Event Details
- Location: Winchester Cathedral
- Address: 9 The Close, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9LS
- Start date: 28th February 2025
- End date: 31st October 2025
- Times: Various
- Entry fee: Various
A series of events to mark 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen as Winchester Cathedral joins local organisations to celebrate her legacy. This anniversary is an 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.
All year round – Visit Jane Austen’s grave
23rd May to 19th October 2025 – Poetry Exhibition. A special opportunity to view the original manuscript of Jane Austen’s poem, in her hand, written in memory of her close friend, Mrs Anne Lefroy plus other rare artefacts.
23rd May to 22nd September 2025 – Regency-themed flower arrangements around the cathedral
23rd May to 22nd September 2025 – Jane Austen – Her life and times tour
23rd May to 2nd September 2025 – Interactive family trail
6th June 2025 – To begin at the beginning: Professor Michael Wheeler highlights how Jane Austen’s genius, wit and economy shines through in the very first pages of her six published novels. (Michael Wheeler is a cultural historian of the nineteenth century and currently a Visiting Professor of English at the University of Southampton).
19th September 2025 – The Tell-Tale Compression of the Pages:…Wedding bells; soaring music and sunny skies; a kiss shared by the happy couple: Jane Austen’s novels, when adapted for the screen, invariably end with the marriage of the hero and heroine. On the page, Austen’s endings are more complex. In this talk, Dr Gillian Dow (University of Southampton) will range across Austen’s published and unpublished writing, looking in detail at the choices Austen made when concluding her fictions.
October 2025, date to be confirmed – Jane Austen Anniversary Service
October 2025, date to be confirmed – Unveiling of the Jane Austen Statue
All year round – Pick up your souvenir at the Winchester Cathedral Gift Shop
Check out the cathedral website for full details