Which fictional English county was the setting for Thomas Hardy's novels?

Wessex is the fictional English county that was the setting for Thomas Hardy's novels because Hardy wanted to create a unified literary landscape based on the real counties of Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, where he grew up and lived most of his life. By combining elements from these counties, Hardy crafted the fictional county of Wessex, which allowed him to capture the essence of rural England and delve into timeless themes of love, societal constraints, and the harsh realities of rural life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hardy's depiction of Wessex became synonymous with his body of work and remains an integral part of English literature.