Fire has swept through Dorset’s towns and villages, transformed heathland, destroyed historic houses and sometimes been deliberately used as a weapon or a tool. Its effects remain written across the county, in Georgian streets, roofless rooms, scorched stone and the stories passed between generations. What happened in the aftermath reveals just as much about Dorset. … Continue reading Dorset on Fire
Explore a landscape shaped by thousands of years of human activity, from Bronze Age burial mounds and great prehistoric cross-dykes to Romano-British fields and a lost medieval settlement. Skirt Dole’s Ash, Thomas Hardy’s inspiration for Flintcomb-Ash in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, before climbing the ancient ridges surrounding secluded Lyscombe Bottom and returning across the open … Continue reading Dole’s Ash
Dorset Stories & Coastal Mysteries! Fiction - based on historical fact with Dorset vibes in Every Tale From real historical crime to coastal folklore, Roman-era imaginations to atmospheric mysteries around Corfe Castle and Tyneham, many books celebrate Dorset’s soul in story, away from Thomas Hardy tales! Below is just a small selection, growing over time. … Continue reading Dorset Books
From an ancient stone bridge, with tales of life and death, follow the River Frome upstream through Thomas Hardy’s 'Vale of the Great Dairies'. Walk between the river and Dorset’s busiest railway to the hamlet of East Stoke. Skim the site of its lost chapel and pass its converted church up to the old turnpike … Continue reading Holmebridge
Circle the crumbling castle of Wardour. Climb up the hill, though the neighbouring woodland, hiding ruins of an 18th century landscape garden. Dive under the haunted tunnel and follow the medieval park pale through the trees, passing a mini Silbury Hill on the way. Drop down to the River Nadder, after crossing the railway, to … Continue reading Wardour Castle
Buried in the folds of the deep, dry chalk valleys, used by the Romans to source water for their fountain filled town of Durnovaria, sits Wynford Eagle. The manor house dominates the scene, topped with a stone eagle to honour the medieval family that gave the hamlet its name. The following family experienced tragedy with … Continue reading Wynford Eagle
Explore the high tributaries of the River Stour as they meander through the Blackmore Vale. Pass through medieval wasteland, along narrow wooded tracks and between 16th century farmsteads to the mysterious forest of Duncliffe. Clamber up to the top, hidden amongst the towering trees and under the thick canopy of the woodland. The ground underfoot … Continue reading East Stour and Duncliffe
Starting in the small hamlet of Silton, hidden in the northern corner of the Blackmore Vale, follow the medieval roads through the landscape to Bourton. Join the little River Stour and follow it up stream to the remains of a bustling industry that kept the village alive. Skim the three corners of Wiltshire, Dorset and … Continue reading Bourton and Wyndham’s Oak
