Mellstock Dorset

Hardys Mellstock (Stinsford Parish) has changed very little in the 179 years since he was born the human population has dwindled although the number of dwellings has more than doubled. Mellstock is best explored on foot starting in the territory of his first novel, Desperate Remedies,where Knapwater House and the Old Manor still match Hardys descriptions. From here you can follow his childhood route from Dorchester to the farmyard of The Oxen, built by Hardys father, and then along Veterans Alley through the landscape of Under the Greenwood Tree to Hardys Cottage, Tranter Dewys home. Return across the heath to Rushy Pond and Lower Mellstock, following in the footsteps of the Mellstock Quire to reach Mellstock church and graveyard. Here his heart lies buried between the bodies of his two wives and beside his siblings and generations of his ancestors, close by the earthly remains of many of the original characters from this partly real partly dream country.

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Upcoming events

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Rescheduled Annual THS Study Day 2021

On 23/10/2021
Starts 09:15 until 18:00

A Walk to Rainbarrow and Mistover Knap, Where Tess and Eustacia Overlap

On 24/10/2021
Starts 10:00 until 12:30

THS London Lecture 2021 - Professor Mark Ford

On 04/12/2021
Starts 16:00 until 17:30