Jane Austen's Regency Week returns to Hampshire this June
After a break without Jane Austen Regency Week due to the pandemic, plans are back on track for the festival to make a welcome return between June 18 and 26.
Regency Week is an annual festival of events celebrating all things Jane and the Regency period and takes place in the Hampshire area of the South Downs National Park. Events take place in and around the market town of Alton in Hampshire and the nearby village of Chawton, where Jane lived and wrote her novels. The festival boasts a unique and wonderful line-up of activities and events, including Alton Regency Day and the Alton Regency Ball, as well as special talks, workshops, discussions, tours, themed walks, Regency music and dining and more.
Events are subject to change and the full line up is still to be announced. Tickets for events always sell out fast so keep an eye on the website www.janeaustenregencyweek.co.uk
There are many big Austen fans in the Newbury area, not least because of the local link between Jane and Kintbury which goes back to the mid-1700s when her father George (who became vicar of Steventon, Hants) and the son of Kintbury vicar Thomas Fowle became friends while studying at Oxford. George later opened his home as a school for young men preparing for university. Thomas Fowle had four sons, who went to study at George's vicarage. The boys got to know the Austen family, including Jane and her sister Cassandra and a lifelong friendship developed with Jane and her family, who visited Kintbury on numerous occasions. Kintbury author Gill Hornby wrote The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers and the bestseller Miss Austen, a novel inspired by the real-life mystery of why, after Jane's death, Cassandra burnt the many letters written to her by her sister. "23 years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family’s friends, the Fowles. She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters that hold secrets she is desperate should not be revealed. As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane’s history, and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane’s reputation? Or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity". But back to the festival...
Chawton is home to Jane Austen's House - now an iconic museum and garden - where she spent the last eight years of her life and wrote and published her novels. The village is also where her brother lived and his former manor house, gardens and parkland, Chawton House, are open to the public. Both will be holding Regency Week events. The historic market town of Alton is the place where Jane shopped, banked, collected and delivered post, visited her friends and caught the stagecoach to London.
Regency Week will begin in fitting fashion on Saturday, June 18 with a Regency Day and Parade in Alton - a day full of period delights such as carriage rides, costumes, market stalls, dancing and other Regency entertainments plus a parade of those wearing Regency costume through the High Street. The celebrations continue with a Regency dancing workshop followed by a magnificent Regency Ball, where you can dress up and put your new dancing skills to the test. The week will then unfold with themed activities for everyone to enjoy, whether or not they're a keen Jane fan.
On June 19 at 9am you can enjoy Waking up the House at Jane Austen's House, where you can join in an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes as the house wakes up for the day. As the doors are unlocked, the shutters are opened and the cobwebs are dusted away, the secrets and stories of this extraordinary house through the ages will be shared with you. After the tour enjoy a light breakfast of tea and toast, just as Jane used to do. https://janeaustens.house/event/waking-up-the-house/
This is followed at 10.30am by a Chawton Guided walk with local historian Jane Hurst. Back at Jane Austen's House at 12noon, food historian Julienne Gehrer will be giving a fascinating and delicious dive into Martha Lloyd's Household book, a precious document of recipes used in the Austen household, held in the museum's collection. Recently published in facsimile for the first time, Martha's handwritten book of ‘receipts' reveals some of the food and drink that Jane Austen and her family would have had. Julienne will tease out family, culinary and literary connections, giving a fascinating perspective on the time and manner in which both Jane and Martha lived, thanks to this extraordinary artefact. https://janeaustens.house/event/martha-lloyds-household-book/ There will be a Regency picnic at Chawton House in the afternoon and at 3.30pm an Emma tour at Jane Austen's House, exploring the story behind Emma - often regarded as the perfect English novel. Walking in Jane's footsteps, you'll discover the rooms where Emma was written and learn about her inspirations for the novel. For this special tour, you'll get to look at the First Edition of Emma up close. Hear the story of the novel's publication, Jane Austen's dedication to the Prince Regent, and her correspondence with the Royal librarian. https://janeaustens.house/event/emma-tour/ And between 5.30 and 6.15pm The Allen Gallery in Alton will be hosting Regency Tea and Cake (free entry, refreshments available to purchase) which will be followed by choral evensong Regency-style at St Lawrence Church, Alton at 6.30pm. You're encouraged to attend in Regency costume.
June 20 starts with an ‘Abigail Rose' embroidered jewellery workshop at Chawton House. Meanwhile during the afternoon Wyards Farm, a lovely 17th century farmhouse with charming gardens, is hosting tours and cream teas. Wyards Farm was once the home of Jane Austen's much loved niece, Anna Lefroy who Jane often visited and mentions many times in her letters. At 7pm catch up on all the gossip at an evening talk at Chawton House, Jane Austen & Scandal. Clio O'Sullivan discusses the Austen family's involvement with the scandals of the day - an Aunt on trial, the Hastings Scandal, bankruptcy, a Gretna Green elopement and the Powlett Affair.
Listen to a talk on Jane Austen and London on June 21 at 11am at Jane Austen's House - a lively and fascinating exploration of Jane Austen's London, presented by acclaimed actor Angela Barlow. This illustrated talk investigates the importance of London to Jane Austen in her novels and in her life. Was it a ‘scene of Dissipation & Vice', a place of ‘domestic happiness' or a city of stimulus and freedom? Her own words give us some answers. https://janeaustens.house/event/jane-austen-and-london/
Jane Austen's House will also host a calligraphy workshop - Letters and Notes - at 2pm. This is a time-travelling workshop, revisiting the feel of writing a letter with a dip pen and ink in a cursive style as Jane Austen would have done. Working with expert calligraphy teacher Alejandra Gonaldi, you will learn to write your own beautiful letters to take home. https://janeaustens.house/event/calligraphy-workshop-letters-and-notes/ At 2.30 there's also an opportunity to hear Persuasion: A teatime discussion at the Friends Meeting House in Alton.
On June 22, at 11am at Jane Austen's House, hear more about Jane Austen and Needlework in In Quest of Two Needlefuls of Thread: Jane Austen, Needlework and Character. This lively, illustrated talk by author Maggie Lane and actor and writer Angela Barlow, explores the role of needlework in the plots of Jane's novels and the depiction of her characters. Jane was clever with her needle and several fine examples are on display in the museum at Chawton. https://janeaustens.house/event/in-quest-of-two-needlefuls-of-thread-jane-austen-needlework-and-character/
Also at 11am is an Alton Guided walk with Jane Austen (leaving from Curtis Museum, Alton, tickets £5, available to purchase from Curtis Museum in advance) and between 12.30 and 2pm there will be Regency pastimes laid on at the Allen Gallery, Alton. (free entry, activities free, donation welcome). Typical pastimes in the Regency period included needlework, paper cutting, decorating with shells, quilling, patchwork quilting, silhouette painting and watercolour painting, among others. Enjoy a Stitch Salon at Jane Austen's House at 2pm, a convivial sewing circle for an afternoon of relaxed knitting or needlework, plenty of tea and cake, and of course lively conversation. The Austen women would have worked at sewing and needlework for much of the time, making and mending clothes for themselves, family and the poor, chatting, sharing news, gossip and jokes as they stitched. Bring your own project to work on, make new friends and share tips and ideas in the beautiful and relaxed surroundings of Jane Austen's cottage garden. https://janeaustens.house/event/stitch-salon/
At 4pm, you can Meet the Family at Jane Austen's House - a chatty object show and tell to help you get to know Jane Austen's family intimately! Beginning with their portraits, you'll start to get a picture of Jane's large, clever and affectionate family, share favourite stories about family members and examine where they aided or inspired Jane in her writing. https://janeaustens.house/event/meet-the-family/
On June 23 there's another chance to catch Waking up the House at 9am, Jane Austen's House and at St Lawrence's Church, Alton there will be a 1pm lunchtime organ recital based on the popular music of the Regency era given by Will Nesbit who is the resident organist. Also from 1pm at Alton Library there'll be a special drop-in event showcasing the Library's Jane Austen Book Collection and at 4pm back at Jane Austen's House there'll be a talk on Jane's writings from her teenage years - ‘Run Mad as Often as You Choose': A Foray into Jane Austen's Teenage Writings. This will be a lively introduction to Jane's short, funny and madly inventive writings, stories and sketches in which she practiced the art of writing and sowed the seeds of her later, great works. These works from her younger days are relatively unknown, but full of interest, action and hilarity. https://janeaustens.house/event/run-mad-as-often-as-you-choose-a-foray-into-jane-austens-teenage-writings/ Enjoy an evening talk by Sue Dell beginning at 7.30pm at the Allen Gallery, Lighting in the times and novels of Jane Austen - which gives a fascinating insight into the different types of lighting available during the Regency period, what they reflect about social class and what changes took place during Jane's life. It will look at light and lighting in Jane's novels and examine concepts that modern readers may miss but that would have been obvious to readers of the time, using readings from some of her novels. (£6.50 per person)
June 24 sees a Regency sewing workshop at 10.30 at the home of our first ecologist, the naturalist and author Gilbert White and at 2 and 3pm visitors can enjoy tours of Gilbert White's House. At 5.30pm there's a unique opportunity to take part in Gin Austen: An Evening at Jane Austen's House. For one night only join in a journey taking you into the past. Learn about the food and drink that would have been cooked and consumed by the Austen women, view Martha Lloyd's Household Book up close, and enjoy cocktails in the garden - something Jane would certainly have approved of. Celebrate the picnics, luncheons, dinner parties and glamorous balls of Austen s world where gossip reigned, love flourished and drinks flowed. https://janeaustens.house/event/gin-austen-an-evening-at-jane-austens-house/
Enjoy a 9.30 am Pride and Prejudice tour at Jane Austen's House on June 25. In each room, discover objects, paintings and stories that reveal the themes, characters and events of Jane Austen's beloved novel Pride & Prejudice. https://janeaustens.house/event/pride-prejudice-tour-2/
There's another chance to take a Chawton guided walk at 11am and between 1 and 3pm there will be Regency Music in the Gallery Garden at the Allen Gallery, Alton. Enjoy a Regency Tea in the garden accompanied by acoustic music typical of the time (free entry, refreshments available to purchase). There's also a Creative Writing salon at Jane Austen's House at 2pm - join the quiet and creative writing room for an afternoon of writing, ideas and inspiration! (and cake).Whether you're a budding writer or a seasoned pro, all are welcome. Objects and writing prompts will be provided to help stimulate creativity, and there will be endless cups of tea available. Bring your own project to work on, or bring an empty notebook and spend the afternoon jotting down ideas. Or just sit and dream. https://janeaustens.house/event/creative-writing-salon/
In the evening, put your dancing shoes on and join in all the fun of a Country Dance at the Assembly Rooms, Alton. Most dances in the Regency era were English Country Dances and these appear as central to upper class entertainment in many Regency novels.
And to round off the week's festivities, on June 26, Chawton House is hosting a Jane Austen Garden Tour. She was a frequent visitor to her brother's house and all the garden had to offer. There will also be a Jane Austen quiz at 6pm followed by a Regency supper at 7.30pm. (Hopefully at the Alton House Hotel; still tbc)
Jane Austen Regency Week celebrates both the internationally-acclaimed writer and a very interesting period of history. The week is run on a non-commercial basis by a group of passionate volunteers and participating organisations, funded through ticket sales, sponsorship and advertising.
A full run-down of all the events planned for this year's Regency Week will be available from the website http://www.janeaustenregencyweek.co.uk
