Spring 2008
Welcome to the Spring edition of your Letter from Chawton, the quarterly newsletter from Chawton House Library. We have lots of exciting plans for this year, and also for 2009, which is the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s arrival in Chawton. We hope that you enjoy reading our latest news and that you can join us for some of our events in the year ahead
Alton Jane Austen Regency Week Costume displays, regency cuisine and a talk on Jane Austen’s Chawton are some of the treats on offer during a week of special events organised by Alton’s Chamber of Commerce. Jane Austen Regency Week, which takes
Our New CEO Is Appointed Mr Steve Lawrence has now started as our new Chief Executive Officer. Steve comes to us from Aberystwyth University, where he was Director of External Affairs. place from 21st – 29th of June, will celebrate the time Jane Austen spent in Alton and Chawton. As part of the celebrations, Chawton House Library and gardens will open to the public on Thursday June 26th from 10.30am till 4.30pm. Regency dancing displays, readings from Austen’s novels and Shire horse demonstrations will take place. Light refreshments will be He was welcomed to Chawton at a party given available and visitors are welcome to bring picby Sandy Lerner and the Trustees. On a sunny evening in May a hundred and twenty volunteers, nics. Admission is £6 for adults, children under friends and neighbours gathered in the courtyard 14 go free. to greet Steve and bid a fond farewell to his Summer Open Days predecessor, Heather Shearer. There are other opportunities to see the house ‘I’m very much looking forward to leading and gardens this summer. Chawton House will Chawton House Library in the years ahead, be open to the public on Thursday 31st July and building on its many strengths and working Thursday 21st August with the displays, readclosely with the Trustees, staff, volunteers and ings and other activities described above. the local community in delivering its mission,’ Steve said. ‘It’s particularly opportune that 2009 The usual admission charges apply on those th marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s ar- dates but on Saturday September 13 we are rival in Chawton. This offers an unrivalled plat- open free of charge as part of the Heritage Open Days initiative. Visitors will be able to see the form for unveiling new initiatives, exciting principal rooms including the Great Hall, the events and fundraising activities. Chawton House Library,Chawton,Alton,Hampshire,GU34 1SJ T: +44(0) 1420 541010 F: +44(0) 1420 595900 E: info@chawton.net W: www.chawtonhouse.org Registered Charity No. 1026921 Company Registration No. 2851718
Dining Room, Tapestry Gallery and the Library Reading Room. The Liss Brass Band will play at intervals throughout the day and the Hampshire Regency dancers will be stepping out in the gardens, weather permitting. The Shire horses will be put through their paces and for younger visitors there’s a chance to take part in treasure trails and Regency dressing up. Home-made light lunches and teas will be served in Chawton’s fascinating Elizabethan kitchen.
The Shepherd’s Hut Restoration Project Efforts to restore the delightfully quirky Shepherd’s Hut – a timber structure on wheels dating back to the Edwardian era – have received a considerable boost. A local charitable fund has kindly offered £5000 to help rebuild the oak, elm and pitch pine structure. This follows a separate offer of £1,500 made by a Friend of Chawton House. Used by shepherds tending their flocks and by gamekeepers on the lookout for poachers, the hut had its own pot-bellied stove – something else the restoration project aims to replace. The structure has already been moved to restorers Plankbridge of Dorset but we urgently need to raise the remaining cost of £3,220 to get the project completed.
Once restored, the Shepherd’s Hut would be sited on the Chawton House parkland, forming part of an educational, self-guided tour of the estate. It would also be a place of quiet reflection, where visitors could pause to drink in the serenity of a rural landscape. Any donations to the project, however small, would be greatly appreciated and duly acknowledged.
Children Get Green Fingers in the Walled Garden Pupils from Chawton primary school have been learning how to plant vegetables in the Walled Garden at Chawton House. The first groups of youngsters began visiting in May and in the past few weeks they have sown beans, potatoes, celery and pumpkins. The Walled Garden Project is supported by the Hampshire Gardens Trust, which recently presented several sets of child-sized tools for the pupils to use when tending their produce. One of the ways in which the Trust is raising money for the project is through the charity open day being held at Longstock Park Water Gardens at Stockbridge on Sunday August 17th. Admission to the private gardens – which feature more than forty different varieties of water lily – is £5 for adults and £1 for children under 14.
Garden Volunteers Wanted Our Gardener, Alan Bird, is in need of more volunteers to help with the cultivation of vegetables in the Walled Garden. So if you enjoy being out of doors and don’t mind getting a bit grubby, please give us a call.
Louis De Bernieres and the Antonius Players Just a reminder of what promises to be an unforgettable event taking place at St Nicholas Church, Chawton, on Friday July 4th: Louis de Bernieres – internationally acclaimed author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Birds Without Wings, and the recently published A Partisan’s Daughter – reads his own and other people’s poetry and plays an amazing variety of instruments together with flautists Ilone AntoniusJones and Tina Gandy. Tickets are £20 including a champagne reception at Chawton House, during which Louis de Bernieres will be signing copies of his books. The evening begins at 6pm in the Great Hall. There will also be a special literary supper with Louis and the Antonius Players after this event. Tickets for the supper are £60 which includes the performance Prior booking is essential as places are limited.