usa > Top 15 Places to Visit > Thomas Hardy country

Thomas Hardy country

Thomas Hardy, internationally renowned poet and novelist, spent most of his life in Dorset. His works are now held in high esteem and studied in schools and universities throughout the world.

He was born in 1840 at Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester. During the course of his writing career of 25 years he wrote in all 14 novels and over 50 short stories; in 1895 he abandoned novel-writing and devoted the rest of his life to poetry.

The raw materials for his novels came from his life, the country folk and the constrasting landscapes of Dorset. Hardy adopted the historical name of Wessex as the name for his own "partly real, partly dream" country. He used a mixture of real and fictional names for landscape features and the towns and villages, drawing from his extensive knowledge of the area.

Today, visitors can visit much of Dorset and recognise places and landscapes which inspired Hardy in his novels - places such as Dorchester (Casterbridge in The Mayor of Casterbridge), Athelhampton House (Athelhall in The Waiting Supper) and Sherborne (Sherton Abbas in The Woodlanders).

The National Trust has preserved his birthplace at Higher Bockhampton and home in his later life, Max Gate. The Dorset County Museum in Dorchester also has the largest Hardy collection in the world, the bulk of which was bequeathed to the Museum by his wife. His grave can also be visited in the charming village church at Stinsford.

Thomas Hardy Accommodations

Stay at luxury Summer Lodge near Evershot.

View suggested itineraries including Thomas Hardy country.