Higher Bockhampton Dorset Photographs

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Title: Hardys Cottage Place: Higher Bockhampton Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 More information on using wallpapers is available here. About: In the garden of the cottage where Thomas Hardy was born. Photograph Added: 16th August 2006

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Title: Inside Hardys Cottage Place: Higher Bockhampton Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 More information on using wallpapers is available here. About: Inside the bedroom at Thomas Hardy's Cottage at Higher Bockhampton. Photograph Added: 9th August 2006

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Title: Thomas Hardy Place: Higher Bockhampton Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 More information on using wallpapers is available here. About: The home of Thomas Hardy until the age of 34. This cottage is where 'Under the Greenwood Tree' and 'Far from the Madding Crowd' were written. Photograph Added: 9th August 2006

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Title: Monument To Hardy Place: Higher Bockhampton Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 More information on using wallpapers is available here. About: Monument to Thomas Hardy erected to his memory by some of his American fans. Photograph Added: 9th August 2006

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Title: The Rear Of Hardys Cottage Place: Higher Bockhampton Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 More information on using wallpapers is available here. About: Walking around the back of Thomas Hardy's cottage at Higher Bockhampton. Photograph Added: 9th August 2006

About Higher Bockhampton Dorset.

Higher Bockhampton is located two miles north east of Dorchester off the A354. The area lays claim to one of Dorset's most notable novelists and poet as Thomas Hardy was born in a cottage on the northern boundary of the Thorncombe Wood. This cottage stands at the top of the hill off Cuckoo Lane in Higher Bockhampton and behind it is the moor land expanse of Egdon Heath which was feature in Hardy’s novel 'The Return of the Native'. Hardy was born in the small thatched cottage in 1840 the secluded dwelling was built by Hardy's great-grandfather in 1800 and even today it has been little altered externally. The walls were of the typical cob construction and are weather proofed by a brick facing or rendered cement. The cottage is now owned by the National Trust and is open to visitors form April to October, the old fashioned garden is a mass of colour a typical cottage garden with lavender, lupins, lilies, marigolds and many other traditional plants very much as Hardy would have seen when he was growing up. Visitors can walk around the very room in which his mother gave birth only to be told that the baby was stillborn. Fortunately an observant nurse spotted the tiny infant was breathing and the world of literature became a richer place thanks to her sharp eyes. Hardy continued to visit the cottage both during and after his parents' lifetime and his last visit to his birthplace was in 1926.
Hardy’s cottage is situated on the northern boundary of the Thorncombe Wood part of a sixty five acre site of mixed woodland and heath situated to the north west of Dorchester and run by Dorset Countryside. The site is open to the public and boasts a section of Roman road which is A Scheduled Ancient Monument. Thorncombe Wood consists of an area of deciduous and mixed woodland which is divided into 14 management compartments. Many different species of flora and fauna can be spotted in the woods including Song Thrush, Marsh Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, all Red listed birds of conservation are known to breed in the wood.
There is ample parking and very useful information boards about the area and its wildlife provided for visitors. An enjoyable time can be spent walking around the woods and then visiting Hardy’s Cottage then stop a moment to read the inscription on the Hardy Memorial and you will realise the great man’s place in our cultural heritage as his ashes rest in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey.