As Dorset is such a beautiful place, it is no surprise that is has been home to a number of famous characters. Below are a list of names that all have walks/runs/rides running alongside estates, properties and landscapes linked to the different personalities (without invading privacy!).
Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1554-1618) – A once favourite of Queen Elizabeth I
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685) – Led the Monmouth Rebellion to depose of James II
Vice Admiral Hardy (1769-1839) – ‘Kiss me Hardy’
Mary Anning (1799-1847) – Lyme Regis Fossil collector
William Barnes (1801-1886) – Victorian poet, famous for using Dorset dialect
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) – Victorian poet and author
Ian Fleming (1908-1964) – Writer of the James Bond novels
Buster Merryfield (1920-1999) – Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses, lived in Blandford.
John Quinlan Terry (1938) – Architect, educated at Bryanston School.
Charlie Waite (1949) – Photographer
Julian Fellowes (1949) – Director and Oscar winner, writer of Downton Abbey
Sir Richard Drax (1958) – Conservative MP and largest individual landowner of Dorset
Jasper Conran (1959) – Designer
Kirsten Scott Thomas (1960) – Actress
Martin Clunes (1961) – Actor, famous for the grumpy Doc Martin.
Johnnie Boden (1961) – Fashion designer and founder of fashion brand Boden
Mark Hix (1962) – Chef, owner of The Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall (1965) – Chef and founder of The River Cottage
Guy Ritchie (1968) – Film Director. Owner of Ashcombe House and Compton Abbas airfield
PJ Harvey (1969) – Musician
Kirsty Allsopp (1971) – Property developer
Bear Grylls (1974) – Explorer
Chris Martin (1977) – Musician, attended Sherborne School for boys.
Katherine Ryan (1984) – Canadian comedian, traced her ancestors back to Corfe Castle on the BBC series ‘Who Do You Think You are?’