Things to do in The Vyne house

The staircase hall featuring delicate plasterwork and a balcony. — The staircase hall at The Vyne | © National Trust / Virginia Langer

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫? With both floors of the house still open daily from 11am to 3pm (subject to volunteer availability), you can savour the sight of fascinating treasures before the annual autumn deep clean begins and the festive decorations go up.

The Sandys and Chute families made The Vyne their home for over 500 years. They accumulated beautiful and important objects and made significant changes to the house during their lives, which you will see as you explore the opulent state rooms and humble servants’ quarters.

Marking 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen, you can enjoy a selection of events including exhibition 'Regency Revisited' and biweekly 'Jane Austen House Tours'. On 26 September, we're hosting an Austen-inspired solo theatre performance. Read on for more information.

Which parts of the house are open?

The ground and first floors of the house are currently open daily 11am-3pm subject to volunteer availability.

Upcoming Austen events in the house:

A pile of early-edition Jane Austen novels with pale white covers. — These early-edition novels once belonged to Jane's friend Thomas Chute. | © National Trust Images/Karen Legg

Regency Revisited: Celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen

Daily until 2 November, house open 11am-3pm: Discover Jane Austen’s links to The Vyne, her views on the Chute family and her friendship with clergyman Thomas Chute who admired her novels. Get up close to first editions of her books and feast your eyes on beautiful Regency costume.

Take a closer look

A house volunteer explains something to a visitor at The Vyne. — Get the gossip on Jane's interactions with the family at The Vyne. | © National Trust / Megan Taylor

Jane Austen House Tours

Wednesdays & Saturdays until 2 November, 2.30-3.30pm: Enjoy a 1-hour tour of the house and uncover an honest account of the family’s interactions with the celebrated Regency author. No pre-booking first come first serve. Purchase your tickets on arrival at Visitor Reception. Suggested donation £5 per person. Normal admission applies.

Find out more

A close up of Regency-inspired crochet crafts at The Vyne. — Take a look at the creative crafts on display at The Vyne. | © National Trust / Natasha Wright

Community art display inspired by Austen

Now on display, look out for a Regency community art installation in the Old Kitchen at The Vyne. Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, local residents helped create the display by painstakingly crafting crochet objects inspired by Austen.

Find out more

Layers of Jane title — Don't miss the irreverent talk on Regency 'underpinnings'. | © National Trust / Karen Legg

SOLD OUT Cream tea & talk: Layers of Jane

Thursday 25 September | Gates open 2.15pm | Cream tea 2.30-3.15pm | Talk 3.30-4.30pm From petticoats to pantaloons, chemise to shifts, following an indulgent cream tea in the Brewhouse tea-room, enjoy an interactive and irreverent presentation regarding Regency 'underpinnings' in the house. Tickets £20. Please note, non-members entering before 2.15pm will need to pay normal admission.

More information and book tickets

A sketch shows a regency lady with her back to the viewer encircled by a Roman numeral clockface and with a candlestick placed to her right at the bottom of the frame. — Don't miss this one-woman show about Jane's very short-lived engagement. | © Twelve Hours

Theatre performance: Twelve Hours

Fri 26 Sep | Gates open 3pm | Performance 3.30-4.30pm: Back by popular demand, enjoy this one-woman performance imagining Jane Austen's thoughts and inner debates during an intense event in her life that is often overlooked. A solo performance in The Vyne's Stone Gallery about Jane Austen's 12-hour engagement. Tickets £20. Please note non-members entering The Vyne before 3pm on the day of the performance will need to pay normal admission.

More information and book tickets

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Must-sees at The Vyne

Whether you want to see the house’s surviving examples of Tudor craftsmanship or admire the exquisite taste of John Chute, here are key things to look out for.

Preparatory sketch for the altarpiece of the Church of San Marco Evangelista in Osimo, Italy by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri. | © National Trust / Karen Legg

The ‘Guercino’ Sketch

Part of an Italian Old Master work, see a rare-surviving 17th-century sketch by one of the most celebrated painters in Italian art. Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, who was known during his lifetime as il Guercino (the squinter) because of his crossed eyes, drew this preparatory sketch for the altarpiece of the Church of San Marco Evangelista in Osimo, Italy. Created using red chalk on paper, the sketch is part of an album of 28 drawings bought by John Chute during his Grand Tour (1741-46). John Chute was an early collector of Guercino’s works, which became increasingly popular in the later 18th Century. The complete album was sold in 1949 and broken-up with each sketch then separately sold. Returning to its former home for the first time in 70 years, The Vyne purchased this sketch in 2020.

A pair of Lattimo plates depicting Italian cities, in the Ante Room at The Vyne, Hampshire — A pair of Lattimo plates depicting Italian cities, in the Ante Room at The Vyne | © National Trust Images

Venetian lattimo glass plates

In July 1741 John Chute and his friends commissioned these hand-made plates while visiting Venice. In a time before photography, these decorative souvenirs were a way of displaying their visit, featuring different painted views of the city. Made using a technique named lattimo, tin oxide was added to the glass to give it a white appearance. The images were copied from paintings and engravings. What really makes this set special is its survival. The sets belonging to John’s friends Walpole and Pelham-Clinton were sold after their deaths and are now dispersed. The Vyne is the only place where you can see a large, intact set of these plates (16 of the original 24 survive) which are still displayed in the cabinets made for them in the 19th Century.

A detailed close up of an 18th-century casket of ebony with panels of pietra dura mounted in ormolu and encrusted with semi-precious stones — A detailed close up of an 18th-century Italian casket at The Vyne | © National Trust Images/James Mortimer

Italian casket

This 18th-century ebony Italian casket has panels of pietra dura mounted in ormolu and encrusted with semi-precious stones. It was purchased at great expense by John Chute on the Florence leg of his Grand Tour, as a tongue-in-cheek ‘apology’ to his older brother Anthony, who had asked him to curb his spending.

Entrance hall

John Chute was under pressure from his close friend Horace Walpole to make improvements and alterations to The Vyne. Mostly, he made drawings and then never acted upon it. An exception to this was the new entrance hall which he built in 1769 and 1770. Richly decorated with classical features, it gave a real ‘wow’ factor for visitors to his home and still provides a dramatic entrance today.

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Close up detail of the 16th-century stained glass window in the Chapel at the Vyne, Hampshire

Discover more at The Vyne

Find out when The Vyne is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.

Plan your visit

Jane Austen House Tours

Wednesdays & Saturdays until 2 November, 2.30-3.30pm: Enjoy a 1-hour tour of the house and uncover an honest account of the family’s interactions with the celebrated Regency author. No pre-booking first come first serve. Purchase your tickets on arrival at Visitor Reception. Suggested donation £5 per person. Normal admission applies.

Austen-inspired community craft project at The Vyne

Now on display, look out for a Regency community art installation in the Old Kitchen at The Vyne. Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, local residents helped create the display by painstakingly crafting crochet objects inspired by Austen.

Christmas at The Vyne

Immerse yourself in the magic and wonder of best-loved fairy tales. Expect sparkling decorations and an interactive family trail in The Vyne's house and gardens open daily 22 Nov 2025 - 5 Jan 2026 (Closed 24 & 25 Dec). House open 11am-3pm, gardens 10am-4pm. New for 2025, bookings are now open for Christmas Lunch in the Brewhouse tea-room available weekdays 24 Nov -17 Dec at 12pm.