Dorset

Part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, Dorset is a county of chalk downs, old manor houses, and a coastline of great variety and extraordinary beauty, part of which is a World Heritage Site.

It is also an area that has been settled for thousands of years, evidence of which can still be found in a number of prehistoric camps, such as Maiden Castle, Poundbury Camp and Maumbury Rings.

Dorset was the birthplace of the English novelist Thomas Hardy, and is the thinly disguised setting for a number of his novels.