Bere Regis

Bere Regis is a village 6 miles north-west of Wareham, beside the small Bere Stream, a tributary of the River Piddle. The A31 and A35 both bypass it. Wareham Forest, a large conifer plantation, stretches several miles to the south-east towards Wareham, and the Jurassic Coast is 10 miles to the south.

Thomas Hardy called the village Kingsbere in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and his d’Urberville family was based on the Turbervilles of Bere Regis. The parish church of St John the Baptist has parts from the 12th century, the tower is stone-and-flint chequerwork, and the nave roof is said to be a gift of Cardinal John Morton. There are also Purbeck marble monuments.

Fires, the worst in 1777, cost the village itself many of its older buildings. The hamlet of Shitterton, protected by the Bere River, kept its older buildings, mostly thatch. Woodbury Hill, half a mile east of the village, carries an Iron Age hill-fort whose ramparts enclose 12 acres. The village has two pubs, The Drax Arms and The Royal Oak.

Wareham station is 6 miles from the village and Bournemouth Airport 17 miles.