Thomas Hardy's Wessex: Revisiting St. Michael's Church, Stinsford

Of course, I was always going to revisit Hardy's childhood church at Stinsford during my pilgrimage to Hardy country this year.

Regarding St. Michael's, Margaret Marande informs that the "squat, light grey tower" is 14th century, while "the rest of the church dates from" the 13th to the 17th centuries ('The Hardy Way', page 199):

Inside St. Michael's, I was keen to locate the Hardy family memorial brass which I'd somehow not noticed last year:

Margaret Marande explains that the brass is positioned on "the west wall" commemorating "the services of the Hardy family to church music from 1802-1841", and reveals that Hardy himself thought that Latin "would outlast English" ('The Hardy Way', page 199).

Always spend a few moments where Hardy's heart is buried mainly reflecting on the nature of Hardy's reluctant agnosticism:

This grave is obviously a fitting setting:  under a "great yew tree" with Hardy's heart being "buried with his wives, only a few feet from his parents, brothers and sisters" ('The Hardy Way', page 201).

Margaret Marande also gives insights into Hardy's attachment to St. Michael's:

      "Hardy often attended services at Stinsford to hear the lessons he remembered from his
       childhood; he loved the church and was bound by all the memories it held for him.  The
       churchyard was particularly poignant as many villagers that he knew are buried here as well as
       those nearest to him" ('The Hardy Way', page 201).