This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.
Since 2007, this blog has published a number of posts regarding Steventon, the village where Jane Austen and her parents and siblings lived until the parents and sisters moved to Bath in 1801. Austen was 26 years old. It is said that upon hearing of her parents’ plans to leave Steventon, she fainted.
Well, girls, it is all settled. We have decided to leave Steventon and to go to Bath.’ To Jane, who had been from home and who had not heard much before about the matter, it was such a shock that she fainted away . . . . Constance Hill, Chapter IX, Leaving Steventon
The probable truth was that she was deeply unhappy to move from a community and friends and family she knew so well, and where her writing skills had flourished. Her creativity blossomed in Steventon, while her life in Bath resulted in a writing desert, where her projects were not completed – until she moved in 1809 to Chawton Cottage.
Regardless of her difficulties in Bath, this post is about her life in Steventon, where Austen grew up. Contributors Brenda Cox, Rachel Dodge, and Tony Grant published their outstanding (copyrighted) images in these posts!
Sadly, my five visits to England focused on London, Bath, Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Brighton and the South Downs, Warwickshire, Eton, Oxford, Windsor, etc. I missed Austen’s villages of Steventon and Chawton by a smidge. Thank goodness that I could take the road to St. Nicholas Church via Google street view.
This past summer, Brenda Cox, after an extensive trip to England, wrote a series of posts regarding the churches in Austen’s world. Cox’s original photos and historical information are unique to this blog and provide us with a fabulous way to view these beautiful buildings and their history.
This was the first post I published in 2007 regarding Steventon Rectory. During that time I was a Jane Austen groupie and knew very little about her life. In the article, I focused on pattens, shoes with which I was not familiar. Good news: After all these years in this old post, the links still work! Looking back, the one negative comment still gives me the shivers, for I had no idea at that time how to title a post! The reader came looking for substance and got clattering pattens instead!
The image below of the remaining remnant of the Steventon Rectory (a pump) was drawn by Ellen G. Hill, whose sister, Constance wrote a book now in the public domain: Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends by Constance Hill, 1901. See the link at the bottom of this post. Like me in 2007, Ellen and Constance were Austen fans. They visited the sites three quarters of a century after Austen died. In a some instances, they talked to a few aging villagers who recalled those who knew Cassandra Austen in her old age (dod 1845) and related some first-hand minutiae about her.
Ellen Hill’s sketch of the pump on the site where the rectory stood.
Rachel Dodge, another outstanding writer for this blog, wrote a post about her visit to Steventon, Chawton, and the Austens’ self-sufficient gardens. Her photographs, as Brenda’s and Tony’s, are outstanding. This blog is blessed to have these contributors!
This post leads to an article that details the life of the Austen family in Steventon Rectory. It refers to Linda Robinson Walker’s 2005 Persuasions-Online article entitled Why Was Jane Austen Sent away to School at Seven: An Empirical Look at a Vexing Question. Ms Walker describes the Austen parents’ incentive to provide sufficiently for themselves and six children, which was not enough on Rev Austen’s two livings. The parents’ hard work to oversee a boy’s boarding school allowed the family to live a life of some comfort. Walker’s information regarding their daily lives and the costs for maintaining the boarding school and hire the servants is quite insightful.
Tony Grant, a contributor to this blog since 2010, wrote this post and supplied his photographs to demonstrate the relationship between cottages in Steventon and Barton Cottage in Sense and Sensibility. His articles are always intriguing and informative, for he acted as a guide in Jane Austen tours in his native England for many years.
More on the topic:
This online, public domain book, published in 1901 and referenced in this blog post, was my initial introduction to a first-hand Jane Austen fan account of her life. Enjoy the read! Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends By Constance Hill
Last month I started a new month-by-month series titled “A Year in Jane Austen’s World,” wherein I began exploring important events and details that happened in Jane Austen’s novels, letters, and lifetime during each month of the year. Starting with January in Jane Austen’s World, my aim is to share my monthly finds every month this year, through December. My goal is simple: Glean as much as I can from Austen’s life, letters, and novels about what life was like for Jane Austen during her time and era.
We now turn our attention to February in Jane Austen’s novels. As I examined passages in her novels and letters that mention February, some of the information I found was an extension of what we learned last month: Mainly, that most of the British aristocracy went to the London (and some to Bath) during the winter months for “the season.” They enjoyed balls, parties, and other social gatherings in the bigger cities during the colder months and then moved back to their country homes by summer when the heat and stench of the cities became unendurable. You can read about it here.
Snowdrops at Chawton House in February, Photo: @ChawtonHouse.
February in Hampshire
The snowdrops are in full bloom at Jane Austen’s House Museum and Chawton House this time of year. Chawton House even hosts “Snowdrop Sunday” tours, when guests can come visit the grounds and enjoy the stunning display of snowdrops and other bulbs that are starting to pop out.
I mention the snowdrops because they are everywhere on the grounds of Chawton House in the winter time, and it’s lovely to think that perhaps Jane Austen saw them for herself. These type of bulbs can spread and spread for years.
Several of Austen’s surviving letters were written in February. In them, she covers many topics, but the excerpts belows are especially intriguing.
8 February 1807 (Castle Square, Southampton):
These snippets are from Austen’s letters when the Austen women lived in Castle Square, Southampton. This first letter mentions the improvements they were making:
Garden: “Our garden is putting in order by a man who bears a remarkably good character, has a very fine complexion, and asks something less than the first. The shrubs which border the gravel walk, he says, are only sweetbriar and roses, and the latter of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better kind, therefore, and at my own particular desire he procures us some syringas. I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s line. We talk also of a laburnum. The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries.”
Interior: “The alterations and improvements within doors, too, advance very properly, and the offices will be made very convenient indeed. Our dressing table is constructing on the spot, out of a large kitchen table belonging to the house, for doing which we have the permission of Mr. Husket, Lord Lansdown’s painter — domestic painter, I should call him, for he lives in the castle. Domestic chaplains have given way to this more necessary office, and I suppose whenever the walls want no touching up he is employed about my lady’s face.”
Beds: “The garret beds are made, and ours will be finished to-day. I had hoped it would be finished on Saturday, but neither Mrs. Hall nor Jenny was able to give help enough for that, and I have as yet done very little, and Mary nothing at all. This week we shall do more, and I should like to have all the five beds completed by the end of it. There will then be the window curtains, sofa-cover, and a carpet to be altered.”
You must be very cold to-day at Godmersham. We are cold here. I expect a severe March, a wet April, and a sharp May. And with this prophecy I must conclude.
20 February 1807 (Castle Square):
In this letter, we hear a bit more about the weather there in Southampton and at Godmersham, where Cassandra was staying:
“We could not pay our visit on Monday; the weather altered just too soon, and we have since had a touch of almost everything in the weather way; two of the severest frosts since the winter began, preceded by rain, hail, and snow. Now we are smiling again.”
“You must have had more snow at Godmersham than we had here; on Wednesday morning there was a thin covering of it over the fields and roofs of the houses, but I do not think there was any left the next day. Everybody used to Southampton says that snow never lies more than twenty-four hours near it, and, from what we have observed ourselves, it is very true.”
And one of Austen’s hilarious one-liners:”A widower with three children has no right to look higher than his daughter’s governess.”
Southampton High Street, 18th C.
4 February 1813 (Chawton, regarding PP):
In the following letters, we read a bit about Austen’s first beta readers for Pride and Prejudice and her reactions to their commentary:
“My dear Cassandra,—Your letter was truly welcome, and I am much obliged to you for all your praise; it came at a right time, for I had had some fits of disgust. Our second evening’s reading to Miss B. had not pleased me so well, but I believe something must be attributed to my mother’s too rapid way of getting on: though she perfectly understands the characters herself, she cannot speak as they ought. Upon the whole, however, I am quite vain enough and well satisfied enough. The work is rather too light and bright and sparkling: it wants shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn specious nonsense, about something unconnected with the story,—an essay on writing, a critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Buonaparte, or something that would form a contrast, and bring the reader with increased delight to the playfulness and epigrammatism of the general style…. The greatest blunder in the printing that I have met with is in page 220, v. 3, where two speeches are made into one. There might as well be no suppers at Longbourn; but I suppose it was the remains of Mrs. Bennet’s old Meryton habits.”
Dated soon after:
“I am exceedingly pleased that you can say what you do, after having gone through the whole work, and Fanny’s praise is very gratifying. My hopes were tolerably strong of her, but nothing like a certainty. Her liking Darcy and Elizabeth is enough. She might hate all the others, if she would. I have her opinion under her own hand this morning, but your transcript of it, which I read first, was not, and is not, the less acceptable. To me it is of course all praise, but the more exact truth which she sends you is good enough.”
Garden Plans at Castle Square
As most gardeners (myself included) can attest, planning one’s spring garden is a happy prospect in the middle of February. Jane Austen was no different! With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at her descriptions of the plans for their garden from her 8 February 1807 letter to Cassandra:
Our garden is putting in order by a man who bears a remarkably good character, has a very fine complexion, and asks something less than the first. The shrubs which border the gravel walk, he says, are only sweetbriar and roses, and the latter of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better kind, therefore, and at my own particular desire he procures us some syringas. I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s line. We talk also of a laburnum. The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries.
Letter to Cassandra, 8 February 1807.
Austen’s Southampton Garden
With these lovely descriptions, we can paint a picture in our minds of what Austen was imagining as she planned the garden:
Sweet Briar
Austen wrote: “The shrubs which border the gravel walk, he says, are only sweetbriar and roses, and the latter of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better…”
On the blog From the Notebook of a Rosarian, you can read all about Sweet-Briar (or Eglantine Rose). I imagine Austen would have looked forward to seeing these blooms very much! Here is an example:
Regency Roses
Austen wrote: “roses . . . of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better…”
Perhaps the existing roses either weren’t uniform or weren’t as pretty as the Austen women wanted. Thus, they planned to add a few of “a better” sort. One can imagine a line of beautiful roses along their walkway come summer.
You can read a wonderful article about Regency Roses from Leeds University Library here: Regency Roses. Here is an example:
Austen wrote: “I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s line. We talk also of a laburnum.” This is in reference to a line in William Cowper’s poem, “The Winter Walk at Noon” (Book VI, The Task, 1899).
In her article “‘With what intense desire she wants her home’: Cowper’s Influence on Jane Austen,” Jane Darcy provides the following commentary:
The house in Castle Square in Southampton feels more like a home [for Austen]; there is a garden which she energetically starts to plan. She insists on lilacs: ‘I could not do without a Syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s Line’, adding ‘We talk also of a Laburnum’, referring to the lines in ‘The Winter Walk at Noon’, Book VI of The Task: … Laburnum rich In streaming gold; syringa iv’ry pure (149-150)
Laburnum, a flowering tree, also called golden chain or golden rain, is pictured below. One can imagine how lovely it would look in Austen’s garden in spring.
Austen wrote: “The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries.”
Here, we find an example of something pretty and edible for the garden come summer. Currants, gooseberries, and raspberries were all useful in a variety recipes. You can read more about the history of British food and Gooseberries here.
To read more about the trees and shrubs Austen would have recognized, the JASNA Eastern Washington/Northern Idado region provides this fascinating information regarding the “Trees and Shrubs Mentioned in Jane Austen’s Novels, Letters, and Minor Works with Historical Background: “Austen’s Trees and Shrubs A-K” and “Austen’s Trees and Shrubs L-Z.”
February in Jane Austen’s Novels
The following are a collection of interesting little tidbits and important moments from Austen’s novels:
Sense and Sensibility
“[Mrs. Palmer] expects to be confined in February,” continued Mrs. Jennings.
“[Edward] will be there in February, otherwise London would have no charms for me; I have not spirits for it.” (Lucy Steele)
Colonel Brandon: “But last February, almost a twelvemonth back, [my little Eliza] suddenly disappeared.” […] “Good heavens!” cried Elinor, “could it be—could Willoughby!”—
“[Mrs. Dashwood] had yet another reason for wishing her children to remain [in London]; a letter from her son-in-law had told her that he and his wife were to be in town before the middle of February, and she judged it right that they should sometimes see their brother.”
“Early in February, within a fortnight from the receipt of Willoughby’s letter, Elinor had the painful office of informing her sister that he was married.”
Pride and Prejudice
“With no greater events than these in the Longbourn family, and otherwise diversified by little beyond the walks to Meryton, sometimes dirty and sometimes cold, did January and February pass away.”
Mansfield Park
“With such thoughts as these, among ten hundred others, Fanny proceeded in her journey safely and cheerfully, and as expeditiously as could rationally be hoped in the dirty month of February. They entered Oxford, but she could take only a hasty glimpse of Edmund’s college as they passed along, and made no stop anywhere till they reached Newbury, where a comfortable meal, uniting dinner and supper, wound up the enjoyments and fatigues of the day.”
“Entrance to Oxford from the London Road.” Ackermann’s Oxford University. Engraved by Frederick Christian Lewis after Frederick Nash (1814).
Emma
“In the summer it might have passed; but what can any body’s native air do for them in the months of January, February, and March? Good fires and carriages would be much more to the purpose in most cases of delicate health, and I dare say in her’s. I do not require you to adopt all my suspicions, though you make so noble a profession of doing it, but I honestly tell you what they are.”
“Frank was here in February for a fortnight.”
“When [Frank] was here before, we made the best of it; but there was a good deal of wet, damp, cheerless weather; there always is in February, you know, and we could not do half that we intended. Now will be the time.
“Mr. Woodhouse was resigned. The time of year lightened the evil to him. May was better for every thing than February.”
Persuasion
“It was the beginning of February; and Anne, having been a month in Bath, was growing very eager for news from Uppercross and Lyme.”
Mary Musgrove sends a long, newsy letter to Anne from Uppercross.
Northanger Abbey
“Catherine . . . gave herself up to all the enjoyment of air and exercise of the most invigorating kind, in a fine mild day of February, with the consciousness of safety.”
Bath, England, Regency Era.
February Dates of Importance
This brings us now to several dates that would have been quite important to Austen personally:
Celebrations/Birthdays:
13 February 1765: James Austen (Jane’s brother) born at Deane.
Historic Dates:
1 February 1793: France declares war on England.
4 February 1794: France abolishes slavery in French colonies.
February 1811: George, Prince of Wales, becomes the prince regent of England.
Sorrows:
22 February 1794: Eliza de Feuillide’s husband is executed by guillotine in Paris.
February 1797: Tom Fowle (Cassandra’s fiancé), who was serving as a chaplain, dies in San Domingo of yellow fever.
Writing:
Winter 1810: Sense and Sensibility accepted for publication (Thomas Egerton).
February 1811: Jane Austen starts work on Mansfield Park.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of February in Jane Austen’s World as much as I enjoyed researching it and writing it. There is so much more to explore! I followed several intriguing trails and threads in this article, but I’m sure one might find many other avenues to research. Austen’s letters alone are a fount of information and charm. Here’s to what we’ll find in March in Jane Austen’s World next month!
“This month we visit with the author of “Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England” to discuss clergymen in Austen’s novels, her use of certain words that hold deeper religious meaning than you might think, women who were influential in the church, and the role churches played in the many social reforms of her time.”
A new podcast is featured every first Thursday of each month. This means a new one will appear in early March! Each is approximately 30 to 40 minutes long. They also come with a full transcript for a quick reference later, or for leisurely reading.
The Podcast host is Breckyn Wood, a member JASNA’s Georgia Region and an independent Jane Austen scholar. She is a freelance writer, editor, and children’s book author.
In addition to Brenda’s wonderful talk, previous podcasts include:
Tony Grant: Review of Northanger Abbey, a play by Zoe Cooper
On the 26th January Tony Grant and his wife saw “Northanger Abbey” at The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond upon Thames. The play, written by Zoe Cooper, was ”inspired” by Jane Austen’s novel. Only three actors enacted all the roles as written by Ms Cooper.
I’ve seen plays in experimental theaters where actors played several roles after hastily making costume changes. This method of acting leaves me in awe in how the actors inhabit the different characters fully and with perfect recall of their varying dialogues.
The link below leads to the review on his blog of Cooper’s adaptation of Northanger Abbey. In preparation for the performance, Tony read Northanger Abbey again, which gave him fresh insights.
presents four original movies inspired by the novels of Jane Austen… with a Hallmark twist.
The first movie aired on February 3rd, but never fear, it will be streamed on Peacock on demand.
Paging Mr Darcy:
When an overly serious scholar attends an annual Jane Austen conference, she has a sudden change of heart when she strikes a deals with the man who’s playing Mr Darcy. 1 hr 24 m, 2024
Future February Airings on the Hallmark Channel
Love & Jane, Premieres Sat Feb 10 8/7c
An American in Austen, Premieres Sat Feb 17 8/7c
Sense and Sensibility, Premieres Sat Feb 24 8/7c
These movies will also stream on demand on the Peacock App.
A short review of ‘Paging Mr Darcy’
I just viewed “Paging Mr Darcy.” I give it 2½ out of 5 stars, having spent much of my time keeping half an ear and eye on the film while looking up information for my sick dog. The story was pleasant, but would have been better had the script reflected the energy, fun, and seriousness of an actual Austen conference, like the yearly JASNA AGM. The script was not robust enough for my tastes, but then again, there’s a reason why Hallmark movies with their happy endings are popular with a large number of viewers, and why so many of these romance movies are generated each year.
This is the time when new books are published ahead of the spring and summer seasons. One offering from Manchester University Press particularly intrigued me. I also included in this post my responses to two books I recently purchased in preparation for a post about the Grand Tour.
She Played and Sang: Jane Austen and Music by Gillian Dooley
In March, Manchester University Press will offer a book that features an in depth look at Jane Austen’s lifelong connection to music. I have the honor of reading an advance proof and will review the book this March. The press sheet states:
“Until recently, our knowledge of Austen’s musical inclinations was limited to the recollections of relatives who were still in their youth when she passed away. But with the digitisation of music books from her immediate family circle, a treasure trove of evidence has emerged. Delving into these books, alongside letters and other familial records, She played and sang unveils a previously unknown facet of Austen’s world.
[Dooley] not only uncovers the music closely associated with Austen, but also unravels her musical connections with family and friends, revealing the intricate ties between her fiction and the melodies she performed. With these revelations, Austen’s musical legacy comes to life, granting us a deeper understanding of her artistic prowess and the influences that shaped her literary masterpieces. “
The Grand Tour of Europe
I recently purchased this lavish book, The Grand Tour of Europe, which sits prominently on my coffee table.
“The Grand Tour, a journey through Europe aimed at culture and leisure, was a common practice between the 17th century and the first quarter of the 19th century. This book revisits the stages in an itinerary that left profound traces in European culture.”
Published by Van Cleef & Arpels and edited by Franco Maria Ricci, the information is divided into the following lushly illustrated sections:
Chapter I: Three essays
Fops on Holiday, Nicholas Foulkes
Theatres of Antiquity: Art and Artists During the Grand Tour, Fernando Mazzocca
The Grand Tour of Europe, Attilio Brilli
Chapter II: Myths and Views of Italy
Chapter III: Imagination and the Grand Tour – Sculpture
Chapter IV: Imagination and the Grand Tour – Painting
Chapter V: Travellers and Artists
Note: Chapters II – V include anthologies with reactions from 17th – 19th C. travellers to their experiences.
I wanted to connect this beautiful book to Jane Austen’s life, and found the bridge in the following reproduction of Edward Austen Knight’s memories of his own Grand Tour.
Jane Austen’s Brother Abroad: The Grand Tour Journals of Edward Austen
I ordered this book, edited by Jon Spence and first published in 2005, from Jane Austen’s Books. Austen herself, while she mentioned Edward Austen Knight in her surviving letters, provided few personal details about this brother and none about his Grand Tour. Before this book’s publication, we knew very little about his personality or his likes and dislikes, except for a letter from his mother, who compared and contrasted his talents with those of his brother James:
“[He] has a most active mind, a clear head, and a sound judgement, he is quite a man of business. That my dear James was not – Classical Knowledge, Literary Taste and the Power of Elegant Composition possessed in the highest degree; to these Mr Knight makes no pretensions. Both equally good, amiable and sweet-tempered.” – From an introduction in the book by Jon Spence.
In his foreword, Richard Knight, a descendant of Edward Austen Knight and a trustee today of the Chawton House Library writes:
“The publication of Edward’s Grand Tour journals provides another, more personal and intimate memorial to Edward himself. In the journals he speaks to us as he was as a young man: wry, amusing, playful, eager, and interested.”
The latter two books help Austen aficionados understand the scope of these “rites of passage” and educational journeys for the males* of the upper classes and those of the bourgeoisie who had the time and means to leave their home countries for lengthy periods, in some instances for years. Edward’s journal was written from the notes he kept during his travels and the result was meant to be read out loud to his family.
*Females also embarked on Grand Tours, but not near the numbers of their male counterparts.
“I dread the idea of going to Bookham as much as you can do”—Jan. 9, 1799
“My scheme is to take Bookham in my way home for a few days . . . I have a most kind repetition of Mrs. Cooke’s two or three dozen invitations, with the offer of meeting me anywhere” –Nov. 3, 1813
We’ve been looking at some of Jane’s mother’s Leigh family. The Austens also corresponded regularly with the Cooke family in Great Bookham, who are often mentioned in Jane’s letters. Mrs. Cooke was Jane’s mother’s cousin. Her name was the same as Jane’s mother’s: Cassandra Leigh. She was the daughter of Jane’s uncle Theophilus Leigh, master of Balliol College at Oxford.
This cousin’s husband, Rev. Samuel Cooke, was Jane’s godfather. He was the vicar of St. Nicolas’, Great Bookham. He was also rector of Cottisford, Oxon, about 80 miles away, but he and his family lived in Great Bookham.
Godparents play an important role in Anglican families.They promise to pray for the child’s salvation, faith, and obedience, and, at the child’s baptism, they renounce the devil on the child’s behalf. A girl has one godfather and two godmothers.
Memorial plaque in St. Nicolas’ Church, Great Bookham, to Jane Austen’s godfather, Rev. Samuel Cooke, “formerly fellow of Baliol College Oxford, and for fifty-two years the resident and respected vicar of this parish. He died March 29th, 1820, in the eightieth year of his age. Guided by a spirit of piety and benevolence and by an inflexible sense of duty, which sought not the honour that cometh of man, he ran his long course in peace and content; and closed it in an humble trust on that blessed hope, ‘Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'”
The Incumbents (vicars, then rectors) of the Great Bookham church lists Samuel Cooke from 1769 to 1820.
Jane Austen visited the Cookes in Great Bookham, which is between Chawton and London, a number of times. We don’t know why she did not want to go there in 1799, but she visited from May 14 to June 2.
St. Nicolas’ Church, Great Bookham, externally still much as it was when Jane Austen visited there. See this image by JMW Turner.
Great Bookham in Austen’s Novels
Jane made good use of her visit. In 1801, she started writing The Watsons. Its setting in “Stanton” was apparently based on West Humble (now Westhumble), a town near Great Bookham. It is three miles from Dorking, which Austen calls “the town of D. in Surrey.” Betchworth Castle is nearby, so it may be the basis for Osborne Castle in the novel.
After probably visiting several more times, in the summer of 1814, Austen decided to visit the Cookes again. On June 14, she wrote,
“The only Letter to day is from Mrs. Cooke to me. They . . . want me to come to them according to my promise.—And after considering everything, I have resolved on going. . . . In addition to their standing claims on me, they admire Mansfield Park exceedingly. Mr. Cooke says ‘it is the most sensible Novel he ever read’—and the manner in which I treat the Clergy, delights them very much.—Altogether I must go–& I want you [Cassandra] to join me there . . .”
One commentator (Chapman) says the Cookes may have had Evangelical leanings and appreciated Mansfield Park’s protest against lax views of the duties of the clergy. Evangelical or not, Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park does present a very high view of the clergy. He says, for example:
“I cannot call that situation [of clergyman] nothing which has the charge of all that is of the first importance to mankind, individually or collectively considered, temporally and eternally, which has the guardianship of religion and morals, and consequently of the manners which result from their influence. No one here can call the office nothing. . . . it will, I believe, be everywhere found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are the rest of the nation.”
Jane Austen apparently based Highbury in Emma on Great Bookham or the adjacent town of Leatherhead.
When Jane Austen visited in 1814, she was in the midst of writing Emma. She later told her nephew that Leatherhead, next to Great Bookham, was the model for Highbury. Box Hill, where Emma and her friends picnic, is nearby, and Great Bookham had an Old Crown Inn similar to the one in Highbury. (It was, however, demolished in 1930). There was also a Randalls Park, and other features similar to Highbury.
View from Box Hill, where Emma and her friends picnic in Emma. (Tony Grant points out that this wonderful view is not from the exact spot where they held their picnic. “Frank Churchill, when he gets up to to proclaim to the world, says that Dorking is to his left and Mickleham to his right. That can only mean the picnic took place on the Burford Spur of Box Hill.” You can find photos of other views in his posts linked below.)
Box Hill
Box Hill is still a beautiful spot for picnics, hiking, walking, and cycling. The current rector of Great Bookham, Alan Jenkins, kindly took us to visit there. It includes a cycling trail. In the 2012 Olympics, cyclists made nine laps on this trail as part of their route.
The Vicarage
The Cookes’ parsonage, where Jane Austen stayed, was a large one. (A maid working there was named Elizabeth Bennet, by the way.) They had at least six children, but only three survived to adulthood. Their daughter Mary, who apparently did not marry, was a good friend of Jane’s, mentioned in her letters. Their son Theophilus Leigh Cooke (1778-1846) became a clergyman, a fellow of Magdalen College at Oxford, and holder of three church livings. His brother George Leigh Cooke (1779-1853) combined religion and science. He was a fellow of Corpus Christi College and earned a bachelor of divinity (a graduate degree). He also became a professor of Natural Philosophy (science) at Oxford, a keeper of the archives, and published an edition of Newton’s Principia Mathematica. Austen’s nephew, James-Edward Austen-Leigh wrote in his Memoir that George was “an impressive preacher of earnest and awakening sermons,” which, in the jargon of the time, implies that he was an Evangelical. Jane mentions in one of her letters that George “was very kind & talked sense to me every now & then” (Apr. 21, 1805).
Until 1869, Great Bookham had vicars, not rectors, so the parsonage was called a vicarage. The patron of the parish (a person who changed over the years), took part of the tithes and the rest went to the vicar, along with income from the glebe farmland belonging to the living. It is speculated that some of the excommunications in the Vestry Books were for non-payment of tithes (from 1800: Great Bookham at the Time of Jane Austen).
The parsonage was removed in 1961. For early pictures, see here. The parish now has a rector; the term no longer refers to tithes. His rectory is a modern building.
St. Nicolas’ Church, Great Bookham, History
Jane Austen must have worshiped in this church, where her godfather was the vicar, a number of times on her visits to Great Bookham.
When Austen visited, the church was full of box pews with walls around them. Some were three feet high, some were four feet high. The box pews were replaced by regular pews in 1885.
This wooden gate was added to side of the Great Bookham church in 1914. In Austen’s time, there was an external staircase here to an upper room, where Sunday school was held. Sunday schools, run by Christians of all denominations across England, educated the poor and enabled them to build better lives.
The church tower of St. Nicolas’ Great Bookham dates back to the 1100s. The clock in it was not there when Austen visited. Some years ago, the tower was in danger of falling down. The whole village got behind the project of fixing it, and raised even more than the large sum necessary to save the tower.
The chancel of the Great Bookham church was built in the 1300s, though when Jane Austen saw it, it did not have stained glass.
Other Literary Connections at Great Bookham
Great Bookham has a number of literary connections, some of which Jane Austen would have known about.
Cassandra Cooke, Jane Austen’s mother’s cousin, published her novel, Battleridge: An Historical Tale founded on facts, in 1799, by “a lady of quality.” Austen mentions it in her letters. Available on archive.org in two volumes.
Fanny Burney, one of Jane Austen’s favorite authors, lived here at the Hermitage with her husband, General Alexandre D’Arblay. Their son was baptized in the nearby Great Bookham church in 1795.
Fanny Burney wrote of the Cookes, “the father is worthy, the mother is good, so deserving, so liberal and so infinitely kind, that the world certainly does not abound with people to compare them with. The eldest son is a remarkably pleasing young man. The young seems sulky, as the sister is haughty.” She also wrote of Rev. Cooke, “Our vicar is a very worthy man and goodish—though by no means a marvellously rapid preacher.”
She also wrote to her father, Dr. Burney, “Mr. Cooke tells me he longs for nothing so much as a conversation with you on the subject of Parish Psalm singing—he complains that the Methodists run away with the regular congregation from their superiority in vocal devotion.” The Methodists, led by John and Charles Wesley, had been leading a revival in the church. They attracted people with lively hymns. Country churches were mostly singing psalms, often quite poorly, at this time, though hymns were beginning to be introduced into some churches.
Old and new: St. Nicolas’ pipe organ today. In 1800, the Great Bookham church only had a barrel organ that could play ten tunes. It accompanied their choir of Singers who sang from the West Gallery (balcony) of the church. So their music was probably better than that of many country churches at the time, which often had no musical instruments. This photo shows a memorial tomb/statue that Austen would have seen. The pulpit would have been higher, however, to be seen over the box pews. The blue bulletin board is modern, showing charities the church supports.
Playwright and politician Richard Sheridan (1751-1816), who wrote The Rivals and School for Scandal, owned several manors in the area around Great Bookham.
Later, teenaged C. S. Lewis lived in Great Bookham from 1914-1917, being educated by a private tutor, William T. Kirkpatrick.
St. Nicolas’ Church, Great Bookham, Today
St. Nicolas’ is a very active church, larger than the others we have “visited” so far. I was told the parish includes eleven to twelve thousand people. The electoral role of St. Nicolas’ lists about 250 members, and around 140 attend on Sundays. Three other ministers and five staff members assist the rector in serving the church. The church holds services every Sunday, Communion on Thursdays and Sundays, and several weekly prayer meetings. Members also meet in housegroups.
This board welcomes people to St. Nicolas’, Great Bookham, and advertises concerts and other community events held at the church.
The area also includes Baptist, Catholic, and United Reformed churches, and St. Nicolas’ cooperates with them on projects like Alpha Courses, designed to address people’s questions about Christian faith.
A few years ago, the church removed the Victorian pews and substituted chairs. This gives them the flexibility to hold various kinds of services and to host community events.
Religious education and daily worship are required to be offered in British government schools (student participation is optional). The rector, Alan Jenkins, provides some of this in local schools, briefly sharing a Bible story, prayer, and sometimes a song. School groups also come into the church for harvest or Easter services, with programs organized by the teachers.
Prayer stations around the church offer ideas for personal prayer.
An interesting aside for you: St. Nicolas’ Great Bookham has many lovely stained glass windows today, though there were none when Jane Austen visited. This one honors St. George, patron saint of England; St. Michael, who in the Bible defeats the great dragon, the devil; and St. Martin using his sword to cut his cloak in half in order to give half to a beggar in winter. These windows, with military images, are dedicated to Guy Cuthbert Dawnay, a soldier and Conservative politician. A large cross dedicated to Dawnay in the churchyard says he “was killed by a buffalo while on a hunting expedition in Masailand, E. Africa,” Feb. 28, 1889. Both have verses from Isaiah 60:19-20 about the Lord being his everlasting light.
On the day we visited the Great Bookham church, the central kneeling cushion at the altar commemorated Jane Austen’s connection with the church.
I hope you are enjoying learning about Jane Austen’s churches along with me. There is so much history at these old churches, as well as continuing community life and worship today.
1800: Great Bookham at the Time of Jane Austen, Fanny Burney, and R. B. Sheridan, published by the Parochial Council of St. Nicolas Great Bookham (booklet available at the church, funded by JASNA)
Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England is now available! By JAW contributor Brenda S. Cox. See Review. Available from Amazon and Jane Austen Books.
Available through December 31st, 2025. Click on image for details, and share this poster with other teachers and students!
The Obituary of Charlotte Collins by Andrew Capes
Click on image to read the story.
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Project Gutenberg: eBook of Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore, Volume 2 (of 2), by Charles G. Harper
STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE: A PICTURESQUE HISTORY
OF THE COACHING AGE, VOL. II, By CHARLES G. HARPER. 1903. Click on this link.
This is the time when new books are published ahead of the spring and summer seasons. One offering from Manchester University Press particularly intrigued me. I also included in this post my responses to two books I recently purchased in preparation for a post about the Grand Tour.
The Grand Tour of Europe
Jane Austen’s Brother Abroad: The Grand Tour Journals of Edward Austen 
