While in Wool, it was obviously a good idea to walk the half a mile or so to the ruins of the 12th/13th century Bindon (Cistercian) Abbey, now a Wellness Retreat centre, as this place too is of great significance for Hardy's 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'.
Having just passed through the Bindon gatehouse, I quickly caught sight of the late 18th century Gothic house:
At the Gothic house, the owner of the Wellness Retreat Centre very kindly gave me permission to look round the Abbey grounds:
And when I explained my Hardy-centred purpose, she pointed me in the direction of what is commonly known as the 'Tess Grave':
Margaret Marande explains that "Hardy imagines Woolbridge and Bindon to be closer together when Angel bears Tess across the footbridge opposite the mill to the Abbey where he lays her in the empty stone coffin of an abbot against the north wall . . . the tomb of Abbot Richard Maners c. 1360" ('The Hardy Way' page 34).
I found Bindon Abbey a very calm and tranquil place, especially while walking round the fish pond(s), but as Marande further explains, at the time of 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', "the ruins and surrounding area were neglected and overgrown, as Hardy observed: 'The mill still worked on, food being a perennial necessity; the abbey had perished, creeds being transient'" ('The Hardy Way' page 34).
Thus, while walking round Bindon Abbey, I found myself enchanted at both experiencing the faintest of echoes of a once great Catholic England and reflecting on the nature of Hardy's agnosticism.
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