Chawton House has announced the first part of its year-long programme to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in 2025.

Under the theme Literature, Landscape and Legacy, visitors can look forward to an Austen-inspired twist on Chawton House’s traditional programming, including spring flowers, outdoor theatre, Gothic month and Christmas festivities.

The anniversary year begins in January with a special focus on Pride and Prejudice to mark the publication month of Jane Austen’s most famous novel.

Highlights include a library display, Pride and Prejudice Through the Ages, from January 17 to February 1.

Visitors will have the rare opportunity to see a first edition of Austen’s beloved novel, on loan to Chawton House and displayed for the first time, alongside exquisite editions from the 212 years since its publication.

On January 17 there will be an intimate screening of the 1940 film Pride and Prejudice, a classic adaptation starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, in the atmospheric library.

A new guided tour, Jane at the Great House, will be launched on January 19 to highlight Austen’s connection to Chawton House.

January 24 sees Chawton House host Pride, Prejudice and Politeness: Private View - a special after-hours guided viewing in the library based on Pride and Prejudice, featuring editions of the novel through the ages plus works appearing in the novel and works by women who influenced Austen.

There will be Pride and Prejudice in the Drawing Room on January 31. This early evening dramatic reading of key passages from Pride and Prejudice will take place in the cosy setting of the Oak Room.

The spring programme will include a bonnet-inspired children’s trail in the gardens for Easter and a series of craft workshops.

Opening on May 1, the Sisters of the Pen: Austen, Influence, Legacy exhibition will run until January 4, 2026, with an accompanying programme of tours and talks, on site and online.

This exhibition will celebrate the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth by bringing to life the rich tapestry of works by women – then and now – which shaped and were shaped by Jane Austen’s literary world.

The exhibition will comprise three displays: In the Library, In the Drawing Room and In the Garden.

In the Library will include beautiful first editions of Austen’s novels, and a homage to the circulating libraries of the time, sharing the works of women in Chawton House’s collection which ought to be read by Jane Austen fans but are not broadly known.

In the Drawing Room will be a celebration of Regency-era amateur theatricals, drawing together works by female dramatists and accounts of family theatricals.

On display will be Chawton House’s star item - a light-hearted adaptation of Samuel Richardson’s lengthy 1753 novel Sir Charles Grandison, written in Jane Austen’s hand in collaboration with her niece Anna.

In the Garden will be a look at the landscape and its influence on Austen’s work, particularly Mansfield Park, complemented by a history of how the gardens at Chawton House developed under the hands of its 19th-century women.