“Who could resist staying in the very house where Thomas Hardy met and fell in love with his wife, Emma Gifford? Hardy, then an architect, was working on the church and Emma was the rector's sister-in-law; the Old Rectory later featured in Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes. Even better, the house is now a welcoming b&b, run with warmth and efficiency by owners Sally and Chris Searle, who grow much of the fruit for the locally sourced breakfasts in their garden, over which the cosy guest sitting room looks.”
