A chance to follow in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia is being offered in 2026 by the National Trust in Purbeck.
Clouds Hill, the Dorset country retreat near Bovington which T.E. Lawrence used for the last years of his life, reopened to the public on Wednesday 1st April 2026 after winter conservation work on the historic building.
Clouds Hill, near Bovington, is full of TE Lawrence’s property, including his typewriter and gramophone
Footsteps Through Time
On three dates, starting on Thursday 21st May 2026, experts will lead three hour walks to take in Lawrence’s home, the site where he crashed his motorbike and suffered fatal injuries, the church where Winston Churchill attended his funeral, and the churchyard where he is buried.
Footsteps Through Time, a free programme of guided walks that runs from March to October, has in the past, celebrated the landscapes that shaped the work of Thomas Hardy.
But for 2026, the popular walks have been extended to include the places, paths and viewpoints that had a profound effect on Lawrence of Arabia’s extraordinary life, led by guides who combine local insight with their passion for Dorset’s heritage.
The walks are free, although people will have to pay the entrance fee to visit Clouds Hill if they are not members of the National Trust. The walks are expected to be hugely popular and prebooking is essential.
A memorial to TE Lawrence at the site where he crashed his motorcycle near Bovington
“Landscapes that shaped legacies”
Liz Flight, senior visitor experience officer for the National Trust, said:
“We’re really excited to offer even more opportunities for people to get outside and discover Dorset’s stories on foot.
“It’s a lovely way to connect with nature, learn something new, and explore the landscapes that shaped the legacies of two men who will always be remembered for their links to the county.
“For Hardy, we will help visitors explore the woodlands of his childhood at Thorncombe Woods, the route he often walked between Hardy’s Cottage and Max Gate, and the countryside tracks once shared with his dog, Wessex.
“For Lawrence, we have planned a long route from Moreton to Clouds Hill which helps to uncover the key sites connected to his life and final days, from the church where his funeral was held to the site of the accident that led to his death.
“We will visit Moreton Cemetery and St. Nicholas Church, the Bovington Tank viewing area to see the tree planted in his honour, and pay our respects at the commemorative stone marking the spot where he crashed his Brough motorcycle trying to avoid two young cyclists.”
The home at Clouds Hill was originally built as a woodsman’s cottage, without foundations
“One lone resident bat”
Liz added:
“We will also spend half an hour at Clouds Hill, the rural retreat of TE Lawrence, which has been freshly restored after winter conservation work.
“It was originally designed as a woodsman’s cottage with no foundations, so the building itself is rather fragile and has to be monitored throughout the year by skilled conservationists who protect the objects from light, dust, pests, humidity and temperature changes.
“They also manage insect activity inside the cottage – it’s largely woodlice found due to the woodland setting, which thankfully have not caused any damage to the cottage or collection.
“And the entire contents of the collection have to be covered with dust sheets each night due to one lone resident bat who prefers Clouds Hill to the area across the road where the rest of the bat colony roost!
“We are installing a bat box in the tree outside the cottage, hoping he might decide to make a home there instead!”
Clouds Hill became an escape for Lawrence, and many of the furnishings were a throwback to his time in the Arabian desert
“A little cottage, half ruinous”
Clouds Hill is the cottage where Lawrence of Arabia sat to write, read and relax, a short distance away from his army life at the Bovington Camp.
He described it as ‘a little cottage, half ruinous, a mile from camp, (which I have) water tighted it to act as a room for myself. There I hope in future to do my writing, which is becoming more and more a habit.’
Lawrence furnished the rooms of Clouds Hill to his own personal taste and they remain much as he left them, from the leather doors and rugs which reflect his time living in the desert, to items he designed himself, such as a tea set, candle sconces and fire fenders which he had made by local craftspeople.
Also in the collection are Lawrence’s writing desk, typewriter and an EMG gramophone with a huge horn, as well as his large leather day bed and custom made reading chair.
Lawrence of Arabia’s grave in Moreton, with a Brough Superior motorcycle he owned beside it
Passionate about motorbikes
Lawrence was passionate about motorbikes and kept several Brough Superiors during his time at Clouds Hill, the highest quality and fastest motorbikes available at the time which were specially built for him and which he kept in the shed.
He spent 15 years at Clouds Hill before his death at the age of 46 in May 1935 when his motorcycle veered off the road and crashed near Bovington.
It is believed that he had been riding his motorcycle at high speeds on a wet Sunday morning when he swerved to avoid two boys on bicycles and suffered head injuries, from which he died six days later.
Following his death at Bovington Camp, a funeral was held at St Nicholas’s Church, Moreton, on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st May 1935.
St Nicholas’s Church, Moreton, where the funeral service for TE Lawrence was held in 1935
“We shall never see his like again”
It was attended by 170 people, including the future Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Britain’s first woman MP Lady Nancy Astor, while King George V sent a telegram of condolence to the family.
Churchill said of Lawrence, “I fear whatever our need, we shall never see his like again.”
A marble effigy to the World War One hero, who led Arabs to overthrow the Ottoman Empire, turning the tide of the war, is at the Saxon church of St Martin on the Walls, Wareham.
Lawrence visited Wareham frequently, and a permanent exhibition in honour of his life is now being planned for a new £750,000 museum in Wareham which will be built in the former NatWest bank buildings on North Street.
An artist’s impression of how the new £750,000 Wareham Museum might look when it is completed
Further information
- More details of the National Trust guided walks are on its website
