JANE Austen died in rented rooms in College Street in Winchester in 1817, at the age of 41.

She has long been one of Winchester Cathedral’s most favourite ‘residents’ – her grave and ledger stone in the north aisle of the Cathedral are one of its most visited places.

Jane Austen – a household name for more than two centuries thanks to her novels Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) Emma (1816),and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818 – has had a permanent exhibition about her life in the area and her work for some years now.

She began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion and also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript and another unfinished novel, The Watsons. Her six full-length novels have rarely been out of print, although they were published anonymously and brought her moderate success and little fame during her lifetime.

Hampshire was not only the birthplace of Jane Austen, but its people, and the society in which she moved, provided inspiration for many of her novels and she was known for proudly reminding people that she was “a Hampshire born Austen”.

Tomorrow at 10am, the Jane Austen Tour and Tea offers visitors an intimate and often amusing insight into her life and connections with the Cathedral. The tour will include a walk through the Cathedral’s historic Inner Close to the house on College Street where Jane and Cassandra stayed during their time in Winchester.

Tickets: £12.50 are from the Cathedral Box Office, on 01962 857275.