Chawton House, Hampshire: Virtual Garden Tour

The gardens

The gardens are open to the public, with access to a tearoom. The restoration programme for the gardens was extensive, and focused in particular on the restoration of the walled garden. 

Edward Knight had the idea to build a new walled garden during Jane Austen's lifetime. In 1813, she wrote to her brother Frank, "He [Knight] talks of making a new Garden; the present is a bad one & ill situated, near Mr Papillon's; — he means to have the new, at the top of the Lawn behind his own house."

Knight's original walls are mostly still intact, but the glasshouses and potting sheds, had to be rebuilt. The gardens have been restored using Edward Austen Knight's original planting scheme.

The central space is used for the production of vegetables, soft fruits, herbs and flowers. Chawton House is registered with the Soil Association, and is now certified as an organic producer.^{[citation needed]} Everything grown in the walled garden is for use by the Library, with any surplus being sold locally in aid of the charity.

The park and gardens of Chawton House are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.