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Talbothays Lodge in West Stafford was designed by Thomas Hardy and built c1890 by his brother, Henry, a builder and owner of Broadmayne Brickworks, as a home for himself and their two sisters, Mary and Kate. Talbothays Lodge retains features shared by the two properties. Kate Hardy’s diary records life at the Lodge, including the commissioning of the sun dial, the building of the summer houses and Thomas’s regular Sunday visits. His affection for the house may be why it is one of the few local place names not changed in his novels. Talbothays Dairy is central to the plot of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, giving a fictional place a physical reality.
Thomas Hardy was a regular visitor.
Mary and Kate Hardy were reluctantly led to teaching by their dominant mother, Jemima, but became.trailblazers in the early days of Victorian education. Hardy used their experiences as material for novels such as Jude the Obscure.
It is also the setting for Tess of the D'Urbevilles where Tess works at Talbothays Dairy and marries Angel at a church nearby.
Mary and Kate Hardy by Anne Johns and Jenny Head
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