Into the late 20th century, it remained in private ownership.
It was then purchased by a charitable trust, extensively restored, and opened as a research centre.
The centre runs study programmes in association with the nearby University of Southampton. It incorporates a significant library,[2] a collection of over 9000 books and related manuscripts.
Currently, It also houses the research libraryofThe Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830,[3] using its connection with the English novelist Jane Austen.
The house is open to visitors and library readers, for tours and during public events.[4]
The surrounding parkland to the south of the house is open at all times to walkers and nourishes a herd of sheep.
The present Chawton House was built starting in 1580 by John Knight, based on an older manor house. The estate had been owned by the Knight family since 1551. Alterations to the house were made in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Chawton House from the South, 2023
The house is built of flint with stone dressings and a tiled roof. The South front has two main storeys with an attic and three gables that can be seen on the picture on the left.
The house then passed down the family until the male line died out with the death of Sir Richard Knight. After this, it was passed to a relative by marriage, Richard Martin, who changed his name to Knight (possibly having to change his name to gain the inheritance).
It then passed to Thomas Brodnax, a relative, who did the same. His son, Thomas Knight, died childless and bequeathed the house to his relative Edward Austen, the elder brother of Jane Austen, who also added Knight to his name.
The estate then continued in the Knight family until inherited by Richard Knight in 1987.
The house was then in poor condition and Richard Knight sold it in 1992.[5]
The house is in 275 acres (1.11 km2) of Hampshire countryside, and after extensive refurbishment is now open to visitors, for conferences, a venue for weddings, and has also been used for some films.
Chawton house, church and sheepChawton St Nicholas church
Between the house and the public road is St Nicholas church.
The present building dates from 1872 but an inscription states that a church has been on this site since 1289. It also states that the main part of the present structure was funded by Sir Arthur Blomfield after a fire in 1871.
In the churchyard are the graves of Cassandra Austen (elder sister of the novelist Jane Austen) and their mother.
The Library was opened in 2003 to specialist scholars. It has a collection of over 9,000 books together with related original manuscripts.
The Library works in partnership with the University of Southampton, and provides an important resource for the university's MA in 18th Century Study.[8]
In 2015 the house opened to general visitors in addition to specialist scholars.
In 2016 Lerner left the board and the foundation now includes other projects.[9]
The Library is now The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830.
Chawton House Library is an independent research library and study centre which focuses on women's writing in English from 1600 to 1830. The library's main aim is to promote and facilitate study in the field of early women's writing.
Below is a list of some of the female authors whose works are to be found at the Library. The full on-line catalogue is searchable, and can be accessed via the Chawton House website.
The Library also houses the Knight Collection, a private collection of books belonging to the Knight family who owned and lived at Chawton House for 400 years. This collection of books was once owned by Edward Austen Knight, the brother of Jane Austen, and it is known that she used this collection of books. The library was started by Sandra Lerner, co-founder of Cisco Systems and philanthropist.[10]
The Novels Online ongoing project makes freely accessible the full-text transcripts of some of the rarest works in the Chawton House Library collection to stimulate interest in these works amongst a new generation of readers.[11]
These texts explore broad-ranging themes including satire, slavery, marriage, witchcraft and piracy.
The texts are completely unedited, and have been copied from the originals as accurately as possible. Even printer errors have been retained.
Routledge has published, to date, thirty-two novels from the Chawton Library collections as part of their Chawton House Library: Women's Novels series.[12]
[Anon.] Celia in Search of a Husband: By a Modern Antique. Ed. Caroline Franklin, 2022. ISBN9780367758356
[Anon.] The Histories of Some of the Penitents in the Magdalen House. 1759. Ed. Jennie Batchelor and Megan Hiatt, 2016. ISBN9781138235922
Elizabeth Hays Lanfear. Fatal Errors; or Poor Mary-Anne. A Tale of the Last Century. 1819. Eds. Timothy Whelan and Felicity James, 2019. ISBN9781138544611
The Gardens are open to the public when the house is open, and there is access to The Old Kitchen Tearoom. The restoration programme for the Gardens was extensive, and focused in particular on the restoration of the Walled Garden. Edward Knight had the idea to build a new walled garden during Jane Austen's lifetime. In 1813, she wrote to her brother Frank,『He [Knight] talks of making a new Garden; the present is a bad one & ill situated, near Mr Papillon's; — he means to have the new, at the top of the Lawn behind his own house.』Knight's original walls are mostly still intact, but the glasshouses and potting sheds, had to be rebuilt. The gardens have been restored using Edward Austen Knight's original planting scheme. The central space is used for the production of vegetables, soft fruits, herbs and flowers.[13] Chawton House is registered with the Soil Association, and is now certified as an organic producer.[14] Everything grown in the walled garden is for use by the Library, with any surplus being sold locally in aid of the charity.[14]
Chawton house is situated about 400m away from the cottage where Austen lived for the last eight years of her life. This now houses the Jane Austen's House Museum, which is a large 17th-century house in the centre of the village of Chawton, owned by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust since 1947 [16] and preserved in her memory. The two houses, Chawton House and Jane Austen's House, are separately run charities.
Austen is known to have been a frequent visitor to what she knew as the 'Great House', and she references it a number of times in her letters. Edward Austen also loaned it to his brother, Francis Austen. Edward Austen himself resided at Godmersham Park, but his son, Edward Knight II, moved to Chawton House following his marriage, and sold Godmersham Park following his father's death.[17]
Chawton House is the venue of the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom.[18] In 2003 the Jane Austen Society of North America held its 25th Anniversary AGM in the grounds of Chawton House.[19]
Chawton House & Gardens is open to the public up to seven days a week in the summer. Access to the Library itself is also available to members of the public who would like to use the library collections.
Events are held regularly at the library, covering a range of topics relating to the House and Gardens, and material held by the Library; these include:[20]
Lectures and Talks by Visiting Fellows and other experts
Exhibitions
Arts Events
Other Events, including Heritage Open Days, Garden Tours, and Early Morning Rambles.
The Library also offers educational visits to schools, colleges and universities allowing the chance for teachers and students to engage with a variety of themes within a working, historic building. Both a formal programme of sessions and a bespoke service, to study specific areas in more detail, can be provided.[21]
Wheeler, Michael. "Chawton House Library: Transforming the Literary Landscape." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.3 (January, 2001): 9.1-16 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/06-3/chawton.htm>.
