Jane Austen & The Navy

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And by the bye – shall you object to my mentioning the Elephant in it, & two or three other of your old Ships? – I have done it, but it shall not stay, to make you angry. – They are only just mentioned. Jane Austen to Frank Austen, in reference to Mansfield Park.

A walk around the picturesque riverside village of Bursledon that celebrates the Austen family’s naval links, including the ship building yard that produced HMS Elephant, whose notable captains include Admiral Lord Nelson and Frank Austen, and Brooklands the home of Admiral Thomas Williams, husband of Jane Austen’s cousin, Jane Cooper and a visit to St Leonards church, where the builder of HMS Elephant, George Parsons has a memorial. Our guide will be dressed in beautifully recreated Georgian costume to lead this stroll around the lovely village of Bursledon, which was largely rebuilt in the eighteenth century following a disastrous fire.