Walk the streets and lanes of Jane’s Austen’s Overton in this fascinating 2 hour guided tour hosted by Experience Hampshire.
In 1775, Jane Austen was born in Steventon, a small Hampshire village just south of Basingstoke. And it was to the nearby market village of Overton that Jane came to shop!
“The Overton Scotchman has been kind enough to rid me of some of my money, in exchange for six shifts and four pairs of stockings” Jane wrote to her sister in 1798.
On this tour, Experience Hampshire will take you along the streets and lanes that Jane Austen walked. You’ll see the cottages and grand houses, the shops, the coaching inns that were Jane’s Overton. All of her letters written during her time in Steventon were postmarked 'Overton'.
You will visit St Mary’s Church where Jane’s brother, James, served as curate, and the house in which he entertained Jane, as well as the river, and fields, and countryside backdrop to Jane’s visits to this quintessential Hampshire market town.
In the 250th anniversary year of Jane’s birth, the tour will take you back to Georgian England, and discover the Overton stories of Jane, her family and friends.
For each of these walks Experience Hampshire make a donation to Overton Parish Council to help maintain the signs erected along the Overton Jane Austen Trails, designed by a group of local volunteers who have meticulously researched the years that Jane Austen lived in this area. Their painstaking research forms the backbone for the commentary on this tour, intertwined with the expert historical knowledge of this period from our guide, Caroline, and her love for the story of one of world's most famous writers.
"5 of us joined the Jane Austin Guided walk in Overton on January 25th. The weather was glorious, which was a great advantage, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The walk was well-paced: started promptly and finished after exactly 2 hours, as promised. Our guide was excellent: clear presentation of information, very knowledgeable and always happy to answer any questions from the group. The tour was interesting and informative and her professional approach and depth of knowledge contributed hugely to this. Pre-tour information sent by Experience Hampshire was very helpful and ensured that we arrived at the meeting point for the start of the walk in good time. I would thoroughly recommend this interesting and enjoyable tour"
"Caroline was an outstanding guide!"
"An excellent walk and talk! Your guide was a star and we thoroughly enjoyed her stories. Every day is a school day and, even as a local resident, we learnt lots of new 'stuff'!"
"Caroline is an excellent guide and really bought the history of the story life. I can thoroughly recommend this tour"
If you have any queries about this experience, before or after you book it, please email
aGVsbG8gfCBleHBlcmllbmNlaGFtcHNoaXJlICEgdWs=. Experience Hampshire would be happy to chat to you about larger, private groups - please do send us an email.
Please note we are in Overton, HAMPSHIRE (not Wiltshire) :)
Also check out other Meetups in Basingstoke, Arts events in Basingstoke, Literary Art events in Basingstoke.
