Literary Dorset: 9 Famous Writers Linked to the Coast

If you are a book lover planning a holiday to Sandbanks, Bournemouth, or the Isle of Purbeck, you are walking in the footsteps of literary giants. Here are five famous writers with incredible links to the local area.

1. Enid Blyton (Studland & The Purbecks)

Few authors are as deeply woven into the fabric of Dorset as Enid Blyton. The creator of The Famous Five and The Secret Seven was a regular visitor to the area, spending weeks at a time staying in Room 40 at Knoll House in Studland. She used the rugged, beautiful Isle of Purbeck as the direct inspiration for her adventures. The dramatic, ruined hilltop of nearby Corfe Castle is widely accepted as the real-life inspiration for Kirrin Island, while the local Studland village policeman famously inspired the character of Mr. Plod in Noddy!

2. J.R.R. Tolkien (Bournemouth)

The legendary author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings had a deep affection for the Dorset coast. J.R.R. Tolkien frequently holidayed in Bournemouth, almost exclusively staying at the Hotel Miramar on the East Cliff, where he would sit on the terrace and write. In his later years, seeking a quiet retirement away from his Oxford fame, Tolkien and his wife actually moved to a bungalow on Lakeside Road in Branksome Park, right on the border of Bournemouth and Poole. He passed away in Bournemouth in 1973.

3. Robert Louis Stevenson (Westbourne)

From 1884 to 1887, the celebrated Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the Westbourne area of Bournemouth in a house he named Skerryvore. Despite suffering from terrible bouts of ill health during his time on the coast, it was here that he wrote one of his most famous, chilling masterpieces: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He even named the character ‘Mr. Poole’ after the neighbouring harbour town! Although the house was sadly destroyed during WWII, a memorial garden now stands in its place on Alum Chine Road.

4. Mary Shelley (Bournemouth)

Mary Shelley, the brilliant mind behind the groundbreaking gothic novel Frankenstein, has a profound, permanent link to Bournemouth. Although she didn’t live in the town during her writing years, her son purchased a large estate in the area (Boscombe Manor). When Mary Shelley passed away, she was buried in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in the centre of Bournemouth. Astonishingly, she was buried alongside the physical heart of her late husband, the famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, which she had kept for years after his death.

5. Thomas Hardy (Poole & Bournemouth)

You simply cannot talk about literary Dorset without mentioning Thomas Hardy. While he was born just up the road near Dorchester, his semi-fictional county of ‘Wessex’ heavily featured the coastal towns you are visiting. In his famous novels, like Tess of the d’Urbervilles and The Hand of Ethelberta, Bournemouth is thinly disguised as the fashionable resort town of ‘Sandbourne’, while Poole Quay is featured heavily as the bustling maritime port of ‘Havenpool’.

6. David Croft (Sandbanks)

The legendary television comedy writer and producer behind Dad’s Army, ‘Allo ‘Allo!, and Hi-de-Hi! actually spent his early years right on the peninsula. Born David John Andrew Sharland in Sandbanks in 1922, Croft grew up steeped in show business. He even reportedly used the nearby St Aldhelm’s Church in Branksome as inspiration for the church hall featured in Dad’s Army!

7. John le Carré (Poole)

The undisputed master of the espionage novel, John le Carré (the pen name of David Cornwell), was actually born in Poole in 1931! The author behind legendary spy thrillers like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and The Night Manager spent his earliest years in Dorset before going on to work for MI5 and MI6, and eventually becoming one of the most celebrated British authors of the 20th century.

8. Bill Bryson (Bournemouth)

Before he became a globally beloved, best-selling travel writer and author of Notes from a Small Island and A Short History of Nearly Everything, the American-born Bill Bryson cut his teeth in Dorset. In the late 1970s, he lived in the area and worked as a journalist for the local Bournemouth Evening Echo. He retained such a fondness for the town that he later became a patron for local Bournemouth heritage projects.

9. Andrew Towning (Sandbanks)

Bringing our literary list right up to the modern day, contemporary author Andrew Towning uses the exclusive Sandbanks peninsula as the direct backdrop for his gripping thriller novels. Works like The Sandbanks Connection weave local landmarks and the glamorous, high-stakes millionaire lifestyle of the area into fast-paced modern espionage and crime stories. You can discover more about Andrew Towning and his incredible novels on his website andrewtowning.co.uk.