Jane Austen at Epcombs: In search of Longbourn

Luckington Court, Longbourn in P&P 1995

I didn’t intend to go hunting for Longbourn, but I like to have a mental image of a setting when I write. So when I started on Alone with Mr. Darcy, I wanted to find a picture of the road to Longbourn Darcy and Elizabeth would be walking along. Of course, it had to be the real road, so I needed to find where I thought Longbourn would be. I discovered quickly that researchers have described two towns in Hertfordshire as matching the geographical description of Meryton, Hertford and Hemel Hempstead. I decided to choose Hertford as Meryton. Then I had to find a possible village of Longbourn. We know from Pride & Prejudice that it’s a mile from Meryton, so I settled on the village of Hertingfordbury, just a mile from Hertford. I haunted Google Street View for views of Hertingfordbury and the nearby roads and looked up more information about the village. Lo and behold, I was gobsmacked to discover Jane Austen herself had visited Hertingfordbury, staying with friends in a house called Epcombs! My glee was only matched by my chagrin when I discovered lots of people already knew this. Oh, well, it was fun discovering it for myself anyway!

Naturally, then I had to find pictures of Epcombs. Easier said than done! You’d think there’s a picture of everything on the internet, and a house people think could be the model for Longbourn should have plenty of images,but the only thing I could find was a pen-and-ink drawing. Even Google Street View had the house blurred out. Of course, this only made me more determined than ever to know what it looks like, so when I was in England, I made a side trip to Hertingfordbury and found Epcombs. Or what little I could see of it.

What you can see of Epcombs from the street

What you can see of Epcombs from the street

I found where the house stood, but a tall brick wall and bushes block almost all of the view of Epcombs from the street, just allowing glimpses here and there. But I wasn’t going to give up that easily, so by holding my camera as high as I could reach while standing on the street, I took pictures until I got one that actually showed the house. Surprise! It looks very much like Luckington Court, which served as Longbourn in P&P1995. Do you suppose the set designer actually managed to see Epcombs? And now you can see what it looks like, too, or at least a bit of it!

Epcombs House

Epcombs House

 

So, I’d found my Longbourn. But what else would Jane Austen have seen when she was in Hertingfordbury? Surely she’d have gone to the church and strolled through the village! Here are a few things she would have seen:

 

St Mary's Church, panorama

St Mary’s Church, panorama

 

 

 

 

I hope this gives you a taste of what Jane Austen may have been thinking of when she wrote about Longbourn! Since there were very few images of Hertingfordbury available on the internet, I took an embarrassing number of pictures of the church, the village, and the area around Epcombs. If anyone is interested in seeing more, let me know. Oh, and remember that road I went looking for in the first place? Here it is. 🙂

Road behind Epcombs

Road behind Epcombs

23 comments

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    • Deborah on September 21, 2015 at 5:07 am
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    Thank you so much for sharing. The road is especially interesting….just like you would’ve seen it in Jane’s day. It looks like a quaint sweet village….

      • Deborah on September 21, 2015 at 8:24 am
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      Forgot to post…Did you get a chance to walk down this road or one similar to it?

    • Martha Claycomb on September 21, 2015 at 8:56 am
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    Nice! Thanks for sharing.

    • rae on September 21, 2015 at 9:57 am
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    WONDERFUL!

    • rae on September 21, 2015 at 9:57 am
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    WONDERFUL!

    • Michelle Hall on September 21, 2015 at 11:23 am
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    Fabulous – thank you so much for sharing

  1. That is so cool! What a pretty place.

  2. Loved it!! When can we relocate there? 😉

    If you have more photos, I’d certainly love to see them! 🙂

    Thank you, Abigail–your intellectual curiosity has blessed us all today. 🙂

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    • Stephanie Mudd Carrico on September 21, 2015 at 1:07 pm
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    Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing..would love to see them all.

    • Michelle on September 21, 2015 at 2:28 pm
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    I also would love to see more photos please, I think it is fascinating

    • Carole in Canada on September 21, 2015 at 9:01 pm
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    Perseverance wins out! Thank you for these great pictures and a glimpse into what Jane would have seen. I would love to see more!

    • tgruy on September 21, 2015 at 10:24 pm
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    Now I also have a mental picture…

    • Ann on September 21, 2015 at 11:37 pm
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    Fabulous. Now I want to move back to GB. Oh how we loved to ramble about while we were there and visit the antique shops, go to boot sales, and china shops. You certainly picked the right area.

  3. I love the little road you found, Abigail! It reminds me of the back way into my grandparents’ farm. As a girl, I loved to walk along and imagine.There were lots of berries in the bushes alongside that road, so Mom would take us kids and some pails and we’d have a bonding experience. Except our pails were always almost empty!

    • EvelynTost on September 22, 2015 at 3:31 pm
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    Thank you so much for sharing this. Fantastic! Loved seeing these pics and your adventure and would certainly enjoy seeing more pics if you have a chance to share them! It’s wonderful to have a real pic to help our imaginings of where D & E walked in your story. Thanks again!

    • Sheila L. M. on September 22, 2015 at 3:56 pm
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    I do love seeing photos of these old quaint places that Jane Austen or her characters may have inhabited. Would love to see more. They are lovely. Thanks for sharing.

    • Michelle H on September 22, 2015 at 9:55 pm
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    I just started reading ‘Alone With Mr. Darcy,’ so this is even more interesting than I already would be in these pictures. I would never have the chutzpa to take sneaky pictures of someone’s private home, I’m just enough of a hypocrite to enjoy your voyeurism. :/ I’m loving the book but so far have only had to envision the snow covered countryside and the cabin where Elizabeth and Darcy are forced to shelter in the blizzard. Keep bringing us these beautiful variations. Please.

    • margaret on September 23, 2015 at 4:59 pm
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    I’d have read Alone With Mr. Darcy and loved it like all of Abigail’s novels. I’d love to see all of the photos of Hertingfordbury too!

    • Amber Correa on July 2, 2016 at 9:01 am
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    Would love to see more pictures!

    • Anna on March 30, 2017 at 3:54 am
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    I am the lucky person who lives at Epcombs. The possible connection with Jane Austen has always fascinated us and your post has made me smile.

    • GIBBS on October 28, 2017 at 1:22 pm
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    iVE LOST TOUCH WITH YOU.iD LOVE TO PAY TO A VISIT TO ePCOMBS WHERE MY GRANNY LESLIE LIVED FOR SO LONG.i LIVE MUCH IN TANGIER AND YOU IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.wHEN MIGHT WE COLLIDE?ALL GOOD WISHES FROM cHRISTOPHER GIBBS

      • Anna Sheehan on March 6, 2020 at 3:48 pm
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      Hello Christopher.
      How lovely to find your message. I am in Jersey but backwards and forwards to Epcombs so would love it if you would like to visit.
      Anna

    • Dave Miller on December 31, 2022 at 10:26 am
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    Only just discovered this, my wife was born in the house with the car and wisteria on the wall, this was known as the gardeners house to Epcombs and there was a wooden gate built into the wall going into Epcombs garden.

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