Chawton and Ely
I went to Chawton on April 10th. It was really sweet. I got off the train at Alton and walked there along a major road and then a little country road with high hedges on both sides. Went to Austen’s house straight away.
They had a lock of Austen’s hair, her writing table, the quilt she and her mother pieced, Jane and Cassandra’s topaz crosses. A number of reproduction letters, including Cassandra Austen’s to Fanny Austen just after JA’s death. If anything disproves the scandal mongers, it’s that letter. It wasn’t quite as good at Dove Cottage at making you forget it was a museum but it was still lovely. And the garden was really pretty as well.
There really isn’t anything else to see in Chawton, so I got lunch and then headed back to London.
On April 13th I went to Ely, mostly to see the cathedral. I’d heard it was beautiful architecturally and Elizabeth Goudge had lived there as a child. It was a fairly quiet little town, especially earlier in the day before all the holidayers came. The cathedral itself is beautiful.
Apparently St. Etheldreda founded the Abbey there. The cathedral may properly be dedicated to her but I’m not quite sure.
There’s an amazing Lady’s Chapel (even if a rather awful modern statue of Mary) and the Octagon is really stunning.
Several other small chapels around the cathedral.
One of the things I really liked about the cathedral was the way their leaflet tried to emphasize that this isn’t a museum or even architectural masterpiece. Rather it is, as it has always been, a house of God. Sometimes their efforts were a little vague but it was nice to see them making the effort.
I looked around and got some lunch and then walked down to the River and along it to the railway station.
I had just missed a train so I decided to go back to the Cathedral and look for Elizabeth Goudge’s house. I don’t think I ever did find it, but I did get some nice shots of the cathedral and a nice walk up the top of the hill.
Ely apparently used to be an island. I think they were cut off by the river on one side and the fens on the other but at some point they drained the fens.
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