Chawton House Parkland Walks
(c) Claire Lewis Photography
‘It was a sweet view—sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive.’
Jane Austen, Emma, 1815
Download our new Parkland Walks map. (To begin, follow the signs through the car park at the bottom of our driveway and begin your walk just next to our barn).
Walking with children? Keep them entertained with our new Parkland I-spy worksheet. Or try our silly Parkland Poo Trail! (Follow the purple route from the above map.)
On the matter of poo, kindly clear up your dog mess on the Parkland as it’s toxic to sheep!
Selborne Landscape Partnership membership
Chawton House are proud members of the ‘Selborne Landscape Partnership’ (SLP), a farmer and land manager led agricultural cluster in North Hampshire working together on a landscape scale to manage the countryside to benefit nature and wildlife.
As well as the farmer members, other organisations managing wildlife sites within the Partnership include:
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust – Noar Hill Nature Reserve
- The National Trust – Selborne Common and The Lythes
- Gilbert White’s House & Museum
- Woodland Trust – Binswood
- Blackmoor Golf Club
- Ahmadiyya Muslim Association
To find out more visit: https://selbornelandscapepartnership.org.uk/
Hampshire Hawk Walks
If you are interested in birds of prey then why not book a Hawk Walk with Hampshire Hawk Walks. Available all year round, a Hawk Walk is a leisurely walk within our grounds with a harris hawk flying to your gloved hand, in the company of our resident falconer Anita, it’s a great way to explore the parkland and see these fascinating birds in action.
Pre booking required please visit to www.hampshirehawkwalks.co.uk for more details, prices and booking information.

© Claire Lewis
Chawton House sits within 275 acres of parkland, almost as rich in history as the House itself.
The parkland consists of fields with ancient and evocative names like Carter’s Lea, Hopkilns, and Knickerknocker, some recorded in documents from when the House was built. These were farmed by tenant farmers, paying rent to the owners of the manor of Chawton.

The Great House and Park at Chawton, c.1780. Adam Callander (1750-1817)
The lower lying fields were never ploughed and served as pasture for sheep and cattle, as depicted in the Callandar painting. Jane Austen, writing to her brother Frank in 1813, commented “..it must have been a good hay-making season. Edward has got in all his in excellent order”. In her time, crops were grown on higher ground in rotation. Records from 1811 show that the fields on southern park land were planted with green wheat.
Edward Austen turned these agricultural fields into parkland after Jane’s death, with clumps of trees artfully planted to improve the English landscape views created by his predecessors in the 18th century. His grandson, Montagu Knight, created a lime tree avenue stretching towards Farringdon, as well as carriage drives around the park.

(c) Claire Lewis Photography
Immense damage was caused by the storms of 1987 and 1990, and many trees were lost, but for over a decade from 1994, the parklands were steadily restored, as much as possible to their look from the 1820s, with open vistas and carefully chosen and sited plantations.
Around the boundaries of the park are now-private buildings, once part of the living estate, such as the gardener’s cottage, the oast house, the stables, and the manor farm buildings. The barn in Church Meadow, dating to around 1700, is not from Chawton, but was moved here in 2012 from Alton.
The Tea Shed
Wednesdays – Sundays 11:00am-6:00pm

(c) Claire Lewis Photography
Why not visit our refreshments hut, the Tea Shed whilst out for a stroll? The Tea Shed is located outside the Chawton House grounds (opposite St Nicholas Church) so is open to ticketholders and non-ticketholders alike. Enjoy a freshly roasted coffee, hot chocolate and a sweet treat to warm you on your winter walk.

(c) Claire Lewis Photography