Dorchester, Dorset
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Dorchester was founded by the Romans in 43AD, partly to corral the Celts defeated in the conquest of nearby Maiden Castle. Originally Dorchester was called Durnovaria.

A quiet rural town and seat of local government, Dorchester features in local Thomas Hardy's novel 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' and was also the home of Britain's most notorious 'hanging' judge, bloody Judge Jefferey.

Apart from a few pleasant Georgian buildings, Hardy's home 'Max Gate' and the County Museum [Maiden Castle relics and Thomas Hardy's study] there's not much in the town to keep a tourist interested, but it's a good way station en route from the Stonehenge/Avebury area to Maiden Castle, one mile south and the Cerne Giant, eight miles north, or to Dorset's 'Jurassic' Coast.

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