Mansfield Park is an 18th century English country house located in Northamptonshire.  It is said by some to be based on the real Cottesbrooke Hall, although this is disputed.

During the earlier part of the Georgian period (between 1740 and 1800), various architectural styles were in vogue, including the Palladian style and the Neoclassical style. Examples of houses built in these styles are Holkham Hall in Norfolk, Clandon Park in Surrey,  Syon House in Middlesex and Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire.

These are particularly grand examples, and Jane Austen probably had a slightly less majestic house in mind when she created the fictional Mansfield Park.

 

 

 

 

 

Portsmouth is situated on the coast of Hampshire, in southern England. Dating back to the 12th century, it has always had strong naval connections. 

The naval dockyard was founded by Henry VII towards the end of the 15th century. During the 16th century, Portsmouth became home to the Royal Navy.  Over time it was fortified, and by Jane Austen's period it was a walled town with a resident garrison.

The town has strong connections with Admiral Lord Nelson, whose flagship HMS Victory sailed from Portsmouth for the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. He is commemorated by a monument on Grand Parade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northampton is the archaic name for Northamptonshire, an English county in the East Midlands whose county town is Northampton. Prior to the local government reorganisation of 1965, it shared part of its eastern border with Huntingdonshire.

 

The Isle of Wight is an island off the coast of Hampshire in southern England. It is separated from the mainland by a stretch of sea known as the Solent. Today, it is accessible by ferry from Portsmouth, Southampton and Lymington. The distance between Portsmouth (Fanny Price's home town in Mansfield Park) and the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight is 5 miles.

 

The island of Antigua (now part of a two-island nation known as Antigua and Barbuda) is situated between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It was settled by the English in 1632 and remained under British rule almost continuously until 1981. From about 1674 onwards, sugar cane became the island's main crop, and African slaves became the main work force of the plantations.

 

 

Britain made slave trading illegal in 1807 with the passing of the Slave Trade Act, and slavery itself was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833 following the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act. Clearly, then, the issue of slave trading and the employment of slaves on plantations would have been one of great contemporary significance in the period of Mansfield Park. Later in the novel, Fanny Price (talking about a conversation she has had with Sir Thomas Bertram) says, 'Did not you hear me ask him about the slave trade?' However, it is not made clear in what spirit the question is asked, or what exactly are Sir Thomas Bertram's views on the brutal exploitation which would have been at the heart of his business interests in Antigua.

 Presumably, Mrs. Grant is referring to the London home of Admiral Crawford and Mrs Crawford, who were unhappily married. Hill Street is situated in London's Mayfair, which was developed (principally by the Grosvenor family) as a fashionable residential area in the 17th and 18th centuries.

 

Baker Street is situated in the Marylebone district of London. It was established as a high-class residential area in the 18th century.

Modern readers will associate the street with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who is described as living at no. 221B. Jane Austen's contemporary readers, of course,  would not have made such an association.

 

  Ramsgate is a coastal town situated in that part of East Kent known as the Isle of Thanet.

The construction of its harbour began in 1749, and it became an important embarkation point and busy garrison town during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars between 1792 and 1815. In the course of the 19th century it also became an extremely popular seaside resort.

 

 Weymouth is an English seaside town on the Dorset coast. It became a popular tourist attraction during the late 18th century when King George III (1738-1820) spent some summers there at Gloucester Lodge, the home of his brother, the Duke of Gloucester.

 

 

 

 Sicily is a large Mediterranean island situated just off the southernmost tip of Italy.

 

 

Amber (the fossilized resin of trees) is to be found around the mouth of Sicily's Simeto River. Although amber is usually golden orange in colour, Sicilian amber (known as simetite) has a distinctive dark red hue and is, for that reason, highly prized.

Click here to see Sicilian amber.

 Texel is one of the Frisian Islands which are situated off the Dutch coast, just to the west of that part of the North Sea which is known as the Wadden Sea.