Hardy’s cottage to Max Gate

This gentle linear walk in the heart of Dorset links two homes closely associated with Thomas Hardy. Starting at Hardy’s Cottage, tucked into woodland on the edge of the heath, the path sets out through the quiet countryside that shaped so much of his writing. You soon pass Hardy’s Courtyard, a natural place to pause before heading out across open ground.

The route drifts south across Bhompston Heath, a patch of the sandy, gorse-dotted country that inspired Hardy’s fictional Egdon Heath. From here the way skirts the grounds of the Kingston Maurward estate, with Kingston Maurward Lake glinting through the trees and the elegant house visible beyond. Nearby lie the ancient earthworks of Conquer Barrow and the Mount Pleasant Henge, quiet reminders of Dorset’s deep prehistory.

The walk finishes at Max Gate on the outskirts of Dorchester, the villa Hardy designed and lived in for the rest of his life. At just 4.6 km with only modest ascent, it makes an easy half-day outing that stitches together heath, parkland and literary history.