Moreton

Thomas Hardy may be Dorset’s most famous author, but in this small village it is another distinguished writer, (also a scholar, archaeologist and military hero), who is remembered. In 1935 T.E. Lawrence, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, left the RAF where he was known simply as Aircraftsman T.E. Shaw and retired to a spartan cottage he had bought in 1923. It stands alone on the heath outside Moreton village and here Lawrence lived as a virtual recluse, without cooking facilities and with a sleeping bag as his bed. He was to enjoy this peaceful, if comfortless, retreat for only a few weeks. Lawrence loved speeding along the Dorset lanes on his motor-cycle and one sunny spring day his adventurous driving led to a fatal collision with two young cyclists. The King of Iraq and Winston Churchill attended the hero’s burial in the graveyard at Moreton, where a tree was planted and later a stone memorial. The home Lawrence occupied for such a short time, Cloud’s Hill (National Trust), is now open to the public. Lawrence remains a fascinating figure, and at an auction in 2008 letters in which he writes how well his Brough Superior motor-cycle is running (he owned several down the years) and of his love of books were sold for £10,000. He wrote the letters to an RAF flight sergeant while stationed on the Isle of Wight in 1932/33. There are good walks around here and Cloud’s Hill is on the Lawrence of Arabia walking trail.

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