steventon rectory

Steventon Rectory was the home of James and Mary Austen and their children Anna, Edward and  Caroline during the time of our novel.

The rectory itself is no longer standing, but historical records show the exact spot where it used to stand - on the corner of Steventon Road and where the lane leads up to St Nicholas' Church.

You can still see the remains of a water pump in the field today to identify the location.

James and Mary moved here from their former rectory in the neighbouring village of Deane in May 1801. Steventon Rectory was the home that James had grown up in as a boy, alongside the rest of his siblings and had been the family home of Mr and Mrs Austen since the summer of 1768.

Caroline Mary Craven (known as Caroline) was born here on 18th June 1805, and baptised in St. Nicholas' Church on the 30th of August of the same year.

Prior to James and Mary moving in, an auction was held to sell off the furniture and contents that belonged to Mr and Mrs Austen. The advertisement listing what was for sale appeared in the Reading Mercury on the 20th of April 1801. You can read a copy of the  advertisement here on the The Republic of Pemberley website.

Another auction took place on Friday 18th September 1801 for farm equipment and livestock. Details of this auction are listed in the Jane Austen Society Collected Reports for 1986-1995 on page 295 of 426. You can read about it online on the Internet Archive here.

For more information on Steventon Rectory, you can read an excellent article here, written by Linda Robinson Walker for the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). It contains history, maps and drawings of the rectory sketched by family members who lived there.

All of the villagers were well known to the Austen family, and Jane and Cassandra paid visits to Betty Lovell often when they were home. In one of Jane's letters, she tells Cassandra that the old woman was missing her as she always seemed to be in Godmersham.

John Bond was Mr Austen's bailiff who helped run the farm for him when he lived at Steventon. The two men were close friends, and the Austen family were very fond of him.

James Austen was as fond of Mr Bond as his father had been, and wrote a tribute to him in the form of a poem, including a detailed reference to what had happened in the fire. You can read the poem here on pages 243-246 of the Jane Austen Society Collected Reports 1986 - 1995.

Steventon has remained true to its rural origins and personality, despite being a sought after destination for thousands of tourists every year. 

An informative blog post containing a more photos and an account of her visit to Steventon has been written by Anna Morton for ThitherJane Austen.com. You can read it here. 

the church of st. nicholas

Map

James Austen took on the duties of this church living on behalf of his father in 1801. It had been the Austen family church when James was growing up and where he had helped his father in services since boyhood.

James and Mary Austen are also buried here. There are tributes to them both inside the church.

Their graves are in the shadow of the church in the graveyard.

The church remains much as the Austen family would have known it, and is welcoming to visitors for quiet reflection. 

Lots of information about its work and history can be found on displays inside.

If you would like to learn more about Steventon, the Steventon Village Hampshire website is an excellent place to start. You can access it here.

EXTRACT

If you would like to read an extract from The Austens of Bath where events take place in Steventon, click here.