A TV HISTORIAN helped to mark the 200th anniversary of a world-famous author’s last journey from her home in Hampshire.

Lucy Worsley, known for presenting history programmes for the BBC, laid flowers on the memorial plaque at the site of Jane Austen’s cottage at Chawton, now Jane Austen’s House Museum.

Ms Worsley paid tribute to the novelist by reading the last letter she wrote from Chawton detailing her ill health and her plans to soon leave for Winchester.

She departed from her home to be nearer her doctor on May 24, 1817.

Two months later on July 18 she died in a house in College Street.

The memorial plaque, which is a popular spot for visitor photos, was originally unveiled on the centenary of Jane Austen’s death on July 18 1917. With funding from the Jane Austen Society of North America, the plaque has recently been conserved by Plowden & Smith in time for the bicentenary commemorations.

Ms Worsley is an ambassador for Jane Austen’s House Museum, as well as the author of Jane Austen At Home.

Pavol Hudaçek of Plowden & Smith said: “The memorial had been displayed outside since 1917 and was substantially weather damaged.

“Repainting the corroded bronze plaque, regilding the worn lettering, rebuilding the missing section of the oak frame and repairing the copper roof has not only restored the appearance of the memorial for this 2017 bicentenary, but will also help ensure the memorial survives for the tercentenary in 100 years.”