Outer Casterbridge: Hardy and History
A Festival of Archaeology Walk led by Mark Chutter
Sunday 24th July, 1pm. Meet at Hardy Statue - Top 'o' Town
Join Mark Chutter on a guided walk of Outer Casterbridge and the landscape so familiar and beloved by Thomas Hardy.
Explore Outer Casterbridge – Neolithic earthworks and Roman Durnovaria. The walk will climb to Pummery (Poundbury Camp), then head south beside the Roman Aqueduct to Mai-Dun (Maiden Castle), returning via The Ring (Maumbury Rings) and The Workhouse (DCH). Plentiful references to Hardy’s poetry and fiction, particularly The Mayor of Casterbridge, Far from The Madding Crowd, ‘A Changed Man’ and ‘A Tryst in an Ancient Earthwork’.
There is uneven terrain and some steep gradients. Advisable to bring snacks and refreshments as very limited facilities en route. (7+ miles)
Tickets are £6 and available through Dorset Museum
Mark Damon Chutter is the Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society. He has published papers in the Thomas Hardy Society Journal and for the TES. He has been teaching for 25 years and has worked in middle leadership. Mark was shortlisted for both the ‘ TES’ (Times Educational Supplement) ‘ Most Innovative Teacher of the Year ‘ and ‘ Teacher of the Year’ respectively. He is president of the National Education Union for Dorset and is a committed socialist and a member of the Socialist Worker Party and Stand Up To Racism, Dorset. Mark is also a member of the Dorchester Civic Society and STAND.
Home of Hillforts & Henges is an exciting new event from 21st to 31st July that will celebrate Dorchester’s neolithic and iron age landscape, rich in earthworks and the people that have lived here for over 6,000 years.