Sturminster Newton

This unspoilt market town – the ‘capital’ of the Blackmore Vale – is an essential stop for anyone following in Thomas Hardy’s footsteps for it was at Sturminster Newton that he and his first wife Emma had their first real home together. From 1876 until 1878, they lived in ‘a pretty cottage overlooking the Dorset Stour, called Riverside Villa’. Here, Hardy wrote The Return of the Native and he often referred later to their time at Sturminster Newton in his poems. It was, he said, ‘our happiest time’. The house is not open to the public but is visible from a riverside footpath.

Until Elizabethan times, Sturminster and Newton were separate villages standing on opposite sides of the River Stour. Shortly after the graceful Town Bridge linked the two communities, a mill was built some 250 yards upstream. Once again restored to working order, Sturminster Newton Mill offers guided tours (Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday 11–5) explaining the milling process, and the delightful setting attracts many amateur and professional artists and photographers. There are lovely riverside walks here, too. The Sturminster Newton Museum is located in a thatched house in the town centre and houses displays featuring the life and history in and around this small market town. Incidentally, the fine old 6-arched bridge still bears a rusty metal plaque carrying the dire warning: ‘Any person wilfully injuring any part of this county bridge will be guilty of felony and upon conviction liable to be transported for life by the court.   P. Fooks’.