Austen Places

Exploring places connected to Jane Austen’s life and her novels can add more depth to our understanding of her life and fiction.

• The rectory in Steventon where Jane Austen was born and spent the first 25 years of her life no longer exists; it was demolished in the early 1820s. However, the Virtual Steventon 3D digital model makes it possible to see what it might have looked like, based on current historical and archaeological research.  
• Church and parish life were part of Austen’s everyday world. Her father, her brothers James and Henry, and four cousins were clergymen. The Austen Family Churches section focuses on the churches most closely associated with the Austen family.
• In the Maps of the Novels section, you can find maps and articles from Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line that discuss the settings of her stories. In each novel, her “3 or 4 Families in a Country Village” are situated in a specific part of England. While the villages and estates are fictional, Austen often names real counties, towns, and landmarks, giving her stories a clear sense of place.