In his novels, Hardy firmly establishes the imaginative world of Wessex as the setting for the drama of his main characters. Far from the Madding Crowd is set against the landscape around Norcombe Hill and the village of Weatherbury. The pastoral setting of the novel is emphasized by such rustic occupations as sheep washing, sheep shearing, and the buying and selling of sheep at the Annual Fair at Greenhill. References are also made to farming, harvesting, haymaking, and the transactions at Casterbridge market.