum’s post.

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)

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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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Wild Jane Austen?

Posted in Book review, Jane Austen's World, tagged , , on January 26, 2026| 4 Comments »

Book Review by Brenda S. Cox

“Loving Jane Austen, to me, is dependent on continuing to find something new to appreciate, mull over, research, or reconsider in her writings. What’s wild is that although her books don’t change, I do. . . . Reading, and loving, Austen’s fiction means something far different to me at fifty-seven than it did at seventeen.”—Wild for Austen, 262.

A few days ago we reviewed Living with Jane Austen by Janet Todd. Today we get a personal perspective from another Austen expert, Devoney Looser, giving her view of Jane Austen as ‘wild,’ in Wild for Austen.

Wild for Austen by Devoney Looser seeks to undermine stereotypes about Austen.

Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane, by Devoney Looser

Devoney (DEV-uh-nee) Looser takes pride in being rather ‘wild’ herself. She dedicates this book to people in “the international roller derby community,” saying: “You got me rolling, knocked me down, and lifted me up, not only as Stone Cold Jane Austen [Looser’s roller derby name] but as a stronger and more joyful teacher-scholar.”

Devoney’s goal is to demolish the “myth of Jane Austen as a quiet, bland spinster.” She finds ‘wildness’ in Austen’s novels, in the lives of Austen’s connections, and in Austen’s ‘afterlives.’

Looser says ‘wild’ is ‘a linchpin word in Austen’s fiction.’ In the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), we find examples from Jane Austen for the earliest uses of ‘wild’ to mean ‘passionately or excitedly desirous to do something’ (Mrs. Palmer is ‘wild to buy all’ in S&S; Elizabeth is ‘wild to be at home’ in P&P; the Musgrove girls are ‘wild for dancing’ in Persuasion). ‘Wild’ can also mean ‘elated, enthusiastic, raving’ (“The men are all wild after Miss Elliot.”). The OED also defines ‘wild’ as ‘artless, free, unconventional, fanciful, or romantic in style,’ which Looser says characterizes Austen’s novels.

Looser also argues against the myth of “Austen’s fiction having been largely forgotten until 1870. It wasn’t.” Austen’s novels were apparently widely read and familiar throughout the 1800s. Looser gives examples, from the years following Jane’s death, of the novels mentioned in magazines, poems, and a court case. Here’s an example I like: “Mansfield Park was said to be the secretly chosen favorite (on private slips of paper) of seven distinguished literary gentlemen in 1862.” Looser has also found clear imitations of Austen in other stories published in the 1800s.

Chapters in Wild for Austen

Part I: Wild Writings
  1. Introduction: Austen Gone Wild
  2. Fierce, Wild, and Ruthless: Austen’s Juvenilia
  3. The Controversial Case of Sophia Sentiment (a letter in her brothers’ periodical The Loiterer, possibly Jane’s first published work)
  4. Running Wild: The Winning Immorality of Lady Susan
  5. Wildest: Sense and Sensibility (1811)
  6. Almost Wild: Pride and Prejudice (1813)
  7. Bewildering Mansfield Park (1814)
  8. Wild Speculation: Emma (1816)
  9. Wild to Know: Northanger Abbey (1818)
  10. The Young People Were All Wild: Persuasion (1818)
  11. Wild-Goose Chase: Unfinished Sanditon (111)
  12. Oh, Subjects Rebellious: The Watsons and Last Words
Part II: Fierce Family Ties (explores unexpected people and events among Austen’s family and acquaintances)
  1. Jane, the Wild Beast, and the Progressive Burdetts
  2. Cousin Eliza’s Statesman, Singer, and Spy (a lurid murder of Austen’s acquaintances)
  3. The Leighs as Learned Literary Ladies (authors among Austen’s relatives)
  4. The Sensational Shoplifting Trial of Aunt Jane Leigh Perrot
  5. Three Austen Brothers and the Abolition of Slavery (new evidence about Frank, Charles, and Henry)
  6. The Austen Family Legacy, Suffrage, and Anti-Suffrage (Austen descendants for and against the vote for women)
Part III: Shambolic Afterlives (how people have seen and adapted Austen since her death. ‘Shambolic’ means ‘chaotic.’)
  1. Seeing Jane Austen’s Ghost
  2. Sense and Sensibility Goes to Court (Quotes from S&S were used as evidence in an 1825 breach of promise suit, to support the idea that a woman would not fall in love with a much older man; counsel had obviously not read the whole book! Austen’s novels have also been cited in much more recent court cases.)
  3. Jane’s Imaginary Lover in Switzerland (Fake news in 1886 went viral.)
  4. Almost Pride and Prejudice: The Wild Films That Never Were
  5. Wild and Wanton: The Rise of Austen Erotica
  6. Loving (and Hating) Jane Austen
  7. Coda: Austen After 250
Marianne sees Willoughby and is about to approach him with the “wildest anxiety.”

Personally, I found the first two sections the most interesting. I’m still not convinced that Austen’s novels are what I would call ‘wild,’ though the Juvenilia and Lady Susan certainly are! But Looser brought out many intriguing insights about each novel, looking at the use of ‘wild’ in the books.

For example, she shows Sense and Sensibility defying expectations of romance novels: “the doublings and triplings, twists and turns, and backstories and backstabbings keep readers constantly on their toes” (46). Marianne is the “wildest,” speaking to Willoughby in “the wildest anxiety.” But the point of the story, recognized by early readers, is that both men and women should have a balance of both sense and sensibility; they need “both finely tuned minds and warm, rebellious feelings.” The best books should also “embody the best of both qualities” (57).

Mansfield Park has the least ‘wild’ heroine of the six novels. However, in my own humble opinion, it has the largest cast of other ‘wild’ characters—Henry Crawford, who commits arguably the worst action of the villains by eloping with a married woman, breaking up Maria’s marriage with no intention of marrying her; Mary Crawford, who makes a dirty joke and considers adultery ‘folly’; and Maria, who marries a man she hates and leaves him for a man she has already seen to be trifling and insincere. Julia, of course, elopes, which was also considered ‘wild.’ Tom Bertram not only convinces his household to put on a morally questionable play, but is so wild he drinks himself almost to death. Looser says Mansfield Park may have been “a jarring reading experience” for 1814 readers. She considers the wildest thing about it to be “its prompting of lively, difficult arguments and rousing debates” (76).

Wild for Austen, by Devoney Looser, may help you see Austen, her writings, and her connections in a new light. Or give you fodder for lively arguments. Enjoy Austen’s ‘wildness’! (UK link)

 

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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