It is hard to write about the history of Dorset and not include Thomas Hardy. A Victorian poet and author, he grew up in the county watching life live within the landscape. Highly influenced by the unforgiving heathland and relentless toil of the soil he created stories that immortalised fictitious characters that lived in a real world. Places we see today come to life in the stories that he told over a century ago.
Without any doubt he is one of Dorset’s most famous literary characters. He was born in Higher Bockhampton, grew up in Stinsford, lived in Sturminster Newton as well as Dorchester and designed houses and renovated churches that scatter the county. The landscape, and the people who worked within it, inspired him to write a number of novels and poems, many of which were tragedies; stories of star-crossed lovers, societal restrictions and the desperation of life, all against the backdrop of an unforgiving environment.
A 216.5 Long Distance walk called the Hardy Trail has been designed circling the country. It includes many of the villages town and landmarks featured in his books
Thomas Hardy’s Dorset on BBC iplayer
See also Hardy on Film for locations used in the movies!
| Real Name | Wessex Name | Book | Appearance in Hardy’s Novels | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A37 (Roman Road) | Long Ash Lane | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess crosses the road on the way to Emminster | 1891 |
| Abbotsbury | Abbotsea | In reference | ||
| Beaminster | Emminster | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | The home of Angel Clare, and the site of Clare’s father’s vicarage. | 1891 |
| Bere Regis | Kingsbere | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | The Durbeyfield family take refuge outside the chapel after the death of her father. | 1891 |
| Bincombe | Bincombe | The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | The home of young Phyllis – True Story | 1890 |
| Birdsmore Gate | Racedown House | Hardy’s Real Life | Hardy met with Lady Hester Pinney, who lived at Racedown, to investigate the story of Martha Brown, which eventually inspired him to write his most well-known novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. | 1880s |
| Blandford | Shottesford-Forum | Woodlanders | Where Grace stays | 1887 |
| Bournemouth | Sandbourne | Hand of Ethelberta | The principal location of The Hand of Ethelberta | 1876 |
| Bournemouth | Sandbourne | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Where Tess Durbeyfield lives with Alec d’Urberville, and where she murders him upon the return of her husband, Angel Clare. | 1891 |
| Bournemouth | Sandbourne | Jude the Obscure | It is also where Sue Bridehead’s freethinking friend was buried, and where she was the only mourner at his funeral | 1895 |
| Bridport | Port Bredy | Mayor of Casterbridge | Where Lucetta and Farfrae secretly marry | 1886 |
| Cerne Abbas | Abbot’s-Cernel | Woodlanders | Where Mrs. Dollery was driving to in the beginning of the novel | 1887 |
| Charborough House | Wellend House | Two on a Tower | Tower another location for the Inspirational backdrop behind star crossed lovers | 1882 |
| Corfe Castle | Corvsgate Castle | Desperate Remedies | Owen goes exploring | 1871 |
| Corfe Castle | Corvsgate Castle | Hand of Ethelberta | Ethelberta, making an undignified journey on a donkey | 1876 |
| Cranborne | Chaseborough | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess passed through Chaseborough on the way from home to the ancient family seat at Trantridge. | 1891 |
| Dole’s Ash Farm | Flintcomb-Ash | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | The “starve-acre” farm where Tess undertakes hard manual field work | 1891 |
| Dorchester | Casterbridge – Greys Bridge | Far From the Madding Crowd | Where Fanny Robin dies on the way to the poorhouse. | 1874 |
| Dorchester | Casterbridge | Mayor of Casterbridge | The principal location of The Mayor of Casterbridge. The old Barcleys bank The Mayor’s house. | 1886 |
| Dorchester | Maumbury Rings | Mayor of Casterbridge and his poem ‘The Mock Wife’ | The Roman amphitheatre where real life Mary Channing was hung after poisoning her husband in 1706. | 1886 |
| Dorchester | Casterbridge | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | When Tess’s horse died while delivering goods from her home town to Casterbridge. | 1891 |
| Dorchester | Max Gate | Hardy’s Real Life | Home, designed by Hardy himself | 1885-1915 |
| Encombe House | Enckworth Court | Hand of Ethelberta | Ethelberta is a guest of Lord Mountclere at his family seat | 1876 |
| Evershot | Evershead | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Where Tess met Alec for the first time after they parted, when Alec was preaching. | 1891 |
| Fortuneswell | Street of Wells | The Well-Beloved | The main street on Isle of Slingers, where novel mostly took place | 1897 |
| Hazelbury Bryan | Nuttlebury | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess passes through here on her way back home. | 1891 |
| Higher Bockhampton | Hardy’s Cottage | Hardy’s Real Life | Hardy’s birthplace (lived here until he was 34 with a few breaks to London) | 1840 |
| Isle of Portland | Isle of Slingers | The Well-Beloved | The principal location of the Well-Beloved | 1897 |
| Kimmeridge | The Tower of Winds | Two on a Tower | Back drop for the star crossed lovers astronomy | 1882 |
| Kimmeridge | The Tower of Winds | Wessex poems | Used for the sketch on the cover | 1898 |
| Kingston Maurward House | Knapwater House | Desperate Remedies | The home of Mrs Aldclyffe | 1871 |
| Lower Lewell Farm, West Knighton | Talbothayes | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Where Tess worked as a dairy maid, was happy and fell in love with Angel Clare | 1891 |
| Lulworth Cove | Lulstead Cove (later Lulwind Cove) | Desperate remedies | Owen and Cytherea go on a paddle steamer | 1871 |
| Lulworth Cove | Lulwind Cove | Far From the Madding Crowd | Where Sergeant Troy is believed to have drowned | 1874 |
| Marnhull | Marlott | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess Durbeyfield is born and brought up there. After becoming pregnant by Alec D’Urberville she returns to the village and gives birth to a baby boy, who dies in infancy. | 1891 |
| Melbury Bubb/Stockwood/Hermitage | Little Hintock | Woodlanders | In his 1912 preface to ‘The Woodlanders’ Hardy confessed to not knowing which village Little Hintock corresponded to. | 1887 |
| Melbury Osmond | St Mary’s | Hardy’s Real Life | Jemima, Hardy’s mother’s, home and where his parents got married | 1839 |
| Melbury Osmond | Great Hintock | Woodlanders | The setting for the last scene where Marty South is a solitary loyal figure at Giles Winterbourne’s grave | 1887 |
| Melbury Sampford | King’s Hintock | A Group of Noble Dames – First Countess of Wessex | The home of young Betty | 1891 |
| Mells Park | Falls Park | A Group of Noble Dames – First Countess of Wessex | The family seat of Squire Thomas Dornell, Betty’s father | 1891 |
| Milton Abbas and the Abbey | Middleton and Middleton Abbey | Woodlanders | Where Charmond lived | 1887 |
| Nine Barrow Down | Nine Barrow Down | Hand of Ethelberta | Ethelberta, making an undignified journey on a donkey | 1876 |
| Owermoigne | Nether-Moynton | The Distracted Preacher | The parish where Stockdale come to preach. | 1879 |
| Pentridge | Trantridge | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Site of the D’Urberville estate. | 1891 |
| Poole | Havenpool | Mayor of Casterbridge | Newson landed here on his return from Newfoundland | 1886 |
| Portesham | Po’sham | Trumpet Major | The home of Captain Thomas Hardy, one of Lord Nelson’s commanders at the Battle of Trafalgar, who lived at Portesham House | 1880 |
| Portland Museum Easton | Inspiration for the book | The Well-Beloved | The cottage acted as the home of Avice, the novel’s heroine. | 1897 |
| Poxwell Manor | Oxwell Hall | Trumpet Major | The home of Anne Garland | 1880 |
| Puddletown | Weatherbury | Far From the Madding Crowd | The neighbouring farms of Bathsheba and Boldwood | 1874 |
| Puddletown to Studland | Egdon Heath | Return of the Native | A miserable and harsh environment, crossed with trails, tracks and paths, lit at night with bonfires and filled with venomous snakes and poachers. | 1878 |
| Ringstead | Ringsworth Shore | Hand of Ethelberta | where Edward Springrove kisses Cytherea for the first time. | 1876 |
| Salisbury (Wiltshire) | Melchester | Far From the Madding Crowd | Where Troy’s military camp is set | 1874 |
| Salisbury (Wiltshire) | Melchester | Hand of Ethelberta | Where Julian moved to after Ethelberta refuse his love | 1876 |
| Salisbury (Wiltshire) | Melchester | Two on a Tower | Lord Helmsdale was the bishop of Melchester | 1882 |
| Salisbury (Wiltshire) | Melchester | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess and Angel pass through this city on their way to Stonehenge. | 1891 |
| Salisbury (Wiltshire) | Melchester | Jude the Obscure | This is the place where Jude goes to prepare himself for the ministry, and where Sue Bridehead is studying to become a teacher | 1895 |
| Shaftesbury | Shaston | Jude the Obscure | Mr. Phillotson moves there to run a school. Jude Fawley travels there to see Sue Bridehead, who, married to Mr. Phillotson, and they flee the place together | 1895 |
| Sherborne | Sherton Abbas | Woodlanders | The major neighbouring town of the Hintocks | 1887 |
| Stalbridge | Stapleford | A Group of Noble Dames – Squire Petrick’s Lady | Stapleford Park was owned by Timothy Petrick | 1891 |
| Stinsford | Mellstock | Under the Greenwood Tree | Nearly all of Under the Greenwood Tree is set in Mellstock | 1872 |
| Stinsford | Mellstock | Hardy’s Real Life | Hardy’s heart is buried here, next to his first wife, Emma | 1916 |
| Stinsford | School | Hardy’s Real Life | School | 1845-1856 |
| Stinsford | Grave | Hardy’s Real Life | Where his heart is buried (his body is in Westminster Abbey) | 1928 |
| Stonehenge | Stonehenge | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess’s place of reckoning | 1891 |
| Sturminster Newton | Stourcastle | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess travelled through here | 1891 |
| Sturminster Newton | Riverside Villa | Hardy’s Real Life | Where he lived with his wife, Emma, and believed to be some of his happiest years. Wrote ‘Return of the Native’ here. | 1876-1878 |
| Sutton Poyntz | Overcombe | Trumpet Major | The principal location of The Trumpet-Major | 1880 |
| Sutton Poyntz | Overcombe | Mayor of Casterbridge | One of the places from where the vans of carriers in and out of Casterbridge hail | 1886 |
| Swanage | Knollsea | Hand of Ethelberta | Where Lord Mountclere lived | 1876 |
| Swanage | Knollsea Pier | Hand of Ethelberta | Where Ethelberta boards the Speedwell to travel to Cherbourg. | 1876 |
| The Cross and Hand Cross | The Stone and Hand Cross | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess passes the stone on the way to Emminster, placing her hand on for good luck, although it is cursed. | 1891 |
| Turnworth | Hintock House | The Woodlanders | Home of Felice Charmond | 1887 |
| Wareham | Anglebury | Desperate Remedies | Train Station | 1871 |
| Wareham | Anglebury | Hand of Ethelberta | Where Ethelberta lodged in the beginning of the novel | 1876 |
| Wareham | Anglebury | Return of the Native | Where Thomas and Wildeve’s marriage did not take place due to an invalid licence | 1878 |
| Waterston Manor | Weatherbury Farm | Far From the Madding Crowd | Bathsheba’s inherited farm | 1874 |
| West Safford | Lew Everard | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Where Tess and Angel get married | 1891 |
| West Safford | Talbothayes Lodge | Hardy’s Real Life | Designed by Thomas Hardy for his brother and 2 sisters. | 1890 |
| Weymouth | Budmouth-Regis | Desperate Remedies | Where Owen works for an architect. | 1871 |
| Weymouth | Budmouth-Regis | Under the Greenwood Tree | On the way home from Budmouth, Dick and Fancy confess their love to each other | 1872 |
| Weymouth | Budmouth-Regis | Far From the Madding Crowd | Where Frank Troy gambles on the horse races | 1874 |
| Weymouth | Budmouth-Regis | Return of the Native | Eustacia Vye’s hometown | 1878 |
| Weymouth | Budmouth-Regis | Mayor of Casterbridge | One of the cities where Farfrae did his business | 1886 |
| Wimborne | Warborne | Two on a Tower | Nearest town and railway station to Welland | 1882 |
| Wimborne | Warborne | Hardy’s Real Life | Hardy lived here with his first wife Emma | 1882-1883 |
| Winchester (Hampshire) | Wintoncester | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Tess is imprisoned and executed in this former capital of Wessex | 1891 |
| Winterborne Tomson | St Andrews | Hardy’s Real Life | Favourite church – the sale of his manuscripts saved it | 1931 |
| Woodsford | Shadwater | Return of the Native | Location of Shadwater Weir where Damon Wildeve and Eustacia Vye drowned | 1878 |
| Wool | Wellbridge | Tess of the D’Urbervilles | Where Tess told Angel her story after they married. | 1891 |
Thomas Hardy on Film
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967, 1998 & 2015) Written 1874
The 1967 film was directed by John Schlesinger and featured Julie Christie and Terrance Stamp. The story is based around headstrong Bathsheba who inherited a farm from her uncle. Her young years are then filled with the difficult choices of relationships and love while struggling with the hardships of life. It stayed true to its Dorset roots using plenty of locations in the county including Bere Regis, the graveyard in Sydling St Nicholas, Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Bloxworth House near Wareham and Scratchy Bottom, where Gabriel’s sheep fell off the cliff. Bathsheba’s barn is the tithe barn in Abbottsbury, Horton Tower is the site of a cock fight and Stamp swims named off Durdle Door, but the most famous scene is his swordsmanship display, filmed in the ramparts of Maiden Castle. To ruin the magic of the seductive scene, the majority was filmed by Nick Roeg with Stamp the only other present. Whenever the weather was appropriate Nick and Terrance would escape to the Castle and record his various moves on the earthworks. Despite it not being directed by Schlesinger, and with animosity rife between him and Stamp, the shots were so good he reluctantly kept them in. Stamp was also left handed but had to fight with his right as the soldiers would have done so at the time.
Bere Regis, Sydling St Nicholas, Shaftesbury, Bloxworth House, Scratchy Bottom, Abbotsbury, Horton Tower and Maiden Castle
In 1998 the ITV produced a four part mini-series of the book starring Paloma Baeza and Nathaniel Parker, winning two Bafta awards. The locations were similar to the 1967 film but the sword scene took place in the depths of Hooke Park in West Dorset.
Sherborne and Hooke Park
The most recent version, released in 2015, was directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starred Carey Mulligan, as Bathsheba, alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, as Gabriel Oak, and Tom Sturridge as Sargent Frank Troy (only 5 years earlier Sturridge had been in the county filming Richard Curtis’ ‘The Boat that Rocked’). The cliffs of West Bay and Eype became Gabriel’s home while Bathsheba’s Everdene Farm was Mapperton House. Other locations included Purse Caundle Manor, Forde Abbey’s Great Hall as the Corn exchange and Sherborne, which was dressed up to become the Market Square of Casterbridge. Hooke Park, like the 1998 version, was used for the sword scene.
West Bay, Eype, Mapperton, Purse Caundle, Forde Abbey, Hooke Park, Rodden and Sherborne
Mayor of Casterbridge. (1978 & 2003) Written 1886
Casterbridge was Hardy’s fictional term for Dorchester. The book was centred on Michael Henchard who, as a young man, sold his wife and baby only to deeply regret it. The BBC made it into a seven part drama in 1978, written by Dennis Potter and staring Alan Bates. The majority was filmed around Corfe Castle with the opening scenes on the hills at Tyneham. The gravestone of Michael Henchard, used in the film, still stands in the pub garden of the Scott Arms in Kingston
Corfe Castle, Tyneham and Kingston
In 2003 the movie was made for ITV with Ciaran Hinds and Juliet Aubrey. Dorchester was considered too developed for any filming and so was carried out in the surrounding area. Maiden Castle ramparts played the part of the first meeting between Henchard and his abandoned wife.
Askerswell, Cerne Abbas, Maiden Castle and Stonebarrow
The Scarlet Tunic (1998) Written 1890
The Scarlett Tunic is based on the real life story of Phyllis Grove, who lived in Bincombe, retold by Thomas Hardy in his short story ‘The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion’. Torn between marriage and love Phyllis had to witness her lover and his comrade be shot for desertion. Their graves still lie, unmarked, in Bincombe Churchyard, and were tendered by her until her death in 1870. Phyllis becomes Frances and is played by Emma Fielding with Jean-Marc Barr as the solider Matthaus Singer. Filming largely took place on the Isle of Purbeck but they travel through the holloway of Shutes Lane and Frances finds Mathias’ scarlet tunic on Eype Beach after he sails for France.
Eype and Shutes Lane
The Wessex tales (1973) Written 1888
A collection of short stories made into small 50 minute films by the BBC. Parnham House was used for Barbara of the House of Grebe along with Kingston Lacy while many elements of the Dorset landscape filled the background.
Parnham and Kingston Lacy
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1979, 1998 & 2008) Written 1891
Hardy’s most famous novel about young, naive Tess, thrown into service by her mother, follows a course of tragedy and heartbreak. The 1979 version, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, and Leigh Lawson, won three academy awards but was filmed entirely in France. The 1998 version was made as a two part drama series for ITV featuring Justine Waddell as Tess Durbeyfield and Jason Flyming as Alec D’Urberville. In contrast to the 1979 film it was filmed in the rural countryside of Dorset and Wiltshire. The most dramatic scene, to match with the book, was filmed at Stonehenge where Tess was found by the police and taken away to be hung for the murder of Alec.
Cerne Abbas, Swanage, Burton Bradstock and Stonehenge
Gemma Arterton, fresh from being a Bond girl, appeared in the 2008 BBC version alongside Eddie Redmayne as Angel Clare. Similar locations were used, matching the 1998 film, but also included a dancing scene at Dancing Ledge. The final scene is also shot at misty Stonehenge.
Corfe Castle, Dancing Ledge and Stonehenge
However, there is another Thomas Hardy who is no less important. The Admiral Hardy, who was there to kiss Nelson when he died. He grew up Dorset and a monument erected by his ancestors can be seen for miles across Dorset.
