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Market town in Hampshire, England
Photo: Pierre Terre, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Alton is a town in Hampshire, surrounded by attractive countryside and villages that were once home to novelist Jane Austen, naturalist Gilbert White, and Antarctic explorer Lawrence Oates.
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The 17th-century house in which novelist Jane Austen spent the last eight years of her life, writing and revising six of her novels. Highlights of the museum include Austen's writing table, family heirlooms, and painstakingly recreated wallpaper. The museum opened in 1949.
Home of 18th-century naturalist Gilbert White, and a museum dedicated to Captain Lawrence 'Titus' Oates, the Antarctic explorer of the polar expedition with Captain Scott.
The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing
A listed Elizabethan manor house (and garden) built around 1590, containing a library. The ‘Great House’ referred to in Jane Austen’s letters, it belonged to Jane Austen's brother.
Mid Hants Railway
Steam locomotives and vintage diesel trains links Alton's National Rail station to Alresford. A fantastic way to travel through the Hampshire countryside
Pub with meals, bookings recommended.
Country house hotel with free parking, 43 bedrooms, a restaurant and bar area as well as the Jane Austen Suite, a popular function venue with a private entrance and access to the garden.
By train
* Alton railway station for South Western Railway services from London (Waterloo, Clapham Junction), Woking, Aldershot and Farnham (Harbour).
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Southampton · Regional · SOU
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