An archive which includes manuscripts for three of Thomas Hardy’s major novels, his notebooks, photographs and over 5,000 letters is now accessible to all.

It is the largest collection of Hardy material in the world. It is free to access by appointment at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester and the catalogue can be viewed online.

Funded by Dorset Council and BCP Council, the history centre cares for and provides public access to some of Dorset’s most important historic collections.

Eleven notebooks filled with Hardy’s handwriting have been digitised and are free to view online, along with draft manuscripts of Under the Greenwood Tree, The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Woodlanders.

The archive comprises more than 100 boxes and is held on deposit at the history centre for Dorset Museum and Art Gallery.

Thomas Hardy gifted his manuscript of The Mayor of Casterbridge to Dorset County Museum in 1911. Personal items, correspondence and further manuscripts were bequeathed following Hardy’s death, while other material has since been acquired by the museum and the history centre by donation, deposit or purchase.

Thomas Hardy Society chair and academic director Mark Chutter said: “The collection is fascinating, intriguing and highly eclectic. We are enormously grateful to the people and organisations who funded the cataloguing of this project, because it would not exist without all those wonderful partnerships.

“This remarkable archive shows just how deeply Dorset shaped Hardy’s imagination. This catalogue is highly accessible, and I would really encourage you to look at the catalogue online or at the Dorset History Centre.”

The cataloguing project began in 2024 following a successful fundraising campaign led by Dorset Archives Trust, supported by The National Archives, The National Trust, local charities and many generous donations from
the public.

The archive illuminates many aspects of Hardy’s life including his youth and his early career as an architect, as well as his career as a writer. It includes school exercise books, architectural drawings, sketches, and the Hardy family music books in addition to manuscripts for Hardy’s poetry and prose.

Hardy’s correspondence offers vital insights into his social and professional networks, with letters from key writers and thinkers including Robert Louis Stevenson, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Siegfried Sassoon and Virginia Woolf.

Email archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk to make an appointment or call 01305 250550, or head to Dorset History Centre.