A short distance along the Gosport road is Chawton Park, a remarkably fine Elizabethan mansion, occupied in Miss Austen’s time by Edward Knight, the lord of the manor.  This country seat, which is not accessible to visitors, was most probably the original of Mansfield Park, and in the little church close by are several monuments to the Knight family.  Miss Austen died at Winchester on July 24, 1817, and is buried in the cathedral.  The brass to her memory is in the north aisle.

Within easy walking distance is Gilbert White’s home at Selborne, which is treated under a separate heading (p. 70).

[Illustration:  JANE AUSTEN’S COTTAGE AT CHAWTON.

Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey were revised and partly rewritten here; and Emma, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion were entirely produced at the cottage.]

SELBORNE

THE HOME OF GILBERT WHITE

=How to get there.=—­Train from Waterloo.  L. and S.W.  Railway. =Nearest Station.=—­Alton (4 miles from Selborne). =Distance from London.=—­46-1/2 miles.  East Tisted, 2 miles from Selborne,
  shortly to be available.
=Average Time.=—­1-3/4 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 7s. 9d. 5s. 0d. 3s. 10-1/2d. 
          Return 13s. 6d. 8s. 8d. 7s. 9d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­At Alton—­“Swan Hotel,” “Crown
  Hotel,” etc.

Selborne, the birthplace of the famous naturalist, Gilbert White, is situated in the extreme eastern corner of the county of Hampshire.  A vast chalk hill rises some 300 feet above the south-western side of the village, part of which is covered with an extensive beech wood, called “The Hanger,” and a down or sheep-walk.  This down is a beautiful park-like spot, with a delightful woodland, now bounded by the Sussex Downs.  The village lies at the foot of the chalk hill parallel with the Hanger, and contains only one straggling street, nearly a mile in length, a small rivulet rising at each end.  The stream at the north-western end often fails, but the other, known as the “Well-Head,” is a fine spring, seldom influenced by drought.  Wolmer Forest, near by, is famed for its timber.  In the centre of the village, on a piece of ground commonly known as “The Plestor,” there stood, until the fearful storm of 1703, a colossal oak tree, with a short body and enormous horizontally spreading arms.  The stone steps, with seats above them, surrounding the tree, formed a favourite resort for both old and young during summer evenings.  This oak, together with an equally large elm tree, are mentioned by White.