A red brick building with white windows.

Oakley Hall Hotel

Where Jane Austen’s story began

Discover Basingstoke and Deane, the place Jane Austen’s story began and where she remained surrounded by countryside and picturesque scenery inspiriting her novels until she was 25 years old. Walk in Jane's footsteps and visit the places that Jane experienced and shaped her imagination.

Steventon

Visit Jane's birthplace and childhood village. Steventon is a small quiet village, surrounded by farms and woodland, this corner of Hampshire was Jane Austen's home for the first 25 years of her life providing inspiration for her novels Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey which were penned in Steventon.

Find out more about Steventon →

A church is set against a blue sky with large green trees either side.

St Nicholas Church

Walk in Jane's footsteps with the Overton Trails

Follow in the footsteps of Jane Austen, see the places and countryside she knew so well. Explore picturesque Overton, Steventon and surrounding countryside on a Overton Jane Austen walking and cycle trail.

Find out more about the Overton trails →

Two women dressed in regency clothing are on the Overton trail. You can see the river and an old building in the background.

Overton Jane Austen Trails

The Vyne, National Trust

Explore The Vyne, a former Tudor powerhouse turned 17th-century family home, set in gardens, woodlands and wetlands. Discover Jane Austen's links to The Vyne and take part in an Austen-inspired event.

Find out more about The Vyne →

View of the north front across the lake in early morning light at the Vyne, Hampshire. The Vyne is a warm red-bricked Tudor mansion built in the 16th century for Lord Sandys, Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain, which later passed into the hands of the Chute family, who cared for the house and estate for over 300 years. It was remodelled to its present configuration in the mid-17th century.

The Vyne ©National Trust Images/John Miller

Basingstoke Town Centre

Delve into local history in the heart of Basingstoke and Deane and take part in the Basingstoke Heritage Society's Jane Austen trail in Basingstoke town centre. Perhaps take a selfie with Jane's Statue outside The Willis Museum.

Find out more about Jane's links to Basingstoke town centre →

Jane Austen bronze statue outside the Willis

The Jane Austen statue outside The Willis Museum

Oakley Hall

Oakley Hall dates back to 1795. Stay over at the hotel or enjoy a meal in the Glasshouse Restaurant and discover it's links to the celebrated novelist Jane Austen who lived in the nearby village of Steventon. .

Find out more about Oakley Hall Hotel →

Oakley Hall Hotel

Hidden Britain Tours

Discover the cradle of Jane Austen’s genius exploring the picturesque villages that Jane Austen knew so well as her birthplace and her father’s church at Steventon. Hidden Britain Tours will guide you through the country houses where she fell in and out of love, trace the people she mentions in her letters and explore where she danced at social events.

Find out more about Hidden Britain Tours →

A bronze statue of Jane Austen. In this image you can just see her shoulders and head.

Jane Austen Statue

Beyond Basingstoke and Deane

Jane left Basingstoke at 25 and visited new places such as Winchester, Bath and Reading. In Chawton, Jane's house still stands, as the Jane Austen Museum, where visitors can see inside the home that she spent the last eight years of her life. Basingstoke and Deane is an excellent location for a Jane Austen literary journey, located 15 minutes from Winchester by direct train, 30 minutes by car, 25 minutes by car from Jane Austens house in Alton and 1 hour 40 minutes from the centre of Bath.

Where to stay

From luxury accommodation to sleeping under the stars, Basingstoke and Deane offers a wide range of accommodation to choose from including B&Bs, cottages and rural retreats to enjoy during your stay.

Getting here and accessibility

Set in Hampshire countryside, Basingstoke benefits from a central location, just 50 minutes from London and 60 minutes from the south coast by car. Well positioned along the M3 with transport links to the M4 and M25 to access Bath, Reading, Newbury, Alton and Winchester.

Follow the A34 off the M4 heading south and you'll pass Burghclere and down towards Whitchurch. You can join this road from the A303 and head north to enjoy these areas.

If you are travelling by train you'll find stations in Basingstoke town centre, Overton and Whitchurch.

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Where Jane Austen’s story began

Steventon

Walk in Jane's footsteps with the Overton Trails

The Vyne, National Trust

Basingstoke Town Centre

Oakley Hall

Hidden Britain Tours

Beyond Basingstoke and Deane

Where to stay

Getting here and accessibility

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