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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Dorchester
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(15,000 in 1991) Market town of great antiquity; administrative centre of Dorset. *Maiden Castle is nearby and on the southern outskirts of the town are Maumbury Rings, a Stone Age circle adapted by the Romans to an amphitheatre. Excavation has revealed much of the Roman town of Durnovaria, remains of which are on show in the Dorset County Museum. The town has a hallowed place in trade union history, because it was in the Shire Hall that the *Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced in 1834. And its literary fame is secure thanks to its local author, Thomas *Hardy, who in his novels called it Casterbridge.
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