Hardy's Wessex

The landscapes that inspired a writer

Museum & Art Swindon

Hardy's Wessex graphic

Rural Wessex – social tensions and animal welfare

Find out how Hardy felt about the social tensions and inequalities of the time, and how he campaigned against animal cruelty.

Coastal Wessex – love and war

Experience the romance and excitement of the coastline which inspired Thomas Hardy’s writing. From first meeting his wife Emma on the wild cliffs of Cornwall, to his fascination with the Napoleonic wars.

Urban Wessex – Women’s equality and religion

Step into the urban world of Thomas Hardy’s novels. Find out about the strong women that shaped the young Hardy, how he went on to campaign for women’s rights, as well as his thoughts on religion.

Ancient Wessex – Superstition and old beliefs 

Venture into the ancient landscape of Wiltshire, to see how the burial mounds and beliefs of Wessex seeped into Thomas Hardy’s writing. Old beliefs died hard and Hardy’s plots are set against a background of superstition.

Highlights for visitors

  • Hardy’s handwritten notebook for his novel, The Trumpet-Major, compete with scribbles and sketches.  Set in the Napoleonic war, the novel is a romantic love triangle between soldier John Loveday, his sailor brother Bob Loveday and Anne Garland.
  • The Tribute Book presented to Hardy by Siegfried Sassoon, representing 43 of the greatest writers of the age, including Rudyard Kipling, Walter de la Mare and Robert Graves. It acknowledged the influence Hardy had had on their writing.
  • Peruse some of the pages of Hardy’s ‘Book of Facts’, where he noted down the stranger-than-fiction real-life events from newspaper clippings. These would later inspire his plots.
  • Witness a man’s grief at the death of his beloved pet, in Hardy’s hand-drawn tombstone design for his infamous dog, Wessex.
  • See Hardy’s first childhood watercolour of the landscape around him – and imagine this child who went on to write books that changed the world.
  • See Kate Hardy’s stunning red silk dress that she wore as a teacher in Dorchester.
Notebook with Hardy's handwriting and sketches
Hardy's notebook for The Trumpet-Major.

Planning your visit

For details of opening times, facilities, directions, etc, please visit Museum & Art Swindon’s website.

We are hugely grateful to Battens Solicitors for sponsoring this exhibition. 

Our star loans were made possible by support from the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund

Sawfish are also called carpenter sharks...but they are rays, not sharks!

There’s also a species called a sawshark, but that’s, well, a shark!

What the heck is a lek?

Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.

Road Runner!

The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.

Belly Buster!

The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!

Skip to content