Southampton: Jane Austen's writing desk on display

Jane Austen’s writing desk is now on display at God’s House Tower, where it remains until February 23, as part of region-wide events to celebrate her 250th birthday.

The novelist of Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey fame was born in Hampshire and lived in Southampton between 1806 and 1809.

The exhibition started life as part of the City of Culture 2025 bid, but after the city lost out to Bradford, it was decided to keep celebrations of the author alive.

Southampton Forward went to the British Library to arrange an exhibition and offered ‘a space’ arts the chance to stage the display at God’s House Tower.

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God’s House Tower had to undergo intense security vetting to be allowed to loan the writing desk but are now allowed to borrow objects of national significance after passing an inspection.

The portable mahogany writing desk is now on display inside a custom-made reinforced case that took six months to acquire.

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“This is the way to reclaim the narrative.” said Claire Gevaux, art strategist and Programme Director at Southampton Forward.

“Southampton has one of the biggest female literature writers, and as a city, we haven’t really shouted about that story. This is the beginning of shouting about it.”

It is the first time the desk has been back in the city since Austen lived here 200 years ago.

God’s House Tower are hosting two exhibitions, one titled “In Training for a Heroine” which displays the desk and some of Austen’s letters to her sister.

Artist Jocelyn McGregor who curated the modern exhibition No Motion of Loving by Halves. (Image: Newsquest) The second is “No Motion of Loving by Halves,” curated by artist Jocelyn McGregor, which analyses intense relationships between female characters in Austen’s novel Northanger Abbey.

Jocelyn said: “I didn’t know loads about Jane Austen at the beginning, but when I was re-reading, I saw there were female relationships that were quite tense, quite intense.

“Jane Austen wasn’t particularly up front about her thoughts on feminism and those female relationships. But we take what she says quite literally, or even worse, we take her characters as her opinion.

“I was really inspired by the architecture of Netley Abbey and Gods House Tower and you can definitely see that in the exhibition.”