Page 120 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - England's South Coast

118  ENGLAND ’ S SOUTH C O AST REGION B Y REGION

fashionable cultural quarter, in Westminster Abbey (see
comprising a cinema, theatre, pp50–51). Further east, at the
arts centre and several shops 15th-century Athelhampton
and restaurants clustered House, there is a magnificent
around a central square. medieval hall and beautiful
gardens with fountains, statues,
P Max Gate pavilions and columnar yews.
Arlington Ave. Tel 01305 262538.
Open Mar–Oct: 11am–5pm daily; Nov– P Hardy’s Cottage
Mar: 10am–4pm Thu–Sun. & 7 Higher Bockhampton. Open mid-
limited. ø ∑ nationaltrust.org.uk Mar–Oct: 11am–5pm daily; Nov–Mar:
E Dorset County Museum 10am–4pm Thu–Sun. & 7 limited.
High West St. Tel 01305 262735. - = ø ∑ nationaltrust.org.uk
Open 10am–5pm daily (to 4pm in P Athelhampton House
Max Gate, home to Dorset’s most famous winter). & 8 for groups. 7 - = Athelhampton. Open Mar–Oct:
author and poet, Thomas Hardy ∑ dorsetcountymuseum.org 10:30am–5pm Sun–Thu; Nov–Feb:
r Dorchester P Old Crown Court 10:30am–dusk Sun. & 7 limited.
0 ∑ athelhampton.co.uk
58–60 High West St. Tel 01305 267992.
Dorset. Map F5. * 20,000 3 NB: closed for refurbishment until 2018.
@ n The Library, Charles St; 01305 & 8 t Maiden Castle
267992. ( Wed. T Roman Town House
Colliton Park. Open 24 hrs. 7 Dorset. Map F5. œ
Many parts of Dorchester, ∑ english-heritage.org.uk
the county town of Dorset, are
still recognizable as the place Environs Just southwest of Dorchester,
Thomas Hardy described in his Just to the west of Dorchester, barely out of the town suburbs,
novel The Mayor of Casterbridge Poundbury is an ambitious is the massive Maiden Castle,
(1886). Hardy lived at Max Gate, eco-friendly town built from parts of which date back to
where rooms are open to visitors, scratch on part of the Duchy around 3000 BC.
but the original manuscript of his of Cornwall’s estate. Prince It is one of Europe’s largest Iron
famous novel and a re-creation Charles has played an active Age hillforts and from around
of his study can be seen in the role in the develop ment of the 450 BC several hundred members
Dorset County Museum on the town, which boasts handsome of the Durotriges tribe resided
High Street. This impressive sign-free squares and mock- in the safety of the fort, in a town
galleried Victorian building also Georgian townhouses. situated on a flat plateau at the
houses fossils and exhibits on the To the east of the city is Hardy’s top of the hill. You can still see
nearby Jurassic Coast (see p117), Cottage, where the writer was where the fort’s concentric lines
along with archaeological finds. born. His heart is buried with his of earthen ramparts and ditches
Nearby is the Old Crown Court, family at Stinsford church – his follow the contours of the hill.
where the famous Tolpuddle body was given a public funeral These were once fortified by a
Martyrs were sen ten ced to
transportation for demanding a
wage increase; later pardoned, Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
they are credited with founding The lyrical novels and poems of Thomas Hardy, one of England’s
the Trade Union movement. best-loved writers, are set against the background of his native Dorset,
Dorchester is home to Britain’s which formed part of the area he called Wessex in his novels. The son
only example of a Roman Town of a stonemason, Hardy grew up in the village of Higher Bockhampton,
House. The remains of this near Dorchester. He started work as an architect in London before
wealthy family villa include returning to Dorset to be a writer. The success of Far from the Madding
a fine mosaic and a Roman Crowd (1874) allowed him to move to Max Gate in Dorchester, which
heating system. There are also he helped design. Vivid accounts
finds from Iron Age and Roman of rural life in his novels record
sites on the outskirts of the town. a key moment in history, when
Just off Weymouth Avenue mecha nization was about to
destroy ancient farming methods,
is Maumbury Rings, a Neolithic just as the Industrial Revolution
henge that was adapted for use had transformed towns a century
as a Roman amphitheatre. It was before. Hardy’s visual style has
later used for bear-baiting and made novels such as Tess of the
executions, but it now hosts D’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the
firework displays and other events. Obscure (1895) popular with
A more recent Dorcester film-makers, and literary pilgrims
attraction is Brewery Square, a are drawn to the villages and
former brewery that has now English poet and novelist Thomas Hardy landscapes that inspired his fiction.
been redeveloped into a
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p177 and pp188–9

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