2025 marks 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen
On 16 December 1775, Jane Austen was born in Steventon Hampshire. The year 2025 marks 250 years since this remarkable author came into the world, and to celebrate this momentous year in Jane Austen history there will be some extra special events taking place throughout 2025.
You will find a list of events happening on the Events page for 2025, and major exhibitions and group gatherings below. To find out what’s happening first, sign up for the Newsletter mailed out the first weekend of every month, and then a sometimes email with special events and happenings with a time limit or special discount.
Jane Austen 250 in 2025
Jane Austen and Bath
Expanding their annual 10 day festival, Jane Austen Bath are hosting a year filled with events to celebrate her links with the city.
Chawton House
Along the lane from Chawton Cottage in Hampshire, Jane called it the ‘Great House’. Inherited by her brother Edward, he and her many nephews and nieces often visited their aunts.
Jane Austen House Museum
Chawton, Hampshire
Visit the cottage where Jane Austen wrote her novels and spent the last happy years of her life.
Hampshire Cultural Trust
See Jane’s pelisse at Winchester City Museum, a talk with Lucy Worsley, dance at a Regency Ball and much more. HCT cares for Jane’s treasures.
Abbey School Reading
The Abbey Gateway is where Jane and Cassandra attended school in 1785-1786. It is often cited as the inspiration for Jane’s Mrs Goddard’s School in Emma.
Jane Austen 250 Southampton
Jane lived in Southampton between Bath and Chawton, and the Jane Austen 250 celebrations kick-start with an exhibition of the writer’s travel desk.
Jane Austen at Steventon
In 2025 it will be 250 years since JANE AUSTEN was born in Steventon, the Hampshire village where she lived for at the first 25 years of her life.
Winchester Cathedral
The Jane Austen 250 celebrations in Winchester kick-start with an exhibition of the writer’s travelling desk.
Winchester College
Winchester
Jane Austen spent the final weeks of her life at 8 College Street, and died there on the 18 July 1817. Join us for a celebration of the 250th anniversary of her birth.
Unique Events
Find a full listing of events and details of how to book on the Jane Austen 2025 page.
Jane Austen’s Travel Writing Desk
Jane lived in Southampton for a short time between Bath and Chawton. The Jane Austen 250 Southampton celebrations kick-start with an exhibition of the writer’s travel writing desk on November 14 running to 23 February 2025 at God’s House Tower. The writing desk is kept at the British Library and rarely on display.
Jane Austen House Museum
Their permanent exhibition starts in October 2024 and is titled, ‘Jane Austen and the Art of Writing’. Featuring first editions of her novels, films and surviving manuscripts including The Watsons which is rarely seen.
Starting in January, there is a series of week-long festivals throughout the year based themed on each of Jane’s novels, ending on Jane’s Birthday, 16 December 2025. See the Jane Austen 250 Museum page for details.
“ 250 years of Jane Austen is really something to celebrate and there will be no better place to celebrate this milestone than here at Jane Austen’s House. As well as brand new exhibitions and events, there will be lots of ways to get involved and be a part of this extraordinary year commemorating this exceptional woman and her ongoing living legacy and influence. Sign up to our newsletter, follow us on social media and make sure you don’t miss anything that’s going on in this special place in this special year!” Lizzie Dunford, Jane Austen’s House Director
Winchester College
Winchester is Jane Austen spent the last months of her life, is running a series of events through the year. The most special is at 8 College Street where Jane Austen died, which is owned by Winchester College and not open to the public as a don or two lives there!
The list of the Winchester College events including visits to 8 College Street can be found on their booking page.
What better way to experience Jane’s Winchester than joining a special tour on the anniversary of Jane’s death – 18 July 1775. Enjoy Winchester College, a talk inside 8 College Street and a visit to Jane’s grave in Winchester Cathedral. See Jane Austen 250 – 18 July Winchester Tickets
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral announced that the Year 2025 marks 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen. This milestone anniversary presents a significant opportunity to bring her legacy to even greater prominence – in Hampshire, where she was born and spent most of her life, and in Winchester, where she died.
A dance will be held in Winchester Cathedral at the end of May and a statue to celebrate Jane Austen’s life will be unveiled in October. There is also the poem that Jane wrote about her friend Anne Lefroy going into a special display on 23 May.
“Winchester Cathedral has the enormous privilege of being the final resting place of Jane Austen, and her life and her legacy live on. We are working with regional and local partners to ensure that Jane’s 250th anniversary celebrations are truly memorable, leaving a legacy for generations to come. I look forward to seeing this most loved of English novelists, daughter of a clergy household, standing in the surrounds of the Close and providing another focal point within Hampshire for visitors.” The Very Revd Catherine Ogle, Dean Of Winchester
Hampshire Cultural Trust
Hosting alongside Historic Winchester, Hampshire Cultural Trust has its own series of events you can find at Visit Winchester. Including a talk by Lucy Worsley, a Regency Ball at the Great Hall below the Knights of the Round Table, a variety of walks and talks and a special showing of Jane’s pelisse coat at Winchester City Museum.
Chawton House, Chawton
Chawton village is also home to Chawton House, owned by Jane’s brother Edward and what she referred to as ‘the Great House’. Visitors can enjoy the gardens and visit St Nicholas church where Jane prayed and where her sister and mother are buried. You can also find Jane’s music books and novels, and family heirlooms such as the dining table where Jane sat and enjoyed family meals. Their historic collection of early women’s writing is permanently on display.
Jane Austen Society UK
The JAS UK groups are hosting their own series of events this year, including a trip to the Portrait Gallery to see Jane Austen’s portrait painted by her sister Cassandra. You can find more on their website.
Quick Links
Here you will find links to various websites that are promoting Jane Austen in 2025, and how to celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth.
Visit Bath highlights ways to celebrate 250 years of one of the world’s most renowned authors – follow in Jane’s footsteps and imagine the Regency-era Bath she vividly brought to life on the pages of her novels.
Visit Winchester is the website belonging to Winchester Tourist Information, found at the bottom of the High Street in Winchester. They run their own series of Jane Austen events and have a great gift shop with an extensive Jane Austen collection.
I can also recommend the Jane Austen gifts found in the Winchester Cathedral Shop (and the cafe) across the path from the Cathedral. They have a separate Jane Austen section. In the cafe, you can sit outside in a peaceful setting, sheltered by the Cathedral walls.
Visit Hampshire run a website which they will be updating through the year, and they also list hotels and restaurants to help you book your travel.
Find a full events listings and details of how to book on the Events 2025 page and keep popping back, as we will update this page as soon as we know what’s happening where!
Why not jot everything down in a Jane Austen Journal or Notebook?
