"The Corn Exchange, Dorchester": On this site stood the center for all the agricultural business in the towns around Casterbridge: "The low though extensive hall, supported by beams and pillars, and latterly dignified by the name of Corn Exchange." (Far From the Madding Crowd, Chapter XII) Here the fortunes of Michael Henchard rise and fall in The Mayor of Casterbridge, and here too Bathsheba Everdene takes over her farm's business -- the only woman there -- in Far From the Madding Crowd. According to Keith Wilson, this structure is not the original Corn Exchange, "the old Market House and Town Hall (built 1791)" which "stood until 1847. The new town hall was built in 1848, and modified in 1864 when the new Corn Exchange was built behind it. The present entrance was built in 1876, and remains substantially the same. It was presumably the present Corn Exchange building with which TH associated Bathsheba, and the old Market House/Town Hall -- where the magistrates' court sat -- in which Henchard's past life is revealed by the furmity woman." To view a larger version this photograph, click on it. (38K)

      Hardy lived in Dorset for most of his life and drew heavily on structures and places he knew well. Today many of them still remain. As an architect, he described buildings accurately, sometimes using technical terms with great precision. Bathsheeba's manor house in Far From the Madding Crowd is a fine example. He was also aware of Dorset's history, ancient and modern, and incorporated many prehistoric features of the area, most famously Stonehenge in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Finally, he often used actual geographic sites, as Lulworth Cove for Sergeant Troy's famous swim in Far From the Madding Crowd.

      This page allows access to photographs that illustrate various locales from Hardy's work. It will include images of present-day buildings, settings, and other elements -- even, for example, flora -- definitely associated with particular novels To obtain an enlargement of a photograph, click on it. The photographs are available for students, teachers, and enthusiasts to download and print for personal use and scholarship. Copyright is hereby asserted on behalf of the photographers for any other use.

      The Hardy Miscellany is interested in adding to these pages and will consider submissions in the form of electronic images. (Please do not send originals.) Email slides to John Gould, jgould@andover.edu. Include photographer's name and address, data about the photograph (location, date, e.g.), and a citation of the subject from Hardy's work. Photographers will be credited, and any commercial inquiries about particular photographs will be directed to them.

Far from the Madding Crowd Jude the Obscure The Hand of Ethelberta Mayor of Casterbridge Return of the Native Tess of the d'Urbervilles Two on a Tower Under the Greenwood Tree The Well-Beloved

Map is big (108K).