Dorchester : Images of England

This book of over 200 old photographs shows the town of Dorchester over the last 150 years, as it changed from Thomas Hardy’s Casterbridge into the modern town. Early photographs show the town Hardy knew as a young man, and the latest ones take the story up to the Coronation in 1953. Fordington, Frome Whitfield and Coker’s Frome are included, along with every part of the town. The chronological approach used shows the changes in the townscape over the last 150 years, and the many people illustrated give a good idea of life in the town over the same period. Dorchester’s industries, shops, celebrations and buildings are all represented, along with individual townspeople like Job Green, a retired shepherd; William Tilley, Mayor of Dorchester and Harry Crocker with his band.

Only a very few photographs in this book were used in the same author’s Dorchester Camera (1984). This new selection of photographs comes from the unrivalled collections at the Dorset County Museum. Jo Draper has written several books on the county, including Dorset: The Complete Guide and (with John Fowles) Thomas Hardy’s England. She lives in Dorchester, in one of the houses illustrated in the book.