PLANS for a statue of Jane Austen to mark 250 years since her birth have received backing from the headmaster of Winchester College. 

The statue is being proposed by Winchester Cathedral with the hopes of it being sited in the Inner Close during the milestone year, 2025, the 250th anniversary of her birth. 

Winchester Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Winchester, which covers all of Jane Austen’s Hampshire. Austen was born in Hampshire and spent most of her life in it, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral, where a plaque marks her resting place. 

To emphasise her place in the city, the cathedral is working in partnership with Winchester College. 

The College has produced a booklet which begins to explore the connection between Austen and the city, with her connections with Winchester strengthened by six of her nephews being Wykehamists, pupils of the college.

Headmaster of Winchester College Elizabeth Stone said: “The installation of this memorial is an opportunity to celebrate one of the giants of English literature, who gave us one of the earliest and fullest expressions of a woman’s observations of the world.

"Jane Austen had many connections with the College and Cathedral. Her recognition will bring the rich history of our city even more fully to life, to the benefit of residents and visitors alike.”

In the absence of a definitive portrait of Jane Austen, her admirers today form very different impressions of what she was like.

Hampshire Chronicle: The booklet produced by Winchester College and a maquette of the Jane Austen statue

The statue has been designed by Martin Jennings, who is best known for his statue of Sir John Betjeman at St Pancras Station and twice winning the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture. 

A previous plan for a Jane Austen statue, also by Martin Jennings, was scrapped in 2019 after the design received criticism. 

A new design has been created, and Ms Stone said it is encouraging that Austen experts have found much to commend in the design. 

Prof Paula Byrne, author of The Real Jane Austen, said: "The Jane Austen maquette is truly wonderful. It captures Austen’s sparkling intelligence, her slender, upright figure, her lightness of touch, as we see in her novels, and her playfulness. The WOMAN is at the forefront of the sculpture, resplendent in her vigour and energy." 

The statue will cost £100,000, and a total of £82,000 has been raised so far, with £10,000 coming from both Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council and the rest from private donations. 

To see the plans and comment, go to winchester-cathedral.org.uk/hampshire-celebrates-250-years-of-jane-austen/