Deep among the limestone hillocks of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, in the village of Worth Matravers, is the Square and Compass. This cottage, rain-swept and wind-wracked, has been the site of a pub since the 18th century. It isn’t local toilers – fishermen, farmers and stone workers – who have allowed the place to endure, though, so much as tourists. The Square and Compass sits at the nexus of multiple hiking trails, where it’s able to harvest both ramblers’ thirst and their lust for a pretty view.
This is the edge of Hardy country, the chalky cleft in his Wessex. He didn’t place any scenes in the pub, but through the uncomfortable wooden benches and flared fireplace, boozers can almost touch the Hardy rustic hay.
From the bar
The pub is a purveyor of ales from the south-west and a rich selection of cider, of which its own fermentation is prized. As for food, it’s strictly pies and pasties – great welters of pastry muffle thick dollops of potato, served on paper plates.
The culture
Musicians have been a feature of the Square and Compass down the centuries (another nod to the archetypal Hardy tavern), and they continue to rattle the low-beamed interior. Sets are frequent and diverse, running the gamut between rock, folk and sea shanties.
The pub also contains a small museum devoted to limestone fossils, local archaeological artefacts and the flotsam of shipwrecks, all encased in glass cabinets. Time feels suspended here, and few would prefer it otherwise.
The Square and Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset
[Further reading: MrBeast’s empire of slop]
Content from our partners
Related
This article appears in the 04 Feb 2026 issue of the New Statesman, The Mandelson affair
Join the debate
Subscribe here to comment