Peace and Tranquillity at Hardy's Cottage and Athelhampton House & Gardens

In the current hot weather, a visit to Hardy's Cottage, surrounded by shady woodland, felt appropriate. Another visitor attraction local to Athelhampton, Hardy's Cottage has a very different history.

Hardy's Cottage with its Cottage Garden

A small cob and thatch building, Hardy was still living here when he wrote Far From the Madding Crowd, a novel that is essentially set in Puddletown and at Athelhampton, though both go by different names in the book. In his descriptions of Bathsheba's Weatherbury Farm, Athelhampton House is a very clear picture in Hardy's mind: he had visited it as a young man when his father was employed to work on the house, and later in life when he paid social calls on Alfred Cart de Lafontaine, Athelhampton's owner at the time.

The vegetable garden at Hardy's Cottage

The neat, well cared for cottage garden at Hardy's Cottage stands in stark contrast to the ornate formal gardens at Athelhampton. Nevertheless, there are similarities in the practicalities of the planting here, and in the planting in the kitchen garden at Athelhampton.

Woodland around Hardy's Cottage

Despite their many differences, both Hardy's Cottage and Athelhampton are surrounded by a feeling of peace and tranquillity: one secluded in ancient woodland, the other insulated in formal gardens and farmland.

Athelhampton House & Gardens are open 7 days a week all year round, save a few days at Christmas.