Member Article

Work starts on Dorchester’s Thomas Hardy visitor centre

Construction and infrastructure company Morgan Sindall has started work on the new £600,000 visitor centre at the Dorset birthplace of author and poet, Thomas Hardy.

The project will see the construction of a 1,300 sq ft centre near the thatched cottage in Higher Bockhampton, Dorchester, where the author was born in 1840 and lived until he was 34 years old.

The centre will welcome visitors to both the cottage and the 26 hectare Thorncombe Wood. It has received half of its funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, whilst the rest was provided by the National Trust, Dorset County Council and additional grant-awarding bodies including the Garfield Weston Foundation and Fine Family Foundation.

Designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding landscape, the discreet single-storey centre will be clad in natural materials including untreated cedar. Locally sourced timber will be used for a number of its features.

Jon Daines, special works manager at Morgan Sindall, said: “It is beneficial for attractions in leafy, semi-rural sites such as this to blend into their surroundings. The beautiful natural cedar cladding and its use of natural light makes the new centre perfect for this location. Our team has delivered many similar projects across the south west and we are looking forward to completing this exciting building.”

Cllr Hilary Cox, Dorset County Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “The county council, by working together with the National Trust, can achieve an approach that will improve the access and experience both for tourists and local residents. It will improve the way that our countryside service manages the ancient woodland at Thorncombe Wood and the associated heathland.”

The new centre is due to be opened in June 2014.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .