STONEBARROW, ST GABRIEL’S CHAPEL AND GOLDEN CAP

Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 5 3/4 miles

Time: Approx. 3 1/2 hours

Park: National Trust car park at Stonebarrow

Walk Features: From the start at Stonebarrow, the walk gradually dips and then climbs steadily to approach the summit of Golden Cap. At 191 metres (627 feet) it is the highest point on the south coast. There is a steep, stepped descent from the summit, becoming more gradual along lower cliffs, with a gentle incline back towards the start. The views across Lyme Bay are stunning and well worth the effort. The route varies with a good mix of pasture, woodland and wellmarked paths and tracks. Care is needed by the cliff edges. There is also the option to start this walk at the National Trust car park at Langdon Hill.

Refreshments: The Anchor, Seatown >

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.

Exploring the terrain of West Dorset would not be complete without a walk which takes in the Golden Cap Estate. However, this is a walk which is not just about sweeping views and grand vistas. Langdon Hill is the distinctive-shaped wood which backs onto the summit of Golden Cap and is worth exploring as are the sunken pockets of meadow around the ruins of St Gabriel’s Chapel. The National Trust car park at Stonebarrow is home to a more modern structure, a WWII radar station, now a bunkhouse, and the route also takes in St Wite’s Well. There are delightful dips and turns along the way from Stonebarrow to Golden Cap, crossing old medieval routes. The descent from the summit of Golden Cap is invigorating, with the last section more gentle. Much of the ecology of the Golden Cap Estate is of national importance and most is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The hill’s name is derived from its composition of weathered Upper Greensand over Lower Jurassic Liassic clays. At Langdon Hill there’s a 1-mile circular path with a wide, level and compacted surface suitable for most wheelchairs and pushchairs, accessed by a gate with a RADAR key.

Directions

Start: SY 390 935

1 Drive to the very end of Stonebarrow car park (Stonebarrow Lane), underneath a clump of pine trees and park there. The car park is accessed via a steep narrow lane from Charmouth.

2 Take the large gate(s) to the left of the car park to walk along a track, sheltered in places. Pass through other large gateways and after 1/2 mile you will come to Grandview Farm. The track now becomes a drive, Ship Knapp. Walk gradually downhill and after 1/4 mile reach a signpost on your right for St Wite’s Well, just before you reach the A35.

3 Bear sharp right at the signpost to follow this track, with views over to Langdon Hill. You will soon reach St Wite’s Well. Continue on this track for 1/2 mile until you eventually reach a crossroads on Muddyford Lane. Go over the crossroads, heading for St Gabriel’s Cottages and St Gabriel’s Capel. The lane winds and twists downhill before heading slightly uphill to reach the cottages. The cottages (St Gabriel’s House) occupy a lovely sheltered spot, with hawthorns and oaks dripping with lichen and mosses, and the cottages themselves are quite homely. The hamlet dates back to 1086 and is surrounded by a patchwork of small, ancient meadows. Turn left at the junction in front of the cottages to reach St Gabriel’s Chapel.

4 After visiting the chapel, retrace your steps back up the lane past the cottages for 150 yards then turn right into a field through a large wooden gate and sign for Langdon Hill and car park 1 1/4 mile (and Morecombelake 1 mile). Carry along the footpath then through another wooden gate onto a magical woodland track, Copse Mead, following the river valley. Go through a small wooden gate by the side of a larger gate onto a wooden footbridge. Keep straight ahead following the signs for Langdon Hill. Pass through another large wooden gate into a field, to keep a hedge on your right, then out of this field and across a track by a cottage into another field, still signed to the Car Park. Walk up the steep field to the woods. Go through the small gate at the top and turn left onto a small track which soon joins the large woodland track which circuits Langdon Hill.

5 Walking clockwise around the hill, this track soon takes you past the National Trust car park for Langdon Hill. On the east side of the hill, there are good views over Chideock and Thorncombe Beacon. After 1/2 mile, you will reach the southern side of Langdon Hill, which looks out onto Golden Cap.