Day Eighteen: Jane Austen Land
Today as we made our way from the Aylens, in Derry Hill, to London, we stopped at a few more Jane Austen inspired stops; first the Jane Austen Museum and then Groombridge.
Jane Austen Museum
"Jane Austen is one of the most popular and important novelists that England has ever produced. The house at Chawton is where she spent the last eight years of her life. It is of international importance as the place where she did the majority of her mature writing, but at the same time retains the charm of a village home. A 17th century house, it tells the story of Jane Austen and her family. Revised at this house: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility & Northanger Abbey. Written entirely at this house: Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion" (http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/about/about.htm)
The museum is fun to walk around, they have set up rooms to be as they were when Jane Austen lived there. I even got to play the piano that Jane Austen played, although I got a weird look from the lady in charge when I started playing. There was an area set up where you could make a lavender sache, something that Jane would have done (I guess). Its a small house, but if you are a Jane Austen fan I would recommend checking it out.
Groombridge Place
"Groombridge Place is a moated manor house in the village of Groombridge near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. It has become a tourist attraction, noted for its formal gardens, vineyards and a bird of prey sanctuary, The Raptor Centre" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groombridge_Place). We visited here because, you guessed it, it is connected to Jane Austen, well sort of. Groombridge was used in the filming of Pride and Prejudice (2005), as the residence of the Bennet family. Below is a behind the scene look at Groombridge in the film.
Jane Austen Museum"Jane Austen is one of the most popular and important novelists that England has ever produced. The house at Chawton is where she spent the last eight years of her life. It is of international importance as the place where she did the majority of her mature writing, but at the same time retains the charm of a village home. A 17th century house, it tells the story of Jane Austen and her family. Revised at this house: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility & Northanger Abbey. Written entirely at this house: Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion" (http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/about/about.htm)
The museum is fun to walk around, they have set up rooms to be as they were when Jane Austen lived there. I even got to play the piano that Jane Austen played, although I got a weird look from the lady in charge when I started playing. There was an area set up where you could make a lavender sache, something that Jane would have done (I guess). Its a small house, but if you are a Jane Austen fan I would recommend checking it out.
That day for lunch we had a sack lunch packed by Mrs. Aylen, they were so sweet to us, would definitely like to go visit them again.
"Groombridge Place is a moated manor house in the village of Groombridge near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. It has become a tourist attraction, noted for its formal gardens, vineyards and a bird of prey sanctuary, The Raptor Centre" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groombridge_Place). We visited here because, you guessed it, it is connected to Jane Austen, well sort of. Groombridge was used in the filming of Pride and Prejudice (2005), as the residence of the Bennet family. Below is a behind the scene look at Groombridge in the film.
We toured the gardens at Groombridge, you can't actually go inside the house, unfortunately. It is quite expensive, and may not be worth it, especially if you are more interested in the house, but they do have other activities on the grounds.
After we were done walking around we headed to London Gatwick airport to return our car rental. We were staying in London with a friend of Jennifer's she met on the Medical Ship through YWAM. We were staying there for two nights and instead of hauling our big suitcase around the streets of London we decided to pay to store it at the airport, which we were returning to on Wednesday for our flight to Venice. It was one of the best decisions we made. So much easier to manage without the big suitcase and my wheel chair (at this point my knee was doing ok and I felt safe leaving it, we were using the Hop on Hop off bus in London, so I wouldn't have to do as much walking).
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