On Foot

On Foot MOONFLEET

Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 5½ miles Time: Approx. 2½ hours Park: The Elm Tree Inn car park, Langton Herring. Walk Features: The gradients on this route are reasonable with one small ascent towards West Fleet Farm and then another on the return leg past Under Cross Plantation. It’s a straightforward route which takes in the South West Coast Path as it meanders alongside The Fleet inside Chesil Bank as well as visiting the old and new churches in Fleet. Refreshments: The Elm Tree Inn, Langton Herring >

Each month we devise a walk for you to try with your family and friends (including four-legged members) pointing out a few interesting things along the way, be it flora, fauna, architecture, history, the unusual and sometimes the unfamiliar. For September we follow the South West Coast Path inside The Fleet, tracing some of the locations and inspiration for J. Meade Falkner’s novel Moonfleet, written in 1898. The old church at Fleet features prominently in the story. Fleet has two churches; the nave of the old church was destroyed in the Great Storm of 1824 and the new church was built as a replacement. The bell from the old church was moved and now rings out from the new church. The Fleet lagoon contains sediments at least 6000 years old and provides a safe haven and food for wintering birds including Brent Geese and Wigeon as well as Shoveler, Goldeneye, Pochard, Gadwall, Pintail, Teal and Red-breasted Merganser, with Common and Little Terns returning in the spring. There are over 150 species of seaweed, 25 species of fish and 60 species of mollusc recorded here. Also look out for Sea Aster, Sea Purslane, Marsh Mallow, Rock Samphire and Sea Beet. The lagoon is one of the largest in Britain. Beyond it lies Chesil Bank, the origin of which is still debated.

Directions Start: SY 615 825 1 Park at the Elm Tree Inn. From the Inn car park, turn right into Shop Lane and walk through the village. After 150 yards, go right at a bend and, just past the Methodist church as the road ends, you will see a signpost on your left for Moonfleet, 1¼ miles.

Take this path to soon pass through a large metal gate at the corner of a farm track. Carry straight on along the track for 400 yards, with views of the sea now ahead and on your right. Follow the track downhill and to the left of Under Cross Plantation.

Just after the plantation, the track flattens and you

meet the coast path. Keep straight on and, after 150 yards, look for a signpost on your right which points left to West Fleet Campsite ½ mile. 2 Turn left off the coast path and walk up the field keeping a hedge on your right. After an ascent of 400 yards you reach the top of the field, with good views of The Fleet behind you. The path veers left. After 150 yards, look for a stone stile in the drystone wall on your right. Go over this stile and then straight ahead, keeping a drystone wall on your right. The path curves around to the left.

Keep going around the outside of the field, soon passing the back of some houses. Just after these, you will see a stile which takes you into a small pony paddock. Go over this and then diagonally across the paddock to the right-hand corner and a metal gate. After the gate, turn left to then pick up a concrete drive between new buildings. Continue along this for 300 yards and then bear right where the footpath joins a bridleway which leads onto a tarmac drive. The drive bears left and then soon meets the road coming from Moonfleet Manor (the road forks three ways here). Turn left onto Fleet

Road, which now takes you towards East Fleet, eventually passing the new church before you reach the turning for the old church at Butter Street. 3 Turn right into Butter Street, with a sign for the coast path and old church. After a row of cottages you will see a kissing gate and the old church on your right. After visiting the church, turn right through the kissing gate, down a footpath and cross a small wooden footbridge, then turning left towards the lagoon. Go through another kissing gate as you turn right onto the coast path. 4 Keep to the coast path, hugging the inside of

The Fleet. After just over a mile, bear left into a copse and cross a small wooden footbridge, to then emerge from the copse and pass in front of

Moonfleet Manor. After the manor, the path soon cuts behind Herbury, a small peninsula which projects into The Fleet. As you walk past Herbury, you will meet the point where you left the coast path earlier. From here you can retrace your steps back to the start, but go to the left of Under Cross

Plantation and rejoin the track on the other side and then back into Langton Herring.

southwestcostpath.org.uk fleetandchesilreserve.org