as so vividly portrayed
in verse, to his old school friend Colonel Wildman. After the loss of
the abbey, Byron left England, and died six years afterwards, in 1824,
at Missolonghi, fighting for the independence of the Greeks.

The Abbey Church, though in ruins, is a very good example of Early
English work. The abbey itself is full of interesting and historic
rooms, one being the bedroom where Charles II. slept, retaining still
the state bed, whose coverlet was embroidered by Mary Queen of Scots.
Edward I. is known to have stayed in the abbey, and the room which he
occupied contains some splendid oak carving. Lord Byron's bedroom is
just as he left it, with his college pictures on the walls and the
writing-table that he used. Newstead is open to the public on Tuesday
and Friday when the family are not in residence. Tickets may be obtained
at the two hotels mentioned above which are marked with an asterisk.

[Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

NEWSTEAD ABBEY.

It contains Lord Byron's bedroom in exactly the condition he left it in
1818.]

THE WESSEX OF THOMAS HARDY'S ROMANCES

=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Dorchester.
=Distance from London.=--135-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 3 to 5-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 22s. 8d. 14s. 2d. 11s. 4d.
Return 39s. 8d. 24s. 10d. 22s. 8d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Antelope," "King's Arms," and
other hotels.
=Alternative Route.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.

The centre of the district in the south-west of England which has been
labelled with its ancient Saxon name of Wessex, may be found at the
old-fashioned town of Dorchester. This is the Mecca of the whole
countryside so vividly portrayed in Mr. Hardy's numerous romances
dealing with the rustic life of the west country. On market-days,
Dorchester is crowded with carriers' vans and innumerable vehicles which
have brought in the farmers and their families from remote corners of
the surrounding country, and it is then that one is able to select
examples of many of the characters created by the novelist. To get at
these folk in their homes, one may journey in almost any direction from
Dorchester. The streets of Dorchester are suggestive of Mr. Hardy's
works at every turn, so much so that the wayfarer may almost feel that
he is taking an expurgated part in _The Mayor of Cas