Memorials in Winchester Cathedral

Jane Austen passed away in a small house in Winchester on 18th July 1817, with her head rested on her sister Cassandra's lap. They had temporarily relocated to Winchester to be close to seek better medical attention for Jane, which sadly did not succeed.

She is buried in the north aisle of the nearby Winchester Cathedral, which it is said she very much admired. This was organised by her beloved brother Henry through his clerical connections. She had a modest funeral, of which only four people attended, early in the morning before service began.

Her eldest brother James wrote her epitaph for her gravestone in the Cathedral, which praises her personal qualities and piousness but makes no mention of her as a writer.

A second memorial was added in 1870, with a small acknowledgement of her writings. The brass plaque, designed by James Wyatt, was paid for by the royalties from her nephew James Edward Austen Leigh's memoir. The plaque reads: Jane Austen. Known to many by her writings, endeared to her family by the varied charms of her character and ennobled by her Christian faith and piety was born at Steventon in the County of Hants, December 16 1775 and buried in the Cathedral July 18 1817. “She openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness"

By 1900, Jane was very popular and through public subscriptions a memorial window, designed by Charles Eager Kempe, was paid for and added above the memorial in the cathedral. At the top of the window is St Augustine whose name is often abbreviated to St Austin, thought to be a pun on Austen's surname.