Heritage

Dorset is Thomas Hardy’s Wessex and this is the landscape that the novelist used time and time again as a backdrop for his tales of love and tragedy. Follow the Hardy Trail and discover Hardy’s Wessex including locations for recent film adaptations of his novels; Far From the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Follow in the footsteps of dinosaurs along the World Heritage Jurassic coastline and hunt for fossils on the beaches. Find out more about Jurassic marine life at The Etches Collection in Kimmeridge or browse the fascinating collection of finds at the Square & Compass Pub – yes, it’s a fossil museum in a pub.

If castles are high on your to do list Old Wardour Castle, the dramatic film location for scenes from Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood, and Corfe Castle should be at the top. For a spectacular countryside walk with some rampart rolling thrown in, head to one of the nearby iron age hill forts at Badbury Rings, Hod & Hambleden Hills or if your’re feeling energetic, do a lap of Maiden Castle – the largest hill fort in Europe.

We are on the Dorset/Wiltshire border so the wonders of Salisbury Cathedral and the Magna Carta Trail and of course,Stonehenge are all within easy reach of the Farm.

For an eye opening dip into history with the family, head to The Tank Museum or the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

And last but certainly not least, don’t miss a visit to our resident enormous naked chalk giant carved into the hillside at Cerne Abbas.