»STEP BACK IN TIME
Homesthatare3Dhistorylessons
Homespreservedtohonourthememoryof
awritersayasmuchabouttheagethey
livedinastheydoabouttheirinhabitants.
Tothemodernvisitor,ThomasHardy’s
thatched cottage in Dorset, just outside
Dorchester, with its flower-filled garden,
pleasing wooden furniture, stone floors and
white-washedwallsistheepitomeof
bucolicbliss.ThetruthforHardy,however,
wasverydifferent.Likemanyother19th
century rural families, the Hardys
struggledtogetby,especiallyintheshort,
dark days of winter when food was in short
supply. The open hearth did little to dispel
thedraughtsandthechillfromthestone
floor, and there were many mouths to feed
andplentyofclothestolaunder.
Hardy was born in the cob cottage, built
byhisgreat-grandfather,anditlooksmuch
thesamenowasitdidthen.Helivedthere
untilhewas34,whenhelefttogetmarried.
Thedailybattlesheexperiencedathome
andwitnessedallaroundhimwere
chronicledinhisbooks,someofwhich,includingFarFromtheMaddingCrowd,
werewrittenathisdeskinthebedroom.
Likeherbooks,JaneAusten’sformer
home, Chawton in Hampshire, reveals
much about the role of women in society at
thetime.Dependenceonmenforfinancial
anddomesticsecuritymeantthatfrom
1809shelived,rent-free,inahouseowned
by her brother Edward. She shared the
housewithhermother,sisterCassandra
andfriendMarthaLloyd.Presumablyan
unusualset-upforthetimes.Whenshe
wasn’t writing, she shared similar pursuits
to other women of her class, including
needlework,whichshewasparticularly
goodat.VisitorstoChawtoncanseethe
shawlsheembroideredandaquiltshe
stitched,andapianointhedrawingroom,
wheresheoftenplayedtoamuseherself
and her guests.“Austen’sformerhome
reveals much about the
roleofwomeninsociety”
Death beds
The bed in which a writer
or musician died provides
a moving final chapter to
their life story.
OCharles Dickens died in
48 Doughty Street, London
(dickensmuseum.com) on
9 June 1870. His single,
four-poster bed, draped in
velvet, was where he faced
the final curtain.
OHandel bowed out in his
bed in Brook Street on
14 April 1759, attended by
his servant who slept in
the adjoining room
(handelhendrix.org).
OWilliam Wordsworth died
of pleurisy at home, Rydal
Mount, Cumbria (rydalmount.
co.uk), which is still owned by
the Wordsworth family.THOMAS HARDY
Higher Bockhampton, Dorset
H ardy is buried in poet ’s
corner... all but his heart,
which is buried alongside
with first wife and parents
in Dorset. His heart is
literally in the countryside.JANE AUSTEN
Chawton, Hampshire
At Chawton,
Austen rose each
morning, practised
the pianoforte and
made breakfast
for everyone
before they got
up. And then she
wrote a bit, too
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES; JANE AUSTEN HOUSE MUSEUM; NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ARNHEL DE SERRA; NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL; NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/DENNIS GILBERT; NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/CHRIS LACEY