Hardy's Wessex: The Rural Landscape - Social Tensions

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Hardy's Wessex: The landscapes that inspired a writer

This major exhibition will be across four venues – Dorset Museum, Poole Museum, The Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Museum. With each exhibition exploring a different theme and a star object on loan from a national museum.

It is the largest collection of Thomas Hardy objects ever displayed at one time, with many of the objects never been on public display before. 

Each exhibition takes a fresh look at the Victorian novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy, in the stunning Wessex landscapes that shaped his view of the world. His story will be retold in exciting new ways by our museum collections, from period costumes to personal letters, art to archaeology, that give personal insights into Thomas Hardy's life. 

Pick up a discount voucher when you visit, and use it to get a generous 25% off the entrance price to one of the other Hardy exhibitions.  

The Rural Landscape - Social Tensions

Visit the Dorset Museum and explore Hardy’s views on social tensions and animal welfare. The famous as a novelist, poet and social commentator, Hardy never lost touch with his experience of the working-class lives and poverty of rural Dorset.  Paintings, writing, costume and drawings all bring his writing and personality to life. The painting The Village Choir by Thomas Webster (loaned by the Victoria and Albert Museum), for example, provides a snapshot of the rural musicians Hardy grew up with and wrote about in his novels.

Visit the website for more details and ticket prices - https://www.dorsetmuseum.org/event/hardys-wessex/