1722) and a third storey added early in the 19th century. The 1722 west-wing extension became 8 The Square and is listed separately. Community facilities Puddletown has a village hall, which has a kitchen and bar, full disabled facilities and access, and a capacity for between 100 and 160. Since 2013 it has also housed Puddletown Community Library, which is operated solely by volunteers. On Athelhampton Road there is a doctor's surgery, which also treats patients who live in surrounding villages. Puddletown has a recreation ground on Three Lanes Way; it has one cricket pitch and two grass football pitches (one junior, one full-size). Literary connections Puddletown is the basis for the village of "Weatherbury" in Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd. Weatherbury Farm, the house of Bathsheba Everdene, is based on Waterston Manor, between Puddletown and Piddlehinton. Hardy's cousin, Tryphena Sparks, who was the inspiration for Hardy's poem Thoughts of Phena at News of Her Death, lived in Puddletown. Notable people Cardinal Pole, the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, was vicar of the parish from 1532 to 1536. The author and broadcaster Ralph Wightman (1901–1971) lived in Puddletown in the later years of his life; he lived in the 16th-century Tudor Cottage in The Square. The writer Constantine Fitzgibbon (1919–1983) owned Waterston Manor for part of the 20th century. See also Puddletown Hundred References Notes General references Villages in Dorset Civil parishes in Dorset