Old Post Office Holiday Let Cottage, Near DORCHESTER, Dorset
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy is famous for his novels of 19th-century rural life. Hardy set them in Wessex, an imaginary region mapped onto the geography of south and south-west England.
Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 near Dorchester. The son of a stonemason, he was schooled locally. He played the fiddle well enough to perform at church services and local celebrations and taught at the Sunday school. He both borrowed and invented names for the towns, villages and countryside in which they were set. In his novels the county town of Dorchester is known as 'Casterbridge'.
Today, there are numerous references to Thomas Hardy in Dorchester. Below are a couple of spots you could visit.
Hardy's Cottage and Garden
In 1840, Hardy was born in a thatched cottage, nestled down a country lane in a woods near Dorchester. He wrote his early novels here, including Far From the Madding Crowd.
The Thomas Hardy Cottage garden of around 1/3 acre is beautifully laid out with paths, cottage flowers and a vegetable patch. The National Trust are custodians of the property.
Max Gate
Max Gate is the former home of Thomas Hardy and is located on the outskirts of Dorchester, Dorset. It was designed and built by Thomas Hardy for his own use in 1885 and he lived there until his death in 1928. In 1940 it was bequeathed to the National Trust by Hardy's sister and is now open to the public. His later masterpieces were written here, including Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure.
Discover the Old Post Office Holiday Cottage
If you're looking for a self-catering holiday cottage that is dog friendly with a hot tub and log burner near to Dorchester, the Old Post Office in Glanvilles Wootton is worthy of consideration.
Thomas Hardy's Cottage and Gardens are a 24 minute drive, with Max Gate being a short drive of 7 minutes thereafter. You could take the route through the pretty villages of Minterne Magna and Cerne Abbas, passing the Cerne Abbas Giant on your way.
