Jane Austen breathed her last on July 18, 1817, in rented rooms at 8 College Street in the English cathedral city of Winchester. For years, that building—owned by Winchester College, the swanky and venerable private boarding school that several of Austen’s nephews attended—was off-limits to rank-and-file Janeites, since the college used it as staff housing.
When my Jane Austen Society of North America tour group came through Winchester in the summer of 2011, a sign in the window of 8 College Street made the position clear: "This is a private house and not open to the public.” (D. Dean Cantrell, an English professor from Georgia, described the interior of the house in a 1996 article published in the JASNA journal Persuasions, but she didn’t explain how she had wangled an invitation.)
Now, however, in honor of next year’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth, the public will get a look inside: From June through August, the college is offering twice-weekly visits to 8 College Street, for £12.50 per ticket (about $16). The price includes admission to the school’s museum, which contains unspecified “other items associated with Jane Austen.”
With relatively few slots available for Austen 250 pilgrims, the chance to see the rooms where Austen spent the last weeks of her life seems likely to be a very, very hot ticket. But as the local newspaper, the Hampshire Chronicle, notes, the anniversary-year opening of the house “poses the question of whether it might be permanently set aside as some kind of museum in honor of one of this country’s finest writers.”
I say yes! Although Austen spent only a short time in Winchester while seeking medical care for the illness that ultimately killed her, the city is already a major Janeite draw, since Austen is buried in the magnificent cathedral. (Plus, as you may have heard: there’s going to be a statue!) No Janeite will be able to resist a further stop at the place where Austen died in her sister’s arms, and from which her funeral procession departed. Anyone want to start the “Turn 8 College Street Into a Museum” petition drive?
On our JASNA 2009 tour, we actually were lucky enough to get to see the sacred space. As I recall, the wife of the Winchester College master whose family was residing at 8 College St. at the time realized that this was a splendid opportunity to raise funds for a charity she supported--and so, for 20 pounds per person, we were permitted in. (Heck, I'd have paid whatever she asked!) I'll never forget it. And when I took the long look down College St. that Cassandra would have taken on the day of Jane's funeral, I couldn't repress the tears.
Brilliant!!!