Dorchester

From Thomas Hardy to teddy bears, there’s plenty to occupy visitors in Dorset’s handsome county town.

- Ruth Widen

Just eight miles from the Jurassic Coast (renowned for its fossils and seafood) and surrounded by Iron Age forts in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Dorchester has history coming out of every brick and stone.

The town was founded around AD 54 by the Romans as a trading centre and strategic garrison (Durnovaria). The largest Iron Age hillfort in Europe, Maiden Castle, lies two miles south, and the colossal priapic chalk hill carving, the Cerne Giant, is just eight miles north.

To get your bearings, walk through the Borough Gardens to the Keep Military Museum, whose rooftop terrace gives a 360-degree panoramic view. To the west, the Roman hillfort and aqueduct are now overshadowed by HRH The Prince of Wales’s spanking new town, Poundbury – the embodiment of his ideals of urban planning, and a must-see for anyone interested in the British monarchy and architecture.