The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-10-14 00:00:00

UNBEATEN TRACTS IN DORSET.

With the excepflon of Weynsouth sod one or two other
pont, on the coot, D irs. 1 11 terra ineeptits to the heelto
nod plemur in eking public. Ile very guideebooks give
it 'east attostioL and, turning ore. their barren psalm
the reels is likely to come to toe condo,s uo t at th•r•
I. manioc to se, and that he had better to elmenere.
This, In point of fact, is what body dose. 0.1-1.0,
however, by a dmlre to set out of the crowd. and by the
arnme of • friend, we dememiniat to " D
An hour's run br the Midianl via Doh?, Bath, and
Templee intl., landed tie in the evendm at 8 Nations •
illuslot old town of some 6,000 Inhabitants, elrou and well I
kept, wib crooked, irregular streets ant mtny gabled
booms, so -h as arti-to Live. Town It is now, but it was
• city ones in the Im back past before MK and hoim to
be • cdY again. whenever Direst shall he erected into an
independent diocese, m Cirn•all end Nditsgham have
bei 0. The hope to founded, not on the central position
of the to.. in the county, for it to at the egr in. north,
but on th. pomemion of a mogaidoent Abbey Chuck.
Orig. nally a Norman building, sad still ritaining in the
pier° and arches tont miry the central tower Ind in its
eiuth porch its original charaoter, It has been transformed
Into • church in the Perpendicular ohio. ixternally it
looks heavy, trot the into-toy, raitored some twenty yeas
ago by the late SIDI Digby and his heir, impreases one
in is than aim, of the greet cathedrals. The perfection
of lb p op rams, and the almost unircie stoned roof in
the shed or fan panto. make It one of the dant churches
In E gland. Architecturally and histo-leally It is the
natural ca'heelrat of Don-rt. Here he buried two of
the old E actin kin,. Ethabold and Ilellsert.
elder brother of Alfred the Great. The town
thsta q iietlY enough now under the shadow
of the Abbey, and afiords no suggeotion of the
stirring tam« when the bishop. of Sherborm gathered
their retainss •Imat them and sallied forth to help to
beat hick the iurnds of the Danes. Just outolde the
town on the instil the ruined e intl.% once the mine of
hlshop. of Sherboroe, sod, after th• remok of the
▪ t Obi Sarum, of the bishop, of Salisbury, sad at.
on the loom of Sir Waltor Raleigh. la air Walter'.
time tile oaths had maned to be • comfortable abide,
though still • plam of gratin. and • bowshot away,
acre., the lake, he eomenisand the house now called
Sherborm Osetle. It has no architectural preteneione,
but it le c riou.ly built in Use shape of the letter U. and
stands in the midst of one of the fairest, if not one of the
most exten.hre perks within the four was. Its this house
Witham 111. nand a night on his way from Torbay, and
in the dining-room the printing press woe mt up on which
was prinMd his address to the people of I gland. Local
tradition affirms that in an arbour overlooking the ,atO
and park Pope, who win und.subtedly a inquest visitor
at the castle, wrote part of his "Easy on Mao. Shiites
the Abbey end otitis Sherburne pommem a public 'aloof,
founded oat of the ruins of the mousetery by E iward
VI.. which, under • new .chews. boa grown to consider.
able proportions of late year., and saved the town from
that decay which seems the inevitable fate of MI towns
that depend entirely on agriculture. After a few hours
spent in wandering about a locality so rich in sae C otiose
with the put, and • night'. rest, we turned our bens on
the quiet old tow, and made our way ups richly wootiod
hill on the mouth, minting glimmes, when we looked
back, of Somerset and Devon in the disnam to the north
and wmt. Ones on the top of the Mil we looked over Use
asuthern part of the vale of Blackmon. • vale dear to
hooting men, and the tos ne of many a g .od day's sport
with the bonds Poor miles of Quist sylvan scenery,
on I we as- obr-stet of Holuset II Atm, the resideoce of
Mr. J. W. S. D-,,, formerly M.P. for Wareham,
The home is said to he full of ut tremor. and eurmettles
gathered iron every port of the world, and open to
public inspection. But we did not some to Vomit to
visit DIMIODONI. DTA so peamd on. Thy« mil. MOTO
through rich woodland, and we find oureelves mimadism
Minterne-hilL looking, heck re kin. an unsurpassA

and uoinierrupted viers of as fair • treat of count • to
one con tte.lre to look op in, rennin tins us of the rise.
Iron the bills about Mare'. and Disler ver the pit n
of Cheshire, with this direr...et., ant the country I.
richer and the atmosphere more tran•pareut. loasiog
klinterne House, the meet .1 L r I Di ho, on tlie left.
irm meet • oouple of cycliet• ridtim tosdern, who as thee '
pew exclaim. •• Well, this Is a beautiful e 'entry ; thee
',mews I r • mow-ot or two to tile. the figure of •
tient, with griniil•lg r.n. an dot% cut eut in
SO. turf n the hII ah0y..,., eft, toe mein r of th•
white hors. in Berkettire-, figure2oll feet in length. and
Iliad to bore heirs his at in .1 • te rusend ir-ari—vra
run down Into the sleepy, dm tying town of Oerne Abnas
Here wm -no • • 11l rri.hlog abte.y, coo. rum, of whir*
sit.' r..m sin standing, but cow ell is fol'osrlng the example
of the abhor and falling no deny. Tar from
Glib. main line of end indueery gave
arriculture, i• ma. lt• th.t nothing nitild are this I.ttle
• ho.onsed am .nit tn. -bolt downs, from the melon.
comfy late which i• ove•taking it ; hot the inhabit tots
ere persuaded that torch le dos to the sadly of their
landlord, Gmeral Pitt Ririe. or his agent., rsp.ciolly
the stinT. /laving come twelve mite senthout welded
a single village worthy of the name, we take this °poor.
tuoity of refreshing the loner men. An I then turning
our hick,. on C-rne and its sleepy hollow, w • face the
r, rmidable ascent of IlighorotheMilL and ha.* oor re-
word in leinirpreading vie.. over hill nod plain, •erie I it
@vet, turn n' the mei. which now rune opm slot ty ridge
of laud. with perme In., dery cnomb. in which
lonely rarrehouma The shrill cry of the peewit is about
us, the mound of sheep hells row, up leintly by on the
...ion.. on either hand and the ',rectos air puts new
•la teity inro in- rept It I. eo 'hall the journey frow
t on 0 Mee, he t Its air or, Illsho ,mberhill. Well it I. for
us 'hilt t is Anted eleyli.hi, for woe hrtide the traveller
who should mi.. his way here on some rla k wi t
night: crim would only be mockrd by the whiet mg
wiud, an i ettelg there liaise A mile or two of gentle
descent, which we hardly noticed, so OnatlAh'eli wore we
esseplot with the ertirretalging paenrepe' and wi orp.
the Great Weetern Rail's's? from Yeovil to Weymouth.
and • rails of road betw.n tall itialseirowe of thorn
and has d and beech, brings us to Ever...hot this
I. sa trim and well-kept a village as 0 woe Is dilapidated.
Ererything Is In applwpie order, and the houses hare a
clean and oomfortable look, with good gardens attaohed.
No sign of poverty meets the eye. Tim in of !Mester.
who Greg • mils away at LaMar, House, and owns the
whole plum. asholfsetly takes good oar* of Erershot We
boar mach about the desirability of cookie( the country
villegee more attrartir., and err wooing boot p.ople from
UN great toms.. In steer cams the willed.. are &Ikea-
not care to have ',Went& who ere not directly subject to
Eye awash in themuyirer, but the owners of me mil do
their tagneoree Th., lob upon them as a Sallaereete
element, and diecourage their settlepsnt or oren
their remoeaL Loarlag Everahot, with Its carious of
wwww, the tower of which look. strange with its solitary
...end tot high, irrilitiller table land, whims
h▪ e
homes an few and far between. but the views is
lam satannidaltimilloalf `ll4•4lrbsgatt,
ens to be w• was SO e