Inside incredible £2.35million 19th-century Dorset mansion which inspired Thomas Hardy’s writing
The sprawling manor comes with seven bedrooms, a turret and is surrounded by 15 acres of land
A COUNTRY manor house that inspired Victorian writer Thomas Hardy has gone on the market for a whopping £2.35m.
The Far from the Madding Crowd author was friends with the former owners of Hilfield Manor and visited the property over a century ago.
The manor is in the Dorset village of Hermitage, which Hardy called Little Hintock in his novel The Woodlanders.
A photo of Hardy with wife Florence, believed to have been taken in the 1920s, still exists today.
The property was built in the late 19th century by the Dampier-Bide family who were descendants of the famous British explorer and privateer William Dampier.
It was built as a hunting lodge and has a turreted tower which is its striking feature.
In more recent years it has been owned by financier Nick Tims and his wife Rachel who carried out extensive renovations.
It comes with a lodge and coach house and almost 15 acres of grounds.
Rachel said: "We did a large amount of renovations to the property and put the castellations back on. It is known locally as 'The Castle'.
"It is in a very beautiful spot, surrounded by very Hardy-esque bucolic countryside. It is pitch dark at night and there is no traffic noise whatsoever."
The Tims are only the third family to own the seven-bedroom property but have now put it up for sale -because they're getting divorced.
The main house has a drawing room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, boot room, seven bedrooms and three bathrooms while the lodge house consists of a sitting room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The coach house has two bedrooms a studio room, games room, and bathroom.
Rachel added: "It is a very special property and I am reluctant to be leaving."
Hardy expert Tony Fincham said Hardy mentioned a William Cecil Dampier Whetham in a letter to a friend in 1919. Dampier Whetham was a fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, a scientist and an agriculturalist.
Hardy wrote: "This afternoon a friend called whom you may have known in past years – Dampier-Whetham, Fellow of Trinity, & writer on eugenics.
"He is a Dorset man and breeder of Devon cows. He has a farm and dairy near here, and comes here in vacation-times."
Dampier Whetham farmed the family estate at Hilfield St Nicholas from 1918 to 1926.
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