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.

• Associated pages
• Egdon Heath
• Beyond Egdon
• Mellstock

Friends Beyond - Barnes, Moule and Hardy

On 09/04/2022
Starts 14:30 until 16:00

THS Study Day 2022 - Under the Greenwood Tree

On 23/04/2022
Starts 10:00 until 16:30

Call for Papers: Wessex - Landscapes, Histories and Identities

Jan2022

Thomas Hardy Society Wreath-Laying Ceremony at Westminster Abbey

Jan2022

THS London Lecture 2021 by Professor Mark Ford

Dec2021

The Mansel Pleydell and Cecil Memorial Trust Essay

Dec2021