Dorchester is a great place to browse and shop. Most of the shops are centrally located, in pedestrianised areas. You’ll find big names and little boutiques. To the west of Dorchester is ‘Prince Charles’ Poundbury’ – a modern development in which people can live, work, shop and play.
History is all around you in Dorchester from Iron Age dwellings at Maiden Castle and Poundbury Camp, to the Roman amphitheatre at Maumbury Rings and mosaic-floored town house and chronicles in the Domesday Book.
In the historic High West Street in Dorchester you will find the lodging house of Judge Jeffreys, one of the most infamous characters in history. He presided over the legendary Bloody Assize that followed Monmouth’s defeat at Sedgemoor.
Dorchester is deep in the heart of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex. Hardy based many of his novels on Dorset and ‘Casterbridge’ is based on Hardy’s home town of Dorchester. On the outskirts of Dorchester you will find Hardy’s birthplace and family home in Higher Bockhampton and Max gate, the home that he later designed himself and lived in until he died, lies on the outskirts of Dorchester.
Once you’ve discovered Dorchester you’ll want to come back again and again.