Bath isn’t exactly well-blessed with public statues on plinths.
Many – like Queen Victoria – cling to the side of buildings and are far beyond the reach of ordinary mortals to appreciate.
However moves are afoot to put one of the city’s most famous residents in a place of honour – in the middle of pleasure gardens that she enjoyed visiting.
Jane Austen came to live in Bath in May 1801. Her father – the Reverend George Austen – had announced he planned to retire and take the family to Bath where he and his wife had been wed. Unmarried and dependant on her parents, Jane had no option but to come along too.
She eventually found herself on the Bathwick estate side of the River Avon – living in a terraced house opposite fashionable Sydney Gardens – which is where members of the Jane Austen Bath and Bristol Group would like to erect a lasting memorial to her.
