Shadwater Weir. Source of photograph: The Return of the Native in the Anniversary Edition of the Wessex Novels, 1920, facing p. 440. 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,
Shadwater Weir, situated at the foot of one of the slopes of Egdon Heath, 'had at its foot a large circular pool, fifty feet in diameter, into which the water flowed through the huge hatches.' The actual weir from which Shadwater Weir was drawn can be found in the meadows behind Woodsford Castle. It takes in the whole water of the river Froom; in winter the pool is a boiling cauldron, the flow of water rushing with terrific force. It has been little changed since the time when Damon Wildeve and Eustacia were supposed to have been drowned in it"
Bibliography
Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native in The Writings of Thomas Hardy in Prose and Verse with Prefaces and Notes in Twenty-One Volumes. Vol. IV. New York & London: Harper & Brothers, 1920. This edition derives in part from previous editions and the photographs of 1912.
Last modified 19 April 2024