It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen’s enduring popularity is alive and well in Alton, as the town launched its Jane Austen Regency Week with a very special unveiling. Hundreds of fans, many in full Regency costume, gathered this Saturday to witness the reveal of an impressive new bronze sculpture of the beloved novelist. The statue now graces a specially designed Regency-style garden outside Alton’s Assembly Rooms. Alton holds a cherished place in Austen’s story. While she lived in nearby Chawton for the final, most prolific years of her life, she often strolled the country lanes into Alton to shop, visit friends, or catch the London coach. Her brother, Henry, even ran a bank here, further entwining her life with the bustling market town. The sculpture, created by renowned artist Mark Coreth, has been funded by East Hampshire District Council and Alton Town Council, and is already attracting Austen enthusiasts from far and wide. The unveiling ceremony was led by Austen’s fifth great-niece, Caroline Jane Knight.
00:30It is absolutely splendid to be here, Regency Week in Alton. We're about to have the unveiling of the new statue which is going to be really splendid. A fantastic cultural addition to the town market, the Jane Austen heritage of course, especially in this very important 250th anniversary year.
01:00Today has been amazing. We've welcomed so many people to Alton to really showcase what we are good at and that is celebrating all that is good of Alton.
01:13We've got so many people here from all types of the country, all around the world, everywhere. It's just amazing to see and she will bring a lot more interest, not just at Regency Week, through our walking festivals. It really does put Alton back on the map where it should be.
01:32My name is Caroline Jane Knight and I'm the fifth great niece of Jane Austen and the last of Jane's nieces to have grown up at Chawton House when it was still our family's unseous for our own.
01:40And I am absolutely delighted to be here today for the unveiling of the new sculpture of Jane Austen, which I think is absolutely wonderful. I'm particularly thrilled that her books are depicted.
01:51Now it's set here in the Regency Gardens of Alton and Alton was a town, the local market town to Chawton, where Jane and the other Austen ladies would have walked many, many times, very frequent visitors for shopping, to buy materials and to visit brother Henry at his bank, which we can see.
02:11The new sculpture has a direct view to Henry's bank over there, which is just such a fitting place for Jane to be in a garden that represents flowers she would have known in, as I said, opposite Henry's bank.
02:41The new sculpture has a direct view to Henry's bank.
