Chetnole, Stockwood and Melbury Osmond
Catherine Speakman passes a very small church and a very large house. Anthony Blake took the photographs.
Published in November ’20
BALLARD Down forms the most easterly two miles of the inner ridge of the Purbeck Hills. It runs from the Ulwell Gap, north of Swanage, to the sea at Ballard Point. A little to the north lie the white stacks of Old Harry Rocks, which give a clue to the geology of the area: Ballard Down is part of the Portsdown Chalk Formation, dating from the Campanian age of the Cretaceous epoch, some 75 million years ago.
THE small church is St Edwold’s, Stockwood, and the large house is Melbury House, each in its own way one of the iconic buildings of Dorset.
Parking carefully at the church in Chetnole, walk away from the junction with the pub on your left. Go past the impressive Chetnole House and when the road turns left, carry straight on into the field. Walk to the trees and turn right. At the end of the field go through the gate to join Back Lane. Turn right and continue straight on to meet a road. Walk ahead all the way to just before the end of the paved road and …
To read the rest of this article and to enjoy the whole of the November 2020 issue for only £2.49,
