Dorchester
[key], town, county seat of Dorset, S central England. Dorchester is a
busy agricultural market, especially for sheep and lambs. Printing,
leatherworking, brewing, and the manufacture of agricultural machinery are
important industries. Nearby is Maiden Castle, a fortification originally
built in prehistoric times. In Roman times, Dorchester was called
Durnovaria; Maumbury Rings, another pre-Roman site, was used by the Romans
as an amphitheater. Baron Jeffreys of Wem held his Bloody Assizes in the
town in 1685. It was also the site of the 1834 trial of the
“Tolpuddle Martyrs,” important in the history of British trade
unionism. Thomas Hardy lived in
Dorchester, which is the “Casterbridge” of his Wessex
novels.
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