Hardy Way

TThe Hardy Way explores the Wessex of author Thomas Hardy, visiting many Hardy locations beginning at his birthplace near Dorchester. It takes in the Piddle and Frome valleys, an outstanding stretch of coast between Lulworth Cove and the Encombe Valley, to Corfe Castle and Dorchester, ending in Stinsford churchyard where his heart lies buried. The Hardy Way leads through beautiful Dorset and Wiltshire countryside: woodland, high ridgeways, sleepy villages, a variety of farmland, river valleys and dramatic coastal scenery along Dorset’s famous Jurassic coast, now a World Heritage Site inscribed by UNESCO for the outstanding universal value of its rocks, fossils and landforms and England’s only natural World Heritage Site The route parallels the remarkable eighteen mile pebble Chesil Bank from near Bridport to the Isle of Portland, a gigantic limestone mass near Weymouth.

The route is signposted with the letters HW on green waymarking discs.

The following Ordnance Survey maps show the route: Explorer OL15 Purbeck and South Dorset, Explorer 116 Lyme Regis and Bridport, Explorer 117 Cerne Abbas and Bere Regis, Explorer 118 Shaftesbury and Cranborne Chase and Explorer 129 Yeovil and Sherborne.

Map of the Hardy Way

Hardy Way Interactive Map

18 Day Walk Itinerary – Hardy Way

Stage	Starting Point	Finish Point	Distance (miles)	Ascend (feet)
Day 1	Hardys Cottage	Bere Regis	13
Day 2	Bere Regis	Wool	12
Day 3	Wool	West Lulworth	8.5
Day 4	West Lulworth	Corfe Castle	12
Day 5	Corfe Castle	Morden	19
Day 6	Morden	Wimborne Minster	17
Day 7	Wimborne Minster	Wimborne St Giles
Day 8	Wimborne St Giles	Tollard Royal
Day 9	Tollard Royal	Shaftesbury
Day 10	Shaftesbury	Sturminster Newton
Day 11	Sturminster Newton	Buckland Newton
Day 12	Buckland Newton	Melbury Osmond
Day 13	Melbury Osmond	Beaminster
Day 14	Beaminster	Burton Bradstock
Day 15	Burton Bradstock	Langton Herring
Day 16	Langton Herring	Weymouth
Day 17	Weymouth	Owermoigne
Day 18	Owermoigne	Stinsford

OS Maps Required for Hardy Way

Hardy Way Related Book