You say: Jane Austen should be immortalised in a statue

Following the unveiling of a major new sculpture of Thomas Wolsey, we asked who you would like to see immortalised in stone. Your opinions were variedfrom Beatrix Potter to Billy Connolly. But there was one clear winner…

When we asked BRITAIN readers to respond to our question: “who would you like to see immortalised in statue form?” a clear favourite emerged…
Jane Austen

Jane Austen was voted number 70 in the BBC’s list of the “100 Greatest Britons” but aside from her works of fiction, which are some of the most widely read in English literature, there is little to immortalise her.

Austen is obviously associated with the 17th-century house in Chawton in Hampshire where she spent the last eight years of her life. The house and garden are open to the public and there is a small museum there that provides insight into her writing inspiration – visit www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk for information on upcoming events and opening times.

This hardly seems enough of a memorial to one of the nation’s best-loved novelists but she is continually celebrated in modern culture. The 2007 film Becoming Jane was based on her life and Miss Austen Regrets, a television movie, was released the same year.

Now, to mark the 200-year anniversary of the publication of Sense and Sensibility, Joanna Trollope is to write a contemporary version of the novel as part of a series of six HarperFiction books re-working Austen’s works.