Far from the Madding Crowd

Hardy's Wessex

Weatherbury Church (Puddletown)

Thomas Hardy's Wessex was first mentioned in Far from the Madding Crowd; describing the "partly real, partly dream-country" that unifies his novels of southwest England. Far from the Madding Crowd offers in ample measure the details of English rural life that Hardy so relished.[7]

He found the word in the pages of early English history as a designation for an extinct, pre-Norman conquest kingdom, the Wessex from which Alfred the Great established England.[8] In the first edition, the word "Wessex" is used only once, in chapter 50; Hardy extended the reference for the 1895 edition.[9] Hardy himself wrote: “I am reminded that it was in the chapters of Far from the Madding Crowd… that I first ventured to adopt the word ‘Wessex’ from the pages of early English history... – a modern Wessex of railways, the penny post, mowing and reaping machines, union workhouses, lucifer matches, labourers who could read and write, and National school children.”[10]

Puddletown's parish church has significant architectural interest, particularly its furnishings and monuments. It has a 12th-century font and well-preserved woodwork, including 17th-century box pews. Hardy took an interest in the church, and the village provided the inspiration for the fictional settlement of Weatherbury[11] In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy briefly mentions two characters from Far from the Madding Crowd – Farmer Everdene and Farmer Boldwood, both in happier days.


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