People in eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Britain loved the seaside. It’s an important period in the growth of a seaside resort holiday, and towns like Brighton and Lyme Regis grew exponentially. Jane Austen frequently referenced seaside towns, or indeed, took her characters there. She even began to create a whole fictional resort of Sanditon, before having to put down her pen.

Austen knew several seaside towns well, having stayed in them, and had significant links to the Navy through two of her brothers, Frank and Charles. She event spent time living with Frank in Southampton on and off for three years.

Her important relationship to the sea – and the coast as a destination during this period – is the star of Dorset Museum and Art Gallery’s current exhibition, Jane Austen: Down to the Sea, on until the 14th of September. I was lucky enough to be invited to the exhibition and to share a review with you.

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All in all, I loved this exhibition (I know that’s easy to say when you’ve been given a ticket, but it was really lovely).

Austen’s relationship to the sea is something that is fascinating, and as somebody who loves a seaside town herself and grew up firmly inland in the Midlands, I can relate to the Georgian love of being on the coast. As Mrs Bennet said dreamily when her daughter Lydia so badly wanted to go to Brighton, “A little sea-bathing would set me up forever!”

Beautiful costumes, art and objects to illustrate this time are brilliantly enhanced by the opportunity to dress up and play pretend in a sea bathing hut, or get ready for a Regency dance at the Assembly Rooms.

Social events, the actual process of swimming in the sea, the presence of the Navy, games and amusements, fashion and writing about it are explored in different areas.

Some of my favourite objects were the puzzles that entertained visitors on their seaside holidays, as well as a notebook detailing soldiers’ uniforms during this period written by Thomas Hardy, and some stunning pairs of shoes. Most of all, I loved seeing a first edition of Persuasion, and matching (unintentionally) with this blue and white day dress, on loan from the Fashion Museum, Bath.

I was also so pleased to see that the costumes for visitors to use for dressing up were made by students from the Design for Costume and Performance Arts University Bournemouth. They were absolutely lovely, and it was such a great way to immerse yourself in the period: especially in the bathing hut, as it isn’t something we are familiar with as twenty-first-century visitors to the seaside!

Now to plot my own future plans for a summer retreat to the seaside…

Jane Austen: Down to the Sea is on until the 14th of September at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery in Dorchester.

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Thank you Dorset Museum & Art Gallery for giving me tickets in exchange for a review of this thoughtful, excellent exhibition. It’s also worth mentioning that I hugely enjoyed the other galleries too: I really liked Thomas Hardy’s novels when I was a teenager so their Hardy gallery (and Far From the Madding Crowd dress up) was great.