Around Bockhampton in Hardy Country

Recommended by

Walk directions

Take the steep woodland path to the right of the display boards, signposted ‘Thorncombe Wood’. Turn left then right at signs for Hardy’s Cottage, and follow the winding route down to a crossroads of tracks, marked by a monument. Turn left to visit Hardy’s Cottage.

Retrace your route up behind the cottage and bear left, signed ‘Rushy Pond’, then immediately turn right on a path that bends right. At a crossroads by the pond take the path ahead signed ‘Duddle Heath’. In 20yds (18m), at another crossroads, go straight across (‘Norris Mill’); the path heads down to cross Hardy’s ‘Egdon Heath’. It crosses a track then goes through a gate to run under pines, with occasional yellow markers on trees. Go left at a fork and cross a stile, then turn sharp right (away from the nearby track) through trees to another stile. Bear left across a field to a stile and gate onto a road.

Cross the road into a farm track which keeps to the right of some barns. Where the track ends, cross a stile and bear right over a field. Cross a pair of stiles in the hedge, then go straight across the field to a stile and head across the driveway of Duddle Farm (left) and over another stile. Go ahead to cross a bridge and stiles down into a field. Follow its left edge to another stile, and bear left, following a faint path round the base of the hill. Pass to the right of a brick house and walk up its drive through Bhompston Farm. Where the main track bends up to the right, take the track ahead through a wide pair of metal gates. After a few paces, bear left over a stile and walk along the field foot (signed ‘Lwr Bock’ton’), with the River Frome nearby on the left. Cross a stile to reach a kissing gate. Cross the next field slightly uphill to a kissing gate to the right of farm buildings. Go through a field gate and the farmyard to its exit driveway to meet a road beside Bridge Cottage.

Turn left across the river and immediately turn right, on a riverside path which becomes a causeway. Ignore a first bridleway to the right, but just after the path crosses the river, turn right, signed ‘Stinsford’. Bear left through a wooden gate into the churchyard, passing to the left of the church, with the Hardy graves to your right, as well as that of another great poet, Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972). Leave by the top gate and walk up the road past the Kingston Maurward College. Turn right into a lane, signed 20mph, then turn left to a lodge on the public road.

Turn right, up the road. After the entrance to Birkin House, bear left onto a good path and continue through woodland, alongside the road. After two gates, turn away from the road on a farm track, signposted ‘Higher Bockhampton’. From here you can follow signs for Hardy’s Birthplace Visitor Centre. Inside the field turn half right, slanting up a field, with woodland over on your right. At the field’s top corner keep going straight on with the fence on your left until you come to a big shed. Here a green lane runs ahead to the road. Turn left, then right by the postbox, and right again to return to the car park.

View all directions

Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Woodland and heathland tracks, muddy field paths and bridleways, firm paths, road

Landscape - Woodland, tree-clad heath, open meadows, waterway, rolling farmland

Dog friendliness - Allowed in Hardy's garden but not cottage; deer shooting year-round in woods - keep dogs close

Parking - Pay-and-display car park at Visitor Centre, signed ‘Hardy’s Birthplace and Local Nature Reserve’

Toilets en route - At Visitor Centre

Walks in Dorset Dog-friendly walks in Dorset

About the walk

You can’t go far in Dorset without coming across novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840–1928). He did more than anybody to establish an identity for the county, thinly disguised as a fictional Wessex. His complicated tales of thwarted desire and human failing, littered with memorable, realistic...

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Dorset is made up of rugged coastlines, high chalk downlands and a chain of picturesque villages and seaside towns that make up Britain’s Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, noted for its layers of shale and numerous fossils embedded in the rock. Hidden gems of Dorset can be found down winding, country lanes that lead to snug villages hidden from view.