CHAWTON HOUSE LIBRARY APPEAL 2024

Chawton House, the Elizabethan manor house that once belonged to Jane Austen's brother, and that she knew well, is being restored as part of a major international project to establish The Centre for the Study of Early English Women's Writing, 1600-1830, and to house a magnificent collection of over 6,200 rare books from the period, together with some related manuscripts, now located in the USA.

The collection was built up by Sandy Lerner, an American businesswoman and the driving force behind the project. It was her vision to rescue Chawton House from dereliction, and to foster the rediscovery of forgotten women writers of earlier centuries in the unique context of Chawton.

Outside the house, the transformation of the landscape is already well under way, as research on the estate links archaeology with the history of gardening and farming methods. By removing the scrubby hawthorns that had grown up around the ha-ha, we have opened up the view that Jane Austen knew, in the true English landscape garden tradition. We plan to involve local schools and colleges in the replanting of the walled garden, using Edward Austen's original scheme, and in the physical work of repairing the walls and the beds.

In association with the University of Southampton, the Centre will develop publications programmes, seminars, day conferences and cultural events, which draw the disciplines together, ranging from literary history to garden history. The Novels On-Line programme, and the interpretation of the whole project on the web, will make the activities of the Centre accessible to people throughout the world.

The aim is to complete the repair and restoration of the main house by the end of 2024, move the collection from Redmond, Washington, early in 2024 and open the Centre later that year.

To date, nearly all funding for the project has come from the American Bosack & Kruger Foundation, which will continue to provide core operating funds for Chawton House Library. The scope of the renovation and growing potential for the work of the new Centre will, however, require a broader base of support.

All donations, large and small, are welcome. Our target is Ł3 million ($4.5 million).

For further information concerning donor acknowledgment, Gift Aid (UK) and tax-deductible gifts (US), and for details of our Friends Association, contact:

Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 1SJ

Tel +44 (0) 1420 541010
Fax +44 (0) 1420 542680
Email info@chawton.net

Funding