Deane

deane church and rectory

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Mr and Mrs Austen moved to Deane in 1764. The rectory was their first marital home and they rented it from Mr Austen's cousin, Mr Hillman, who was rector of the parish at the time. He resided in nearby Ashe in a more comfortable property.  

When Mr Hillman died in  1773, the living was purchased for Mr Austen by his rich uncle Francis, meaning that Mr Austen became rector of All Saints Church in Deane, alongside the living he already held in the neighbouring parish of Steventon.

Both the church and the rectory have been rebuilt since the time of our novel, so the original buildings cannot be seen today.

Photos: Deane, Hampshire.

The three eldest of Mr & Mrs Austen's children were born at Deane:

First came James (Jemmy), born 13 February 1765.

Next came George, born 26th August 1766.

Third came Edward (Neddy), born 7th October 1767.

Mr Austen baptised all of his children privately at home on the day they were born, followed by a formal christening ceremony in church some days or weeks later.

The Austens left Deane for Steventon in the summer of 1768.

From 1786 to 1788, Mr Egerton Brydges and his wife came to live at Deane Rectory. His sister, Charlotte resided with them. Mr Brydges was the brother of Madam Lefroy who lived in Ashe (see below). James Austen tried unsuccessfully to woo Charlotte by writing her some love poetry.

After the Brydges family left, the vacant property was taken in the spring of 1789 by Mrs Martha Lloyd and her two daughters, Martha and Mary. They moved there after the death of Mrs Lloyd's husband, Reverend Nowes Lloyd in January 1789. This was the start of a close relationship between the Lloyd and Austen families that continued throughout their lives.

The next change was in the spring of 1792, when the Lloyds vacated the property in order for James Austen and his new wife, Anne, to live there. James had been presented with the curacy of All Saints Church upon his marriage by his father, and so the young couple moved into the rectory next door. James Austen ordered a large amount of new furnishings and redecorated the rectory throughout the spring of 1792.  

James and Anne's daughter, Anna, was born there on April 15th, 1793 and then Anne died suddenly in 1795. James remained in the rectory as a widower until he married his second wife, Mary (the same Mary Lloyd who had been forced to move out in 1792). Together, they had a son, James Edward, born in Deane on November 17th, 1798.

When Mr Austen retired and moved to Bath in the spring of 1801, James and his family vacated Deane Rectory and moved to Steventon to take over the rectory and church there.

In their place, a new curate, Henry Rice took over the curacy of Deane, who was betrothed to the daughter of Reverend and Madam Lefroy, Jemima-Lucy. Deane Rectory was their first marital home.

                                                                                            Photo: Deane House, Deane, Hampshire

The gardens at Deane Park are part of the Hampshire Garden Trust. You can find out the details here.

British History Online has lots of details about the history of Deane. If you would like to access this page, click here.

deane gate

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Photo: Palm Brasserie, Deane Gate, Hampshire.

The coaching inn that served travellers between London and Andover was Deane Gate Inn.  This was also the place where the Austen family would have posted and collected letters carried by mail coaches.

It would have been where they caught a coach if they were going on a journey and where they would have been dropped off on a homeward-bound trip.

Today, the building is a modern restaurant called palm brasserie and its website gallery reveals that it is still proud of its Austen links.  You can access the restaurant website here.

cheesedown farm

Cheesedown Farm is situated just south of Deane. Mr George Austen leased this land from his distant cousin, Thomas Knight II, in order to grow crops and keep pigs as an additional source of income.

John and Elizabeth Littleworth lived at the farm, and each of the Austen children was sent to stay with them from around the age of three months until they were old enough to walk and talk. The children then returned home to their parents.

Whilst the infants were in the Littleworth's care, Mr or Mrs Austen would visit them every day.  The Austen children and the Littleworth children remained friends as they grew up. 

You can walk the lanes from Deane to Cheesedown Farm for yourself as the route is part of the Wayfarer's Walk: Dummer to White Hill. The AA Rated Trips website has a page dedicated to this walk. If you would like to read more, click here.

ASHE

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Photos: Ashe, Hampshire

The neighbouring village of Ashe was home to Reverend and Madam Lefroy and their children, who moved into the rectory in 1783. They were close friends of the Austens and would call upon each other regularly.

Many of the characters from the novel would have wandered down the lanes of this pretty village.

DEANE extract

If you would like to read an extract from The Austens of Steventon, where the events happen in Deane, click here.