A £17m country house beloved by Jane Austen can be bulldozed planning authorities have ruled, despite objections from local residents.
The Pride and Prejudice novelist mentioned Ashe Park House, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, in a number of letters to her sister, Cassandra, when she lived in Steventon, the parish to the south of Ashe where her father was the Rector.
Austen wrote about attending balls and other social gatherings on the estate, where she made reference to its “well-proportioned rooms” and individuals associated with the estate.
Now, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has given Ashe Park House’s current owners, Shuk Ting Sharon Leung and Gillian Sin Hang Ho, who reportedly bought the property in 2022 for £17 million, permission to tear down the property and replace it with a “traditional country house”.
Around 20 local residents have objected to the proposal because of the property’s historic connections.
Neighbour Deborah de Groot described the property as a “piece of local history” and said: “I would be extremely sorry to see this house disappear from our local landscape and would feel very let down by our local planners if this was allowed to go ahead.”
A Basingstoke and Deane Council spokesperson confirmed the application to demolish and replace the current property had been approved by the authority’s development control committee on 12 March.
The council spokesperson said: “The current Ashe Park House is primarily a 20th century building, with some walling fabric dating from the 1860s. In 2024 Historic England confirmed that the complex of Ashe Park House and its outbuildings does not meet the criteria for listing.”
The council cited a previous report from Historic England, which did not recommend the estate become listed, in its justification to approve the demolition.
Ashe Park House was awarded a Certificate of Immunity last August, expiring in 2029, which says it cannot be listed for a certain period of time.
It states the building should not be listed, because while Austen refers to visiting Ashe Park House in her letters, there is “no evidence that this earlier building is embedded in the current house of 1865” or that it had “any direct influence on her literary output”.
A council spokesperson said: “Whilst Jane Austen may have visited the main house in the past, it is not likely that [she] ever visited the house that stands today.”
The authority spokesperson added that because the dwelling is a private residence, it is unlikely its demolition will adversely impact local tourism.
Austen was born in Steventon Rectory, just a mile from the 232 acre estate, in 1775. While the manor has its origins in the 16th century, Historic England say the house in its current state “fully, or at least predominantly”, is a building of the 1860s, with significant remodelling during the 20th and 21st Century.
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