JANE Austen House Museum in Chawton was the proud recipient on Tuesday of a crisp new £10 note featuring none other than their very own author.

The new note, bearing the only known likeness of Jane Austen, was handed to museum curator Mary Guyatt by the Bank of England’s chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, who said: “It is wonderful to visit Chawton and see Jane Austen’s 12-sided writing desk, which is featured in the new £10 note design, as well as walk in her footsteps.

“What a wonderful way to celebrate this renowned author, in the 200th anniversary of her death. It truly feels like I’ve brought Jane home.”

As well as the note, Ms Cleland presented the museum with a special print based on the banknote design. The museum plans to auction the print as part of its fundraising appeal, Jane’s Fund, set up to raise money for vital building repairs to the Grade I Listed house which was Austen’s former home and the place where she completed all her novels.

As part of the Jane’s Fund fundraising appeal, the museum is asking the public to help ‘Bring Jane Home’ by donating their Austen £10 notes to the museum.

In thanking Ms Cleland for the donation, Mrs Guyatt said: “We are so pleased to receive this donation of one of the first Jane Austen banknotes for the museum’s collection. Our note is numbered AA01001949 because the museum opened in 1949. While this particular note will never be spent, we are excited to think of the Jane Austen note in circulation and we hope many tenners will be donated to our Jane’s Fund appeal to keep the museum thriving as it approaches its 70th anniversary.”

Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced that Jane Austen would appear on a forthcoming banknote at a press conference at Jane Austen’s House Museum in July 2013 and the note was unveiled at Winchester Cathedral on July 18, to coincide with the 200th anniversary of her death.