About

Celebrating Bath's most famous resident.

The Jane Austen Centre offers a snapshot of what it would be like to live in the Regency times - the fashion, food, society - everything that would have inspired Austen’s timeless novels. The Centre also explores how the city of Bath impacted upon Jane Austen’s life and writing in much-loved books such as Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. 

The Centre is set in a classically decorated Georgian townhouse, where your very own Austen experience will begin with a friendly welcome talk from a knowledgeable and helpful member of staff. After the introduction you’ll be free to wander around the intriguing exhibition at your own pace. 

Get into the Jane Austen spirit and feel as if you’re really in Pride and Prejudice by dressing up in the exhibition’s Regency costumes, including bonnets, top hats, shawls, fans and dresses. There are lots of opportunities for fun photos with the Jane Austen Centre providing a great backdrop.

The Centre has a waxwork which, for the first time in history, creates a lifelike portrayal of what Jane Austen would have looked like. It took three years for an experienced team, including sculptor Mark Richards and forensic artist Melissa Dring, to construct the waxwork which is based on eyewitness descriptions and a sketch by Austen’s sister Cassandra. For the first time in centuries, visitors can get up close to Jane Austen herself!

Once you've finished exploring, head upstairs to The Regency Tea Room for a delicious afternoon tea.

The Jane Austen Centre is a truly wonderful experience for all.

Accessibility Information

The Jane Austen Centre is based in a Grade II listed Georgian townhouse and therefore regrettably does not have a lift. The main entrance has a small step up to the front door with a ramp available which the venue's friendly greeter will be happy to assist you with. 

The Gift Shop is on the venue's ground floor, and the exhibition space is flat with only a few stairs leading to the entrance, which can be accessed in reverse via a ramp. The talk room (where visits begin with a 20-minute talk about Jane Austen's life delivered by one of the venue's performers) is unfortunately inaccessible for wheelchair users, due to being on the first floor, up two flights of stairs. The Tearoom is up a further two flights of stairs on the second floor, and therefore also inaccessible for wheelchair users.

The venue's toilets are in the basement, one flight of ten stairs below the exhibition level, and therefore inaccessible.