Clouds Hill, Dorset (AW89)

This tiny, isolated cottage belonged to a very large 20th century legend: Lawrence of Arabia.
Archaeologist, author, soldier… T.E. Lawrence’s daring exploits in the Arab Revolt from 1916 to 1918 made him an international celebrity. But his wartime experiences and crippling guilt over the outcome of the uprising following the British and French betrayal of the Arab cause haunted him for the rest of his life.
In 1925 Lawrence purchased and set about renovating Clouds Hill to use as a haven for books, music and friendship.
In 1934, the year before his death, he wrote: “The cottage looks simple outside and does no hurt to its setting which is twenty miles of broken heath and a river valley filled with rhododendrons run wild. I think everything inside and outside my place approaches perfection.”