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7. Bovington and Clouds Hill Links
on this page open a new window. Please report any broken links. For the wider surroundings including Moreton church and cemetary, see next page. Lawrence enlisted in the Tank Corps in March 1923 and served at Bovington Camp until he was transferred to the R.A.F. in the August 1925. It was during this period that he first rented the cottage at Clouds Hill, which he later purchased. In 1935, having served twelve years in the ranks, he retired and returned to Clouds Hill, intending to live there and set up a private-press. On 13 May 1935, while returning on his motor-cycle from the Post Office at Bovington Camp, he suffered severe head injuries in a road accident. He was taken to the camp's medical centre where he lingered in a coma without regaining consciousness. He died on 19 May and is buried at Moreton. Clouds Hill is shown to the left of the centre of this map, and Bovington Camp (now larger than in Lawrence's day) at the bottom. The site of Lawrence's fatal accident is to the north-west of the small car park shown on the road from Clouds Hill to Bovington Camp. The road, which has been substantially rebuilt since 1935, no longer follows exactly the same route as it did in 1935. It has been straightened, and the dips and rises levelled-out. The accident site is to the west of the present road.*
Clouds Hill Links Photographs of the cottage, inside and out, taken shortly after Lawrence's death National Trust site, for details of how to reach the cottage, opening times etc. The Tank
Museum, Bovington Camp
The T. E. Lawrence display at the Tank Museum includes rare film footage and a Brough Superior motorcycle similar to the one he was riding at the time of his fatal accident. The museum also holds a Rolls Royce armoured car of the type in use when Lawrence served in the Tank Corps in the 1920s. Places to stay See major
published guides. There are also two online listings: Nearby places for lunch We have had good reports of: The
Frampton Arms, Station Road, Moreton, Dorchester DT2 8BB Clouds Hill Pub, on the corner of Elles Road and George V Road, Bovington. "This recently built establishment is tastefully decorated with Lawrence of Arabia memorabilia" Map * For a discussion of the exact location of the accident, see Paul Marriott and Yvonne Argent, The Last Days of T. E. Lawrence (Brighton, The Alpha Press, 1996, Chapter 12)
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