Box Hill picnic celebrates Jane Austen setting

Jane Austen fans and costume enthusiasts will meet at the Surrey setting of a picnic scene from the novel Emma.

A picnic will take place on Saturday at Box Hill to celebrate the book and a famous part in which the heroine insults a fellow guest.

The event, run by the National Trust in collaboration with Leatherhead Museum, will be held from midday on Donkey Green.

Organisers said regency costume was "encouraged but not essential".

The novel, the last to be published in the author's lifetime, follows the story of Emma Woodhouse as she tries to play matchmaker to those around her.

One scene in the novel saw her insult another character, Miss Bates, at a picnic.

The setting for this countryside scene is Box Hill, now a National Trust site in the Surrey Hills near Dorking.

Volunteers at the museum held a dress rehearsal for the event in August and hope to start a new mid-summer tradition with the picnic.

Cathy Brett, curator at the Leatherhead Museum, said: "There are two very good reasons why Box Hill has been a popular destination for picnics for hundreds of years.

"Its summit has some of the best views in the region and it’s just a hop and a skip from London."

She said the author would have known the North Downs beauty spot well, and was inspired by Leatherhead and surrounding villages for Emma.

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