The Dorset Walk – Broadwindsor, Burstock, Childhay and Drimpton
Matt Wilkinson walks under the shadow of Dorset’s two highest hills
Published in April ’18
Looking back towards Broadwindsor on the ascent towards Lewesdon Hill
This is Lewesdon Hill and Pilsdon Pen country, the two highest points in the county – although which is the higher is a perennial subject for debate (it depends whether you include the trees on Lewesdon, apparently). The route intentionally stays on the lower ground, with an option to climb Lewesdon, but offers some lovely views and goes through some typically pretty corners of West Dorset.
Lewesdon has some wonderfully characterful trees
Broadwindsor achieved its greatest fame 366 years ago, when Charles II came within a whisker of being captured as he fled after the battle of Worcester, seeking a boat to take him across the Channel. He was staying at the village inn when Parliamentary troops arrived and demanded accommodation. One of their camp followers then went into labour, and they were distracted enough to allow the King to steal away. The village is also home to a large craft centre with a new restaurant.
Burstock depended on farming, and thanks to mechanisation, its population is only about a half of what it was in the 19th century. Rather incongruously for such a small place, it might have boasted its own railway station had a proposed line from Chard to Lyme Regis gone ahead.
Sheepwash Lane which runs from Courtwood Fram towards Burstock
Although the ice cream that bears its name is no longer made there, Childhay Manor still stands as a fine example of a small West Dorset manor house. It dates back to the 13th century and part of it can be rented as holiday accommodation.
Drimpton is not the prettiest village in Dorset, but there is some nice thatch and the modern additions are not too far out of keeping with the older buildings. In the 19th century it was home to a thriving flax mill. The little parish church dates from the 1800s, when it was built largely by the villagers’ own hands, using materials donated by the local landowner.
Manor Farm in Burstock. The pointer for the footpath towards Whetham Mill is at the very left of the shot.
THE WALK
1 Walk back towards the one-way system and the White Lion. Take the first turning on the right, signed to Marshwood and Axminster. In about 250 yards, soon after a left-hand bend, walk down the drive immediately on the other side of The Toll House. At the end of the drive, continue straight ahead to reach a gate into a field. Bear right and parallel the right-hand edge to a gate at the far end. Continue in the same direction in the next field, and in the field after that bear slightly right, uphill to a gate. Go through it, still heading in the same direction, and keep close to the trees and bushes on the right to reach a gate.
2 On the other side, turn right. (The diversion to the top of Lewesdon Hill is straight ahead; on top of the hill, turn right and follow a generally well-defined path downhill to rejoin the main route.) There are views to the right across Broadwindsor and north into Somerset. The path eventually reaches a road. Cross over and turn left to walk carefully down the right-hand side with the bulk of Pilsdon Pen straight ahead. Take the first turning on the right, which is the drive to Courtwood Farm. Pass a bungalow and, as the drive curves away to the left, continue ahead onto a rough track.
Near the evocatively named Pitman’s Grave just before the ascent to Blagdon Hill
3 Follow this, ignoring gates either side, as it bends left and right then descends. At the bottom of the slope, ignoring a track on the right, bear left onto a path. It ascends and briefly becomes a track again before reaching a lane at a T-junction. Go straight ahead, downhill, and walk into Burstock. To emphasise the agricultural nature of the village, Manor Farm is right in its centre.
4 Turn left immediately after the farm’s main buildings, as the road bends to the right in front of a handsome low house of mellow stone. The track runs to the right of some silage clamps (so there is an abundance of that most popular modern crop – old motor tyres) and into an open field. Turn right to follow its right-hand edge down to the bottom of the hill. Just past its lowest point, look out for bridges over the two streams on the right. Cross them and turn left to follow the left-hand field-edge to a gate in the first corner. Turn right after the gate and walk along a narrow boggy area, which runs into two wider fields. Continue along them both to reach a drive.
The church of St John the Baptist, Broadwindsor, on the return to the parking area
5 Turn left, then almost immediately left on a lane, cross a bridge and turn immediately right through a gate. Follow the right-hand edge of this and the next field to a paved drive, where turn right. Reaching a T-junction in front of some farm buildings, with Childhay Manor to the left, turn right and walk up to a lane, where turn right again. Follow the lane to a T-junction, where turn left, then in 100 yards reach rather an overgrown gate on the right. Go through it and bear left to an opening visible on the far side. Cross the next field diagonally to the far left-hand corner. Here bear right on a track that leads through farm buildings to a road.
6 Turn right and walk uphill through Drimpton, following the road round to the right by the Royal Oak. Continue along the road and walk out of Drimpton. Just before passing under a pylon line, fork left. Walk along this lane for about 2/3 of a mile to the top of a rise, where a lane runs off to the left and a track to the right. A couple of yards along the track, go left through the hedge and bear right, straight towards flat-topped Blagdon Hill. Cross a stile on the far side of the field and follow the hedge on the right for two fields.
7 At the end of the second one, turn right on a track towards Blagdon Farm, but just opposite the beginning of the farm buildings, as the track bends gently right, turn left to a gate into an open field. Walk straight across the field to a stile and in the next field bear right to the far right-hand corner. Go through a gate and continue in the same direction to cross the next field diagonally to its far corner. Enter Moorlands Farm by a gate at the bottom right of the fence separating farm from field, and turn right then left along the farm buildings to reach a road. (If the route should be blocked, climb into the field to the left of the farm and walk down to the road that way.) Turn left and in a little under 200 yards go over a stile on the left and turn right to walk up to a gate visible at the top of the field. Follow the right-hand edge of the next field to a gate, beyond which a path leads down to a steeply inclined drive. This in turn leads down to the road on which the parking area is to be found just to the right.
Distance: About 6¾ miles.
Terrain: Quite rough underfoot when off-road, with all-round mud in places, especially after rain. Likewise, some steady gradients but no major climbs.
Start: The parking area between the village shop and the village school in Drimpton Road, Broadwindsor. OS reference ST437027. Postcode DT8 3QL.
How to get there: From the roundabout at the western end of Beaminster, take the B3162 to Broadwindsor. Enter the village and follow the road downhill and past the White Lion on the right. At the junction near the bottom of the hill, continue straight ahead on Drimpton Road. The parking area is on the left in about 100 yards.
Maps: OS Explorer 116 (Lyme Regis & Bridport), OS Landranger 193 (Taunton & Lyme Regis).
Refreshments: White Lion & Craft Centre Broadwindsor; Royal Oak, Drimpton.
