WW1: Hardy at Athelhampton
Fri 07 Nov
|Puddletown
Join Hardy at Athelhampton when WW1 is announced


Time & Location
07 Nov 2025, 18:00 – 20:30
Puddletown, Athelhampton Rd, Puddletown, Dorchester DT2 7LG, UK
Guests
About the event
Thomas Hardy and his second wife Florence were dining with Alfred Cart de Lafontaine at Athelhampton on the day that the First World War was declared.
To set the scene for the War Poetry Conference, local actors will re-create that fateful dinner in the very room it took place, with the audience moving to other historic rooms to watch events unfold.
The evening will be hosted by Giles Keating, custodian of Athelhampton who has recently published a book on Hardy's poetry, and will include a showing in the Tudor Great Hall of dramatised video readings, now being released on the Internet, of key poems that Hardy wrote about both Emma and Florence in the years leading up to the War.
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Giles Keating's new book "Thomas Hardy: 10 Lovers 50 Poems" not only re-tells the story of his wives and lovers by using 50 of his love poems, but also…
Tickets
WW1 Hardy - Member
This ticket includes a glass of wine or soft drink on arrival. It is only eligible for members of the Thomas Hardy Society, TE Lawrence Society, Siegfried Sassoon Fellowship, Edward Thomas Fellowship or War Poets' Association
£23.00
+£0.58 ticket service fee
WW!: Hardy - Non-Member
This ticket includes a glass of wine or soft drink on arrival.
£25.00
+£0.63 ticket service fee
Total
£0.00