News about William Barnes

Old Came Rectory was the home of well-known Dorset scholar and poet William Barnes, a friend and mentor to a young Thomas Hardy, for 24 years in the latter half of the 19th century. The Grade II Listed thatched five-bedroom house near Dorchester sits in 1.67-acre gardens and is up for sale with Savills. Barnes met Hardy when he was working as an apprentice architect at a practice in Dorchester next door to the school where Barnes taught. There was a 40-year age gap between the two men but they formed a deep bond.. Barnes gave up his school to become the rector for Came in 1862 and remained there until his death in 1886 and Hardy was a regular visitor.