Bramhurst Court

Moyle's Court —supposedly the orginal of Bramhurst Court in Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Source of photograph: Anniversary Edition of the Wessex Novels, 1920, facing p. 494. Scanned image (2002) by Philip V. Allingham; text by Allingham and George P. Landow. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL.]

According to the editors, many of whose remarks seem based on Thomas Hardy's Wessex (1913) by Herman Lea,

The unoccupied manor-house in the New Forest, Hampshire, known as Bramhurst Court, in which Tess and Angel Clare take refuge after the murder of Alec D'Urberville, seems to have been drawn from Moyle's Court, situated in the environs of Ringwood. In the days of [Judge] Jeffreys [just after the Monmouth Rebellion of 1680] this house was the residence of Dame Alice Lisle, who was taken from it to her execution at Winchester. The house is said to be still haunted by her spirit.

Bibliography

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman. "Anniversary Edition of the Wessex Novels." New York & London: Harper & Brothers, 1920. This edition derives in part from previous editions and the photographs of 1912.


Last modified 19 April 2024