Hardy’s Cottage
Hardy’s Cottage is a rural idyll near the village of Higher Brockhampton in the County of Dorset. It is the family home of one of the greatest writers in the English language, Thomas Hardy. In fact, perhaps his most famous novel Far from the Madding Crowd was penned here.
Hardy’s Cottage was built by Thomas Hardy’s great grandfather in 1800. The writer himself was born here in 1840 and it remained his home until the age of 34. It was here that he began his career as a novelist writing about rural life in the surrounding ‘Wessex’ countryside he knew so well. The cottage is filled with Hardy memorabilia, and his bedroom, which he shared with his brother, and where he sat down to write near the window, is open to view.
Even after he left to build his own house Hardy continued to return to visit the family home at Higher Brockhampton. The cob and thatch house, surrounded by wild flowers, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is reached by a short but pleasant walk down a sandy lane. For the ‘hardy’ Hardy aficionados, his later home Max Gate is a short distance away.