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Literary West Dorset

West Dorset is the home to many great authors, most notably - Thomas Hardy. Read on, this page will introduce you to West Dorset’s associations with many great literary genius’.

More than most authors Thomas Hardy made Dorset his own, reviving ancient Wessex in a series of powerful contemporary novels. He skilfully used actual places giving them a thinly-veiled new identity.

He was born in 1840 at Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester. At birth he was declared still born by the doctor. It was an astute midwife who saw life in the little body and Thomas survived for the next 87 years! Later, after living for a while in London, he settled in Weymouth, working as an architect and author. Eventually he moved to Max Gate - a house of his own design in Dorchester, where he died in 1928. Hardy took little part in the affairs of Dorchester and his public speeches were few. He did however agree to the dramatisation of some of his novels and these plays were performed in the Corn Exchange at intervals from 1908 through to the 1920’s. Tess of the D’urbervilles was so successful it had a short run in London.

Max Gate and his cottage birthplace are open to the public, while a selection of tours including a Thomas Hardy Safari and a Hardy trail give ample opportunity to trace the author’s life and influences and find out more fascinating facts. A replica of Hardy’s study just as he left it, can be seen to this day in the Dorset County Museum, in Dorchester. It’s no wonder that Dorchester has become the world centre for Thomas Hardy studies.

William Barnes 1801 - 1886

William Barnes is acknowledged to be our finest English dialect poet. He spent most of his working life in the county town. He met his wife Julia Miles, the daughter of a civil servant, when he saw her alight from a coach at the King’s Arms. He fell instantly in love and wasted no time in introducing himself and they were married in 1827. The Barnes lived in Durngate Street, later moving to South Street where William became a mentor to a young Thomas Hardy. In 1852 Julia died, Barnes, ever devoted to her wrote some of his best poems at this time such as ‘wife a-lost’, reflecting his acute loneliness and sadness. He worked very hard, well into his eighties serving two parishes, Winterbourne Came and Whitcombe and was one of the founder members of the Dorset County Museum.

Sir Frederick Treves 1853 - 1923

Sir Frederick Treves was born at 8 Cornhill, Dorchester. For two years he went to the school run by William Barnes, who became his life long mentor and whose influence never left him. He followed his brother into the medical profession and while working at the London Hospital, Whitechapel he came across the sad and grossly-deformed figure of Joseph Merrick, known better as the Elephant Man. Treves befriended this pitiful man and made his last years bearable and happy. He became a distinguished surgeon and writer of medical books and more or less discovered that an inflamed appendix was an operable condition!

Treves became surgeon to several members of the royal family, including Queen Victoria. His most famous patient however, was Edward VII, due to the fact that he was instrumental in cancelling his coronation, having removed his appendix the day before!

Treves gave up his medical career to write and he specialised in books on travel. He developed a close friendship with Hardy. Treves’ last book ‘The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences’ became his most famous. His ashes rest in Dorchester cemetery.

The Powys Family

3 brothers the most famous of which was John Cowper Powys who wrote Wolf Solent (1929), Weymouth Sands (1934) and Maiden Castle (1936). Associations with Sherborne where some of the family were educated and where Littleton Charles Powys was Headmaster of the Preparatory School.

Jane Austen - Persuasion 1819 mentions Lyme Regis which Jane visited in 1803 and 1804.

John Fowles - The author of French Lieutenant’s Woman 1969, lives in Lyme Regis where the film adaptation was made. It starred Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons.

Other West Dorset Notables:

T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) 1888 - 1935: Lawrence of Arabia did not write about Dorset, but he is buried here, in Moreton and his last home at Cloud’s Hill is open to the public.

The Reverend John White

Dorchester played an important part in the Puritan - a body of people who believe certain pleasures are sinful - emigration to America in the 17th Century when the Reverend John White, Rector of the Holy Trinity and St Peter’s, also known as the Patriarch of Dorchester, promoted and organised the settlement of New Dorchester, near Boston, Massachusetts. He raised money and procured a charter, formed the emigrants into a church society and they set off from Plymouth, (although the Reverend himself, did not accompany them). He made them promise to build a church as soon as they landed, which they did and to this day the church is known as the ‘Daughter of John White’.

Town information leaflets and trails are available from Tourist Information Centres giving detailed walks to guide you around the significant literary sites of West Dorset. Pop in and pick up your copies when you arrive. The Tourist Information Centres also sell many books on the area which can give ideas on what to see and do, or just be kept as a nice souvenir of your stay.

Sun, Sea and Adventure in West Dorset

People come from all over the world to enjoy the unspoilt charms of a region almost entirely designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There is something for everyone here amidst this region of temperate climes, gentle downlands and sweeping coastlines.

Here is a place to escape to and to explore - whether it’s a walking weekend for two, group activities or a fun family holiday, you’re sure to find your kind of activity. From Badminton and bowls to walks and water sports, by way of golf, hang-gliding, horse riding and tennis.

Walking In West Dorset: Walkers are spoilt for choice in West Dorset - with long, autumnal tramps, many of them waymarked, along the Heritage coastal path or inland through Spring woodlands strewn with bluebells. Every town and many villages have their own walks, with leaflets and books to help those wishing to explore further, available from Tourist Information Centres. In Dorchester, for instance, trails give an insight into the town’s history and people, from Roman days to Thomas Hardy, and during the Summer, there are themed guided walking tours and guided ghost tours of the town. If you are looking for the unusual, why not try Llama Trekking? Lead a Llama through the beautiful West Dorset countryside and enjoy a picnic lunch, tours must be pre-booked, details are available from Tourist Information Centres.

Cycling: With peaceful villages and rural market towns to explore, and always a glimpse of fields and flowers, woods and seascapes, West Dorset is made for cycling and there are plenty of shops from which to hire your bikes.

Fishing: Whether you cast a line from the Chesil Bank (famous for its many local and national competitions) or prefer the quiet of inland lakes, West Dorset will reward you with endless hours of fishing pleasure. From the Cobb at Lyme Regis or West Bay, you can fish from the pier, take a mackerel boat round the bay, or seek deeper waters for cod, conger, skate or pollock. Inland there are well-stocked lakes aplenty, Coarse fishing runs from mid-June to mid-March, while trout lakes provide excellent sport from March through to October and the River Frome tempts with salmon and sea trout.

Golf: Back on dry land, golf addicts have the challenge of eleven West Dorset courses, set in locations varying from the bracing cliff top eyries to the picturesque inland combes. A new Golf guide for the whole of Dorset is now available from Tourist Information Centres. For golfing enthusiasts, West Dorset offers the challenge of eleven courses, set in locations varying from bracing cliff-top eyries to picturesque inland combes.

Riding: From Abbotsbury to Sherborne, Osmington Mills to Bridport, riders have an excellent choice of riding centres and stables. Bridleways abound, following the coastline or delving deep inland, with good tracts of open land, ideal for heart-racing gallops.

Leisure Centres: Three Leisure centres in West Dorset provide a wide range of indoor activities. A new fitness suite at the Thomas Hardy Leisure Centre in Dorchester, will keep you fit, a new swimming pool at the Bridport leisure centre will help to cool you off in the summer and at the Gryphon Leisure Centre in Sherborne there are many activities and classes to which everyone is welcome.