A 17th century pub famously mentioned in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles has closed.

Brewery Hall and Woodhouse are clearing up the Fleur de Lys, in Wimborne Street, in Cranborne after tenant landlord Stewart Tipping left in April.

Villagers are sad to see the inn, praised by poet Rupert Brooke for its “fine noppy ale and red firelight”, empty.

Resident Geoff Roger pointed out: “We’ve got one pub and one restaurant. Is there really room for another?

Rex Neville runs The White Sheath in The Square.

He said: “I’m getting phone calls all the time asking for Mr Tipping.

“People think it’s lovely to have a nice country pub, but you work 16-hour days.”

David Blake, who works in Castle Street, said: “We used to take clients there.

“It’s certainly unsettling for the community. We need a good steady business.”

Resident of 40 years William Ellis drank in both pubs.

“I was happy drinking there,” he said. “There were nice fires, and good food.

“It’s a marvellous place. Two pubs can get on fine.”

Mark Hartstone owns restaurant Le Fosse in The Square.

“It’s a shame for the village,” he said.

“It had a fantastic reputation before and I’d like to see it thriving again.”

Brewery Hall and Woodhouse wants a new landlord.

Spokesman Matt Kearsey said: “We would like to assure the local community that we are doing all we can to make this happen.”

In fiction, Thomas Hardy’s tragic heroine Tess stopped at the pub – known in the book as the Flower de Luce – the night Alec d’Uberville raped her.