Went to Bere Regis purely to see the church of St. John the Baptist, Thomas Hardy's model for the 'Kingsbere church' where Tess, her mother and her siblings are forced to sleep outside for a night after her father's death and the family's eviction from their home.
It's also the church where the ancient Turberville family vault lies, the model for Hardy's D'Urberville family vault in 'Tess'. It's here that Tess is forced to feel how insignificant individuals from the past, whether relatives or not, are, in the face of constantly moving, indifferent, human history.
If I remember correctly, the D'Urberville family vault is also the place (or somewhere else in the church) where Alec springs out from to offer Tess and her family a way out of their poverty through her becoming his mistress. The paper on the Turberville family vault below is actually the text from this famous scene in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles':
Think the top right coat of arms below is that of the Turbervilles:
The ground tiles upon entering and exiting the Bere Regis church also looked interesting.
Just read that the church dates back to Norman times.
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