Student's photo project marks Austen's anniversary

Jessica-Ella Gilbert said she had a sentimental connection to Saltram House, a Grade I Listed estate owned by the National Trust

An 18-year-old from Devon has created a photographic biography of Jane Austen's novels and film adaptations to mark the 250th anniversary of the author's birth.

Jessica-Ella Gilbert, from Plymouth, said she wanted to combine her sentimental connection to Saltram House with her love for the Austen's work for her final college project.

As a child she was often taken on family visits to the National Trust property and going inside the house was a treat.

Ms Gilbert said Austen was a "genius" and her novels and adaptations had stood the test of time because people found "new meanings and identities" over the years.

Ms Gilbert said she thought Jane Austen was a genius

Her self-published book looks at Austin's life and how her work was adapted into films with details of when it was written, the adaptations and their locations.

Several Austen adaptations have been filmed in Devon with Saltram House appearing in the 1996 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and the BBC's 2008 production being predominantly filmed at Hartland Abbey, north Devon.

Ms Gilbert said Saltram House architecturally resembled Austen's description of Norland Park.

She said Austen was ahead of her time for tackling difficult themes we still face today.

"They are seemingly romance and comedic stories, they weren't, they were writings about class, about societal divisions, about wealth and displacement, in some cases about slavery."

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the author's birth is being marked by enthusiasts celebrating Austen's life and works through Regency-themed balls, screenings, costumed promenades, fairs, and guided tours.

Ms Gilbert said the idea started when watching the 2023 film Barbie - where a humorous scene features the doll watching the BBC's 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth.

She said: "From there I was told how Sense and Sensibility was filmed at Saltram and knowing I had access to Saltram I knew it would go hand-in-hand.

"Sense and Sensibility is special to me because of its locality.

"It was really cool to see on-screen places I had been and walked to as a child."

Ms Gilbert said: "Austen's work is some of the most brilliant documents of what it was like to live in that time from the perspective of different women, [which] literature and history often forget."