Dorchester; Saturday, 28 September, 2024

After breakfast in the B&B I walked the short distance to the edge of Dorchester and the house that Thomas Hardy built for himself – Max Gate. Along with being an author, Thomas had trained as an architect and his father owned a construction company, so in this case it really was the house that he built himself. The initial house was constructed in 1885 and over time was extended, with the last, large, extension built on the money he coined in from Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure.

Following his death the house passed to his second wife, who died within a few years, at which point it was brought from auction by Thomas’ younger sister who lived in it until she died in 1940 and bequeathed it to the National Trust on the condition that it should always have tenants. Some interesting lawyering in the 2010s managed to get the conditions removed and since 2011 the house has been open to the public to look round on tours.

I had managed to book myself on the first tour of the morning, which turned out to be a good idea as it meant I had the site to just me, two other tourists and the guide for a good 45 minutes to take photos and explore.

From Max Gate it was a 2½ mile walk across town, with a quick detour into a Tesco to pick up some lunch, and over to one of the key sights of Dorchester, located on the Western edge of town, and another example of the Roman’s recycling Iron Age properties. Maiden Castle is a massive chalk mound that had been shaped over many years during the Iron Age period into a hill fort, with deep trenches carved into the side of the hill creating rings of fortification before you reach the top area.

In the Roman Era the space was reused and even built upon with the ruins of a temple still visible close to the highest point of the hill. I spent quit a bit of time exploring the Iron age fortifications, including stopping to grab a seat on a conveniently placed small mound to have a picnic lunch looking down over the surrounding countryside.

It was another 2 miles or so walk back into the centre of Dorchester and down to the most complete ruins of a Roman Town House in the country. Discovered during the construction works on the new County Council buildings in the 1930s the site was left open to the elements for a number of years when construction work ground to a halt due to a little international disagreement, so the building did deteriorate quite a bit, but the main outline of the structure is visible and protection over the mosaics has ensured they were preserved.

From the Roman Town House I headed down to the towns river – the Frome and had a wander along that back towards the B&B where I freshened up before being picked up by Friends who live nearby to have the evening with them.