Visit Jane Austen's schoolroom

In 2025, as part of the 250^th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, her former school room in Reading’s Abbey Quarter, often cited as the inspiration for Austen’s Mr Goddard’s School in Emma, will open for a series of special events and tours.

When she was just nine years old, Jane Austen spent 18 months at school in Reading. Based in the former Gateway of the medieval Reading Abbey, Reading Ladies Boarding School became home to Jane, her elder sister Cassandra and cousin Jane between the summer of 1785 and December 1786.

Visit Jane Austen’s School Room in Reading in 2025

Guided visits to her school room every Saturday from April to October 2025 as part of Reading Museum’s Abbey Quarter tours.  Group tours are also available on other days by arrangement.

There will also be a series of special events every Wednesday in May & June 2025. Jane Austen Wednesdays are a series of talks, tours and workshops organised by Reading Museum celebrating Jane Austen and her time in Reading.

Jane Austen 250 - 2025 | Reading Museum