Luckily it's the 21st century and we were in our van not a chaise. I hadn't been to Chawton for years until yesterday and what a delight. The garden was looking fabulous and the house was freshly painted with new rooms open. The holy grail that is Jane's writing desk is now behind perspex, but is being faded by the sun streaming in from the front window. Her patchwork quilt is carefully behind glass and in a dark back bedroom, so hopefully it will last.
Chawton is a picture postcard village with thatched houses and a lovely manor. We avoided Cassandra' Cup themed tea rooms to picnic in the park across the road, not exactly Box Hill, but the English countryside on a summer's day while the nation was indoors watching the Olympics, perfect.
http://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/
