From Saturday 24th October 2026 until Sunday 25th October 2026
Starts 10:00 until 17:00
The Casterbridge Room, The King's Arms, 30 High East Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1HF

Hardy, Powys: Time and Place - A Joint Study Day

Thomas Hardy and the Powys Family

A collaboration between The Thomas Hardy Society and The Powys Society

Date: Saturday, 24th October 2026

Time: 10:00 until 17:00

Cost: £25 THS/PS Members; £35 Non-members

Venue: The Casterbridge Room, The King’s Arms, 30 High East Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1HF

This one day event at the historic coaching inn, The Kings Arms, will look at the Wessex region as a context for the life and works of the Powyses and how they interconnect with, and were inspired by, Thomas Hardy and Dorset.

Hardy served as a literary mentor and friend to the Powys family, particularly prominent literary siblings John Cowper Powys and Llewelyn Powys, sharing a deep, poetic connection to the Dorset landscape. As a senior figure, Hardy influenced their Wessex-focused writing, exchanged visits, and maintained professional correspondence, particularly with A.R. Powys, who shared his love of architecture, regarding historical building preservation.

Hardy mentored the young John Cowper Powys after receiving his first book of poems in 1896, inviting him to his home, Max Gate. Cowper Powys later wrote about this relationship, often visiting Hardy. The Powys family, particularly Theodore, are considered successors to Hardy in capturing the essence of rural Dorset life and its darker, superstitious elements in literature. Hardy, a staunch advocate for preserving historical buildings, communicated with Albert Powys, the secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), regarding the preservation of local churches.

The Powyses settled in Dorset and nearby Montacute and, like Hardy, utilized the surrounding landscape for their "Wessex" novels.

BOOK ONLINE

Places are limited so early booking is recommended

On the following morning there will also be an optional Sunday guided walk to Chaldon Herring, where several members of the Powyses lived, alongside Sylvia Townsend Warner, Valentine Ackand, Elizabeth Muntz, Richard Garnett and many others, followed by a lunch at The Sailor’s Return.

The Sunday walk is free to those attending the Study Day

More details available soon