Jane Austen's Winchester

 I feel as though I've gotten to know Jane Austen over the past few months as I've read her novels, fan fiction, some critical essays on her work, and a few biographical bits.  Through Jane Austen I've gotten to know not only the extraordinary author herself, but her time.  One of the reasons that Austen's novels are still so popular is because they open up a doorway for us to experience life in a different time.

For me, it is life in a different time, but not a different place.  Austen was from Hampshire, England.  At the end of her life, Austen lived in Winchester.  She died in Winchester, and is buried in the cathedral there.  Before I was married I lived in Winchester for a year, and could hear the cathedral bells from my flat.  This week I was able to spend a day in Winchester with my children.  It was a spontaneous decision to spend the day there, and we enjoyed wandering around the city exploring together. 

At one point we happened to walk by Jane Austen's house (luckily I had my camera on me, so you can see pictures).  It struck me at that point how much of Winchester is the same as it was when Jane Austen lived there.  We had explored the Wolvesey Castle ruins, walked along the river and by the water meadows, and meandered around the cathedral.  These are all places that Austen would have been familiar with, and probably walked around the same way that we did.

Winchester is a beautiful town that is still very vibrant (there was a bustling market and fashion week events while we were there), but it's also a city deeply seeped in history.  Winchester still lives, but it is also still Jane Austen's Winchester.  If she could somehow visit now she would surely be shocked by many things, but I think she would still recognize and feel at home in Winchester.