Tolpuddle sounds almost Narnian, as if CS Lewis once happened upon it. It is among a collection of Dorset villages with “puddlesque” labels: Puddletown, Affpuddle, Briantspuddle, Turners Puddle.
Puddletown was originally called Piddletown, thanks to the River Piddle, by which it is situated. The name is thought to have fallen out of favour, with local distaste towards the urinary connotation. It was rebranded Puddletown in the 50s. Other villages, including Tolpuddle, were similarly renamed. The names of Piddletrenthide and Piddlehinton survive, however.
Tolpuddle is also known as the birthplace of trade unionism. In the 1830s, a group of six farm labourers gathered under a sycamore tree to form a union and combat pay reductions. Although unions were legal, the men were arrested for “administering an oath of secrecy” and sentenced to seven years’ transportation – an exile which included hard labour – in Australia. This history is preserved at the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum.
Lined with thatched cottages and presided over by the stone Church of St Mary the Virgin, parts of which date back to Norman times, Tolpuddle has a time-warp feel.
It is also, thanks to its chalky landscape, one of the first places in England where the use of water meadows was developed. Now, the chalk-filtered waters make for prime wildlife viewing.
Events in the coming months include a Christmas market on 9 December and Christmas singing in the Martyrs Inn on 17 December. Broadstone, a 20-minute drive away, has a free musical market on 2 December, and, on 5 January, Weymouth Pavilion will host the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for a New Year Viennese Gala (tickets from £17.50). For more information, see visit-dorset.com.
Getting there
Dorchester West railway station is served by GWR; Dorchester South by South Western Railway. The two stations are a five-minute walk apart. From Dorchester South, hop on the 187 bus, which takes you to the Martyrs Museum in Tolpuddle, from which the rest of the village is walkable.
Drop your bags
No 1 The Old School in Puddletown is part of a former village school dating to 1864. It was once the headmaster’s quarters and retains many original features. It has a large, enclosed garden with furniture and a barbecue. The property is self-catering and there is a shop two-minutes’ away to stock up on supplies. From £72pp, dorsets.co.uk.
Browse the shops
Tolpuddle is small. Head to Puddletown, five minutes’ drive away (or around eight minutes on the 187 bus) to browse Puddletown Bookshop (you may need to book an appointment). In Dorchester, Vinyl Van has a selection of new and second-hand albums and Every Cloud Boutique specialises in gifts and jewellery crafted by local designers.
Cosy cafés
As well as cream teas, the nearby Coach House Restaurant at Athelhampton House serves lunches, including cheddar and real ale chutney sandwiches (£7.50) and a Dorset cheese and ham ploughman’s (£14.95). Vegan and vegetarian options are also available.
A drink by the fire
The Martyrs Inn reopened in 2023 after villagers grouped together and raised £500,000 to save it. It serves tap and craft beers, wines and locally brewed ales. Food-wise, ingredients are sourced from local producers and based on seasonal availability: think steak and ale pie, sausage and mash, ham, egg and chips, plus daily specials. Prices start from £6, martyrsinn.com.
Rainy day refuges
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum is free to enter. After the martyrs were sentenced, a protest ensued, with thousands marching the streets of London to demand the men’s freedom; now, each July, a festival is held to commemorate the story. Outside the museum, a sculpture by Thompson Dagnall shows the leader of the six, George Loveless, languishing in prison because he was too ill to travel at the same time as the other five martyrs; they are represented by the other five seats of the artwork. Head to Tolpuddle Green to see the tree under which the men met. It is protected by the National Trust.
Fifteen miles outside of Tolpuddle, Bovington’s Tank Museum (family ticket £50, single adults £19.50, reduced prices online) has 300 military machines and covers 20th- and 21st-century conflicts.
A little over a mile outside of Tolpuddle, Athelhampton House and Gardens is a 15th-century manor with landscaped gardens, glorious interiors and a complex history.
Dinner time
The Blue Vinny in Puddletown serves Mediterranean food. It also hosts pizza evenings and music nights. The menu includes dishes such as rabbit lasagne, roast garlic sourdough and salad for £16. Roast squash and barley risotto, served with toasted seeds, charred leeks and smoked applewood cheese (£15) is among the seasonal options.
Winter walks
Just south of Tolpuddle are 26 acres of lush landscape punctuated with more than 120 works by sculptor Simon Gudgeon and his 20-plus team. Sculpture by the Lakes promotes tranquillity; children under the age of 14 are not allowed on the site. Makers Yard Kitchen is supplied by the property’s kitchen garden. Day tickets are £14.50.
There is also a three-and-a-half-mile circular walk that starts from The Martyrs Inn and crosses the River Piddle, with a number of bridge crossings, small streams and water meadows.
Three things you might not know about tolpuddle…
1) Thomas Hardy’s grandfather played the cello in the gallery of St Mary the Virgin to accompany church services.
2) The phrase “like chalk and cheese” could derive from the area: Dorset’s chalk landscapes made grazing difficult, while nearby Cheddar and Somerset had rich soil, conducive to the production of cheese.
3) Thomas Hardy’s Desperate Remedies (1871) renamed Tolpuddle as Tolchurch. Puddletown was the setting for Weatherbury in Far From the Madding Crowd (1874).
