Budding authors can put ink to paper in the style of Jane Austen by discovering more about the homemade natural inks she used for her writing.
Marking the 250th anniversary of the world-famous author’s birth, Reading Museum is staging a series of special events, tours and visits celebrating Austen’s links with the Thames-side town.
Along with giving fans a rare chance to visit the schoolroom where she and her sister spent 18 months, a programme of ‘Jane Austen Wednesdays’ includes a workshop where visitors can recreate the natural ink she used to write her novels.
Inspired by Nature – Natural Ink Making with Oak Galls, on Wednesday 4 June 2025, will explore the history of ink making and reveal the wide variety of useful materials and resources found in nature – including the oak gall.
Before inks were commercially available, homemade recipes were often used, and iron gall ink – which is also known as oak gall – is one of the oldest forms known, and made from galls, which are plant growths found on the foliage and twigs of oak trees.
Austen used such an ink, taking a recipe from Martha Lloyd’s Household Book compiled by a family friend who lived with the writer’s family at their Hampshire homes. In fact, all of Austen’s surviving manuscripts were written in iron gall ink.
Now those who want to try their hand at making and using the homemade ink can have a go themselves at the two-hour workshop being held in the dramatic setting of the former Gateway to medieval Reading Abbey.
As well as experimenting with Jane Austen’s own recipe to make the oak gall ink and use a range of dip pens, quills, and brushes, participants will also be able to take home a pot of ink to create their own literary “masterpieces” at home.
The workshop, which must be pre-booked, costs £12 per person, or £10 per person if paying for three Jane Austen events together (www.readingmuseum.org.uk/inspired-nature-natural-ink-making-with-oak-galls).
Among the other five events as part of the special Wednesday programme throughout May and June are talks on Jane Austen and the Local Connection, on 7 May; A Day in the Life of A Regency Lady on 14 May; and The Georgian Dining Experience on 18 June.
Bookings are also open for the Official Abbey Quarter Tour, which start again for the season on Saturday 5 April, with every tour now featuring exclusive access to Jane Austen’s school, which previously has only been open for educational workshops and booked tours. Costing £10 per person, the half hour tour will be staged every Saturday morning, starting at Reading Museum (www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/reading-abbey-quarter-tour).
Other highlights in the Reading Jane Austen programme during the year include visiting the National Trust’s Basildon Park – a location for 2005’s film of Pride & Prejudice – and a theatrical world premiere of Death Comes to Pemberley, a Jane Austen inspired show based on a PD James novel, at The Mill at Sonning, 1 May – 28 June.
More information about anniversary events can be found at www.visit-reading.com/janeausten
For tourist information on Reading as a destination, see www.visit-reading.com
Photo, above: Jane Austen School Room, credit Visit Reading/REDA
