www.janeaustentour.co.uk

Welcome to The Exclusive Travel Service

The Exclusive Travel Service

presented by

Julian Spencer Rouse
Phone 44 (0) 20 8941 7146
Mobile 44 (0) 7973 714594
julian@echotango.co.uk
  
Jane Austen Tour

Jane Austen, born in 1775, wrote of the world she knew, her early years in the country; and in Bath and the occasional visit to London. She describes her writing as ‘the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work with so fine a brush as produces little effect after much labor’. From an early age Jane wrote short stories and poems, and the first drafts of Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility were written between 1796 and 1798, when Northanger Abbey was written. None were published at that time, and in 1801 the family went to live in Bath for five years when she wrote no novels.
Her father died in Bath, she and her mother moved several times in Bath, leaving for Clifton then to Southampton to stay with her brother and finally being settled in Chawton, in a house provided by another brother. It is here that she was at her most prolific producing and publishing four novels, Pride & Prejudice (revised), Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion, and the unfinished Sanditon and revising Northanger Abbey. She died at the height of her powers, from a fatal illness of the kidneys, and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published as one volume after her death. These two novels are set in Bath.

To understand the life Jane Austen lived and the subtle setting of the Bath novels, we can visit the villages of her life and the locations relating to her life and novels in Bath on a 3 or 4 day tour. This is a tour that is equally enjoyable in the winter months as it is in season.

Day 1 Collect from London hotel or greeting at London airport, and drive south-west to Steventon. Here on the old main London road we can see The Wheatsheaf, the coaching inn where Jane walked to collect her letters. It is a 2 mile drive to the scattered village of Steventon, where Jane was born and lived for her first 25 years. The rectory was a large house with a small-holding which the family worked. The 600 year old church can be visited, but the rectory was burnt down some time after they left for Bath. A new house has been built recently close to the original rectory position.
Steventon
Church
  The
Wheatsheaf
A short distance north are the villages of Deane where we see the rectory, and Ashe where a lake is the source of the River Test. We can follow the river on back roads and through pretty villages of thached cottages to Whitchurch, visited by Jane. Here is the last working silk mill, open for visits. Further on is the riverside pub, The Mayfly, a good stop for lunch.
The riverside journey ends at the old market town of Stockbridge, and from here we drive on to Bath.

Day 2 This day will be mainly a walking tour of Bath, where we visit the Roman Baths before seeing all the major sights including the Assembly Rooms, the Museum of Costume and No. 1 Royal Crescent. followed by tea in the Pump Rooms, where a trio plays.
Later we can take a drive to see the unspoiled village of Laycock, used for filming Bath exteriors.

Day 3 A drive past Stonehenge (possible visit) to Chawton, the J A Museum and its out-buildings and garden. The house is well annotated and there is a good gift shop. We can also see Chawton House (private) and the church, rebuilt after a fire where Jane's mother and sister Casandra are buried.  

 
Chawton
We then follow Jane's last days to Winchester, to visit the cathedral and her plaque and grave, and just outside the close the house where she died (private).
The town is also of interest, including the medieval Great Hall.
From here we can return to London, or continue to Day 4.

Day 4 Overnight stay in The Dolphin, where Jane went to dances when staying with her brother.
The town was much damaged in the war, but much of the old walls and buildings survive so we take a walking tour and see the site of her brother's house, now with a pub built on it.
Scenic return to London, with a visit to The Vyne if open in season. Jane went to dances here in the 16th & 17th C. house.
     
 
Dolphin Hotel
  
The Vyne
  
There is a 50 page Jane Austen Tour Booklet of all the research material used to prepare this tour, to be presented on your tour, or it can be ordered in advance by sending your mailing address and $15 or £10 to include posting to the USA to:

Exclusive Travel Service
78 Walton Road
East Molesey
Surrey
KT8 0DL
Engalnd

The Exclusive Travel Service plans and drives individual customized tours, presented by

Julian Spencer Rouse.

The charges for tours are per day, not per person, and the service includes planning and booking accommodation. For current rates go to the main web site below.

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