Dorchester Attractions

Dorchester is popular for guided historic tours and shopping. Although relatively small, the town boasts a past overflowing with incident, from prehistory (Maiden Castle hill-fort), through Roman times to the 17th and 19th centuries when it was the scene of several notorious executions and trials. Dorchester is also closely associated with the poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928). He lived in the town, making "Casterbridge" and the surrounding area the setting for his work. A statue of Hardy stands near the Top o' Town roundabout.

Dorchester's prehistoric roots lie in Maiden Castle, but the town itself, on the banks of the Frome, was founded by the Romans in about A.D. 50. Called Durnovaria, it evolved during the Second Century into an important garrison and market town (the typical Roman grid system of streets still survives as a reminder). By A.D. 800 Dorchester, now part of the kingdom of Wessex, had developed into a major center for trade, its status confirmed by the existence of a mint. From the late 11th century the Normans also fostered its economic growth, encouraging cloth manufacture in particular. Dorchester's subsequent history was foreshadowed in 1337 when, for the first time, reference is made to a judicial court in the town. During the Civil War the townsfolk took the Parliamentarian side; later they threw their weight behind the Duke of Monmouth, Protestant pretender to Charles II's throne. For this many of them paid dearly when, at the so-called "Bloody Assizes" in 1685, the notorious Judge Jeffreys condemned more than 300 of Monmouth's supporters to death or lengthy periods of imprisonment. In the 17th and 18th centuries trade and agriculture stagnated, as a result of which some inhabitants emigrated to America, founding New Dorchester near Boston. The economy recovered somewhat in the 19th century, the town's delightful "period" house-fronts mainly dating from this time. The old town walls were demolished long ago, their line being marked today by the tree-lined Walks.