| Sutton Poyntz |
| Hardy found inspiration in Sutton Poyntz
and called it Overcombe in The Trumpet Major, once a pretty little
hamlet and even today it is well maintained by its villagers. The
villages is high up under the hills above the town and it has a large
mill-pond which has been a favourite with tourists since the 18th
century they first started coming to Weymouth. Above the pond is a solid stone building that was constructed in 1756 and this is the eyesore called Weymouth Waterworks! And today it not only pumps water to the town but it houses the Wessex Water Museum. Half a mile to the east is the Iron Age fort of Chalbury and to the east is the famous White Horse of George III that is carved in the chalk hill. One story elsewhere on this website we have stated that the person who carved it committed suicide when he found out that he had put the King leaving Weymouth. But another story is that it was cut for John Ranier in 1807 and supervised by a Mr Wood who was the local bookseller, and it is also claimed the King was going that way to visit Sir Thomas Weld who was a friend of the King and who lived at Lulworth.
|
