The Dorset Walk – Dancing Ledge, Seacombe and Langton Matravers
Matt Wilkinson and Paul Quagliana cross Purbeck’s seaward ridge
Published in September ’18
The coastal view with Seacombe in the foreground
Both Dancing Ledge and Seacombe are disused cliff quarries. The advantage of such quarries was that the stone could be lowered by crane (or ‘whim’) into waiting flat-bottomed barges. They would transport it round Anvil Point to Swanage Bay, where it would be transferred to rather more substantial craft for its journey to London or wherever it was needed.
Dancing Ledge supposedly gets its fanciful name from the way the waves dance over it. Its most striking feature is a swimming pool that was blasted out of the rock in the early 20th century for the use of pupils at Durnford, then one of several prep schools in Langton Matravers. The last of these, the Old Malthouse, closed in 2007, and going down to swim at Dancing Ledge on a summer evening was a feature of life for the older boys until the end. The pool’s water is refreshed at every high tide.
At the top of Old Malthouse Lane on the left are the Old Malthouse buildings
Although this route visits two of Purbeck’s most popular coastal destinations, it also passes through two interesting villages and explores the less well-known country on the northern side of Purbeck’s seaward ridge.
The walk crosses the village street of Langton Matravers, but it is worth taking time to investigate the village, not least the church of St George with its unusual feature of a tower that is lower than its roofline (they were planning to put a steeple on it but ran out of money) and Mary Spencer Watson’s sculpture, ‘Purbeck Stonemason’, in the churchyard. The area’s quarrying heritage is reflected in the Langton Matravers Museum, which is usually open from April to September, Monday to Saturday, 10 to 12 and 2 to 4. Langton Matravers has its own village shop and pub, too.
Looking back at the impressive Purbeck Ridge
Quarrying was the lifeblood of Acton, which the route skirts but which is also worth exploring. It was fully described, with Clive Hannay’s matchless paintings, in August 2016’s Dorset Life.
One salutary aspect of the route is that the frankly scruffy buildings of Quarr Farm and the industrial scale of the quarrying operations around Acton remind us that over and above its beauty and tourist appeal, Purbeck is also home to a hard-working and productive economic community.
There will be uphill and downhill stretches along the coastal section of the walk
THE WALK
1 Walk on along the lane to where it bends to the right and starts to go steeply uphill. Here bear left along a track. Immediately in front of the first gate across the track, turn left down a path. It leads into an open field which is a camping and caravan site in the summer. Continue right down to the bottom of the field, where go through a gate and turn right to walk along the next field, leaving it by a gate in the far left-hand corner into Quarr Farm. Go straight ahead along a semi-paved track until it bends left into a yard. Here continue straight ahead, up a short slope, on a grassy path. This leads into an open area with buildings on the left and a metal gate on the right.
2 Go through this gate onto a path through Langton West Wood. A wire mesh fence appears on the right and at the end of this, about ½ mile after entering the wood, take a path to the right that descends steeply via steps in places. Cross a stream and continue to a stile, after which the path opens out and begins to climb. Bear slightly right to a stile, beyond which is an open field. Bear left to a gate in the left-hand side, about 100 yards down from the corner. In the next field, turn right and walk up to a stile. Cross it and head for another stile near the top right-hand corner. Cross it and turn left to walk up Old Malthouse Lane, so called because in the 19th century barley was malted in the buildings at the top of the lane on the left; it later became a
prep school.
Crossing a ‘stream’, which was dried up when we shot the photos, in the early part of the walk
3 Reaching the road through Langton Matravers, continue straight across onto a track. At a gate, continue ahead on a grassy path. Cross a cross-paths and the path begins to rise. At the top of the field, go through a gate and turn left, heading for a stile about 60 yards to the right of the next corner. Cross the stile, go down some steps and turn right along a track. Where the track is crossed by the Priest’s Way, continue on a path towards Spyway Barn. After passing between the barn and the cottage opposite it, walk down two fields to the top of a steep slope. Bear right for about 150 yards, then left to descend steeply to a barrier that offers the unusual sight of four stiles in line.
4 In a worthwhile diversion, cross one of the stiles and scramble down to explore Dancing Ledge, but the main route of the walk turns right here and follows the coast path for about ¾ mile to Seacombe. Here again, it is well worth going through the wooden gate on the left and down to the sea, Seacombe being arguably the most attractive of the three cliff quarries on this stretch of coast (Winspit, to the west, is the third). However, the main route of the walk turns inland, up a track along the valley bottom. Ignore steps on the left that lead up to the continuation of the coast path, and a side valley, also on the left, up which runs the path to Worth Matravers. Stay on the track to a stile and beyond, as it climbs steadily. Strangely, one rarely meets other walkers on this track which, in its bowl of beautifully shaped and proportioned hills, is one of the loveliest stretches on Purbeck.
Looking back at Dancing Ledge
5 At the top, go through a gate and across one field to a gate onto the track that is the Priest’s Way. Turn right. In about 1/3 mile, cross a major track linking two halves of a quarry complex, go through a gate, and in about 80 yards, turn left. Follow the track round the edge of Acton until it becomes a paved lane, leading up to a T-junction. Go straight across and through a gate, then bear right to a gate in a stone wall. Now bear right to a stile in a fence to the right of a power pole. Bear right again through what looks like a private garden and turn right on a track that leads down the side of the group of buildings known as Castle View.
Six-spot Burnet moths feeding on wildflowers by the coast path in summer
6 Just before the track bends to the right, double back to the left, through a gate, and walk diagonally down the field to its furthest right-hand corner. Here cross a stile and continue in the same direction across two more fields. On the far side of the second one, cross a stile and walk straight ahead to pass between a wooden fence on the left and an oak tree on the right and to reach yet another stile. Turn right on the road to reach your car.
Distance: About 5½ miles.
Terrain: Generally good going underfoot. The most demanding climb is up from Seacombe, but it is long and steady rather than steep.
Start: Haycrafts Lane, Harmans Cross.
How to get there: Take the A351 from Corfe Castle towards Swanage. At the cross-roads in the middle of Harmans Cross, turn right. In a little over ½ mile, as the road goes through a series of left, right, left bends, there is a wide grass verge on the left. OS reference SY984795. Postcode BH19 3EE.
Maps: OS Explorer OL15 (Purbeck & South Dorset), OS Landranger 195 (Bournemouth & Purbeck).
Refreshments: None on the route, but the Kings Arms at Langton Matravers is close.
