Through the directions from Anne-Marie Edwards' book 'Discovering Hardy's Wessex' (1978/1982), we were able to find St. George's church in the Fordington district of Dorchester:
Anne Marie Edwards (1982: 95) explains that Fordington is the Durnover district from Hardy's 'The Mayor of Casterbridge', and that Hardy often visited the church as a "close friend of the Moule brothers whose father", Henry Moule, was rector there.
Have just read that Henry Moule battled for the health of his Fordington parishioners during an 1856 outbreak of cholera (if I remember correctly, Henry Moule's heroic actions may be the inspiration for Hardy's short story 'A Changed Man').
Anne-Marie Edwards (1982: 95) also reveals that "in later years", Hardy attended the services at St. George's church from his home at Max Gate.
Of course, one of Henry Moule's sons, Horace, who tragically took his own life, was a good friend of Hardy (can remember reading about this many years ago, when I started reading Hardy's main novels in the early 1980s). If I remember correctly, it was either Horace or another of the Moule brothers who pushed Hardy towards having a humanistic (non-transcendental) view of the Christian religion.
Have also just discovered from a bit of internet research that Hardy was a member of the parish council of St. George's church, but resigned in the early 20th century due to some alteration to the church.
Love being able to find such parts of Hardy's Wessex.
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