Melbury Osmund

This quiet and unspoilt village is where Hardy’s parents were married in 1839 and the marriage certificate can be seen framed on the wall in the church. At the northern end of the footpath through the churchyard is a thatched house where Hardy’s mother is thought to have lived when she was a child. It is well worth walking down from the church to the watersplash to admire the other 17th century thatch cottages beyond. Several short stories of Hardy’s including 'The Changed Man' and 'Interlopers at the Knap' are set in the village and the church features in the final scene of 'The Woodlanders' where Marty South is a solitary loyal figure at Giles Winterborne’s grave