Thomas Hardy was a world-renowned writer with deep connections to Dorset, although his books were set in the fictional county of Wessex, inhabited by the rural country folk he’d grown up with. And while his ashes may lie in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner, his heart lies (quite literally) in Dorset.
Born 2 June 1840, Hardy was educated by his mother and at school in Dorchester, but his family couldn’t afford to send him to University. So at the age of 16, he became apprenticed as an architect. He lived and worked in London and became interested in social inequalities and reform, before moving back to Dorset where he focused on writing.
He married twice, once to Emma Gifford, from whom he became estranged, but whose death in 1912 affected him deeply. His second wife was his former secretary Florence Dugdale, 39 years his junior.
Hardy had 18 novels published, the most well-known set in his fictional Wessex. These include “Far From The Madding Crowd”, “Tess of the D-urbervilles” and “The Mayor of Casterbridge”. His themes challenged social norms of the day, with realistic portrayals of marriage, sex, romance, and religion. In later years, he stopped writing novels, allegedly because of the criticism some of them received and instead focused on poetry.
So how did Hardy’s heart come to end up in Dorset whilst the rest is in London? Well, it was his wish to be buried completely in Stinsford alongside his first wife Emma and other members of his family. But his executor, Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, insisted that he be placed in Westminster Abbey’s famous Poets’ Corner. Having his heart buried at Sinsford and his ashes in Poets’ Corner was the eventual compromise.
There are a number of references to Hardy across Dorset, including a whole exhibition in the Dorset Museum in Dorchester. You can also visit two houses connected to him now owned by the National Trust -the cottage where he was born, and Max Gate, the home he designed and built himself. And of course, his heart is buried in St Micheal’s Church in Stinsford.
We didn’t get to visit the houses, but we did get to the gravesite and the exhibition, which I highly recommend if you’re a fan. The rest of the museum is pretty great too with lots of interesting history and prehistory about the famous Jurassic coast.
What do you think? Are you a Thomas Hardy fan? Let me know in the comments?
Wordland 