The country mansion where Jane Austen attended balls and which she mentioned in her letters is to be demolished by its new owners, despite objections from neighbours and conservationists.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has approved plans to demolish Ashe Park House, Hampshire, and replace it with a ‘traditional country house’ in the Queen Anne style.
Owners Shuk Ting Sharon Leung and Gillian Sin Hang Ho bought the 232-acre estate in October 2022 for £17 million and applied to tear it down because it was ‘tired and unmanaged’.
But 20 locals objected to the proposal because of its historic connections. The author of Pride And Prejudice was born in the village of Steventon, a mile away, in 1775, visiting the seven-bedroom house on a number of occasions.
Neighbour Caroline Sykes, 67, said: ‘It is such a waste. It is not a listed house, which does not work in its favour, but it has got historical interest.’
And the charity Save Britain’s Heritage (SAVE) complained that ‘the building is an important heritage asset for Hampshire and its demolition would cause unjustified harm’.
However, council planners approved the demolition.
The agenda stated: ‘Much of the house we see today was reconstructed in the early to mid-20th century and again in the 21st century . . . The current Ashe Park is very likely not the house visited by Austen.’
SAVE said: ‘This is a beautiful house with a characterful history.
‘There are fascinating associations with Jane Austen and also a captain at the Charge of the Light Brigade who rebuilt the house when he returned to Hampshire after the Crimean War . . . These shocking demolition plans would destroy a charming building and erase that history.’