When Lawrence in 1923 rented the cottage it was derelict  and he set to with vigour repairing as much as he could with the help of Pioneer Sergeant Knowles modified the window in the Book Room. Lawrence was in the Tank Corps and only a private and stationed at Bovington camp and he wanted a place to revise his "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and when repairing the cottage he added some simple furnishings, he did not in fact live there at first but when he was off duty he spent time there relaxing.

Aircraftsman Shaw better known as T. E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

Later in 1925 after joining the Air Force he bought the cottage and on his discharge in 1935 he retired there permanently. And sadly on the 13th May 1935 he was thrown from his motorcycle while returning home and died six days later in hospital.This rather mysterious man was then laid to rest at Moreton churchyard and his simple headstone was carved by Eric Kennington and there is a reclining figure of Lawrence in his Arab costume with his head on a saddle, also built by Kennington in Wareham church.

NEAR THIS SPOT LAWRENCE OF ARABIA CRASHED ON HIS MOTORCYCLE AND WAS FATALLY INJURED 13th MAY 1935 The plaque on the stone marking the crash site reads THIS TREE WAS PLANTED ON 13th MAY 1983 BY Mr. TOM BEAUMONT WHO SERVED WITH LAWRENCE IN ARABIA AS HIS  No.1 VICKERS MACHINE GUNNER		The gravestone of Lawrence of Arabia in the tiny graveyard at St Nicholas Church Moreton Dorset read: TO THE DEAR MEMORY OF T. E. LAWRENCE FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE OXFORD BORN 16 AUGUST 1888 DIED 19 MAY 1935 THE HOUR IS COMING & NOW IS WHEN THE DEAD SHALL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD

The church suffered damage in WWII when a German bomb fell on e village and the north wall was partially demolished.

The manor house is the family seat of the Framptons but it is the tiny cottage of Lawrence that brings people here when we visited back in the 1970s a fire was lit in the hearth and the smell of woodsmoke drifted through the trees make it a magical place