Category: Walks

A walker’s guide to the East Devon Way

Planning your walking itinerary couldn’t be easier, use the map to help you find local hidden gems to suit all group sizes, tastes and budgets. Find perfect country pubs or a tranquil garden to enjoy a real Devon cream tea.

Explore this 40 mile walking route between Exmouth and Lyme Regis. Follow it through the heart of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It links to the South West Coast Path, the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and the Exe Estuary.

The nearest part of the East Devon Way is the route is Colyton to Lyme Regis.

This is a lovely long day walk, taking in three rivers, an iron-age castle, an impressive viaduct and ending in the bustling Dorset seaside town of Lyme Regis.
Starting in Colyton; an ancient market town has shops, pubs and tea rooms, the walk crosses the wide Axe Valley, up-hill to Musbury Castle, with a short detour to be king of the castle a fine place for views and a great spot for a picnic, down rural lanes leading to Uplyme and on to the attractive seaside town of Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast.

The route links footpaths, bridleways and country lanes to create an inland route. It is split up into day walks from 4 – 9 miles long and enjoy the delightful countryside which includes hills, woods, rivers and commons and lovely Devon villages which you may well drive right past if you were in your car.

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We hope you enjoy walking along this route and experiencing all that East Devon has to offer.

Visiting a Bluebell Wood is one of the UK’s great seasonal highlights, Prescott Pinetum Uplyme is a must visit this spring.

Walk back up Venlake Lane and cross Cannington Lane into Woodhouse Lane. Head up the hill from the cross roads and after about 300m you’ll see a footpath marker on your right in Woodhouse Fields.

There is a sign almost immediately opposite it on the left for the Woodland Trust. The road then turns into a footpath that heads up in to the woods.

The Prescott Pinetum, (also known as either Uplyme or Woodhouse Pinetum), sits on a north-east facing slope, and is visible from Uplyme. Hosting a variety of majestic oak, beech and conifer species, overlooking Lyme Regis and the Jurassic Coast, the Pinetum is thought to have been established between 1840 and 1860s, and features giant Wellingtonia’s, Grand fir, Noble Fir, Blue Atlas Cedar, Japanese Red Cedar, Prince Albert’s Yew and Coast Redwoods. Many of the conifers that remain are now magnificent specimen trees, including one UK champion. This site’s diversity of species has earned it a Tree Preservation Order. A single path meanders through the woodland. Look out for the remains of a woodman’s cottage.

Follow the path and then turn right to follow the path back on yourself and down to the lane again. Turn left and follow Dipper Trail out onto the road and then turn left again. The road climbs and at the junction turn left again and follow Seaview Road through the woods again. At the end of the road turn right and back down the Woodhouse Lane and home.

A walk through the woods on Langdon Hill, visiting the medieval hamlet of Stanton St Gabriel, now a handful of refurbished cottages and a ruined thirteenth century chapel.

The landscape spread out around Langdon Hill is criss-crossed with ancient trackways as well as fields and hedgerows from medieval times, and the traditional farming methods used on National Trust land encourage a profusion of wildlife.

Children will love the freedom of the open ground and the old lanes, as well as the forest paths and the ancient ruins.

Route Description
From the car park in Seatown, take the road northwards, towards Chideock, and turn left onto the South West Coast Path, following it across the field, through the copse, and steeply uphill through the open heathland on the seaward side of the next field.

Emerging from the scrub onto open ground, fork left and carry on along the Coast Path as it crosses to the left-hand corner at the top of this open ground and starts climbing towards Golden Cap.

However, if you want to avoid the steep ascent and descent going over Golden Cap, instead of taking this left-hand path you can fork right here, to walk along the hedge, turning left onto the lane beyond at 8 and then taking the path around Langdon Hill at 7 for a shorter stroll.

If you are opting for the longer walk and carrying on along the Coast Path towards the top of Golden Cap, the path goes through the gap in the hedge and curves around the back of the hill before it climbs to the summit, and another path leads back to Langdon Hill. Again stay with the Coast Path as it summits and then zigzags down towards the valley.

When the path forks at the end of this field, take the right-hand path and follow it downhill towards St Gabriel’s Wood.

The ruins in front of you are all that remains of St Gabriel’s Chapel, first recorded in 1240.

The walk continues up the track to the right from here; but take the time to stroll down to Stanton St Gabriel, just a stone’s throw to your left, where the handful of cottages, refurbished as holiday cottages by the National Trust, are all that now remains of the medieval hamlet.

There has been a settlement here since Saxon times, although the hamlet was not formally recorded until 1086.

At that time the surrounding landscape would have been divided into a number of smallholdings, and today the area is criss-crossed with the ancient pathways, hedges and fields from those times, as well as from later centuries.

The main house of the settlement is St Gabriel’s House, thought to have been the mediaeval manor house of Stanton. Although much of the brickwork is eighteenth century, the stone walling is medieval.

In 1650 there were 23 families here, who asked for St Gabriel’s Chapel to be made a parish church, although nobody knows whether this happened. Certainly, by the end of the eighteenth century the chapel had fallen into disrepair, following the decline of the hamlet’s population, as most of the agricultural workers left to go to Bridport and work in the rope-making industry.

The Anchor Inn in Seatown is said to have been the stamping ground of a band of nineteenth century smugglers known as “The Chideock Gang”.

From the hamlet walk back up the track past the chapel and carry on along it, turning right again just after it goes through into the next field, and from here walk uphill along the hedge, turning left at the top to follow the path to the gate at the far end.

On the Golden Cap Estate, as in its properties elsewhere, the National Trust has encouraged the use of traditional farming methods, and this helps wildlife to flourish. In the tiny streams there are amphibians like frogs, toads and newts, while on land their reptile cousins include adders and the common lizard. In the air above the streams you may catch a glimpse of a dragonfly, while the many species of wildflowers like primroses, bluebells and orchids attract butterflies and other insects. Birds in the area include the yellowhammers which bob and dip between the thorn bushes, as well as buzzards hunting overhead, and massive ravens with glossy black plumage.

Going through the gate into the next field, carry straight on ahead to the gate at the top, where the path skirts the southern end of the woodland on Langdon Hill.

Reaching the gate, you can either turn left before it, onto the path around the outside perimeter of the wood, or you can go through the gate and turn left on the path into the trees, turning left again when you come to the track leading around the western side of the wood. If you choose the path outside the woodland, follow it all the way around the hill, ignoring the path downhill to the left en route, and join the track as it begins to curve around the far end of the wood.

Stay on this track right the way around the hill, ignoring the turning to the left through the car park, and continue to the southern end of the wood.

When you come to the path on your left as the track turns westwards again, turn left onto it and follow it down to where it meets the green lane beyond. Carry on along this lane (Pettycrate Lane), ignoring the path to the right soon afterwards.

After a while, Langdon Lane joins from the left. Go on past this, until the next fork, a little way beyond. Leave Pettycrate Lane here as it heads towards Chideock, and bear right to follow this lane instead as it starts to drop downhill towards Seatown.

Reaching Sea Hill Lane, just beyond Seahill House, turn right and go back down towards Seatown, to return to the car park on your left.

For those interested in railways or industrial archaeology the Cannington Viaduct is one of the largest viaducts in East Devon and it heralds from a time when railway construction was at its height. The Lyme Regis branch line was just over 6 miles long from the main line at Axminster to Lyme Regis and was known as the Bluebell Line.

It was a ‘Light Railway’ built to slightly lower specifications than the main line and at its height there were up to nine trains a day between Axminster and Lyme Regis.

When the railway closed Lyme Regis station was dismantled and re-erected on the Watercress Line near Winchester in Hampshire. Lyme Regis station was about 0.63 miles (1km) from the centre of the town and the site is now occupied by Travis Perkins builders merchants.

Directions

From the Cottage turn left and walk down to the Village Hall.

Go through the gate at the back right hand side of the Village Hall car park into a field (passing a finger post grid referenced SY 324934). Walk in front of the cricket pavilion,  cross a bridge and go through a gate.

Continue ahead up a field bearing left around a line of trees. Follow the top edge of the field with the trees on your right and go through a gate to reach a tarmac track where you turn left to reach the road at Wadley Hill.

Cross this junction and continue ahead (along Cannington Lane) passing a 30mph speed restriction sign and bear left at the next junction with the viaduct in view in front of you.

After 680 yards (625m) you go under the Cannington Viaduct.

The 203 yards long viaduct was part of the Axminster to Lyme Regis light railway which opened in 1903 and was the first viaduct in Britain to be made from concrete. It has 10 elliptical arches and is about 92 feet high.

Soon after it was opened the western end began to subside and an extra ‘fill in’ arch was added. The branch line closed in 1965 and there is no public access to the viaduct itself.

About 110 yards (100m) after the viaduct go left through a field gate just before Shapwick House. You follow a public bridleway across a field with great views of the Cannington viaduct.

The term Shapwick means ‘sheep farm’ and several places around here bear the name. Just before the viaduct on the right (as you walk along) is the site of Holcombe Roman villa which was first excavated in the 19^th century.  Beneath the villa was a late Iron Age settlement where a rare mirror (AD 30 – 70) was discovered and it is now in the British Museum. The site has been grassed over and there is nothing to see today.

The bridleway goes in front of the large house ahead and joins a largely concrete track. Almost at the end of the track you reach Cuckoo Hill Cottages with a stile on your left.

Cross the stile and bear right heading down across fields, crossing two more stiles and the track of the dismantled railway. You reach a gated footbridge into the Hook Farm campsite.

Walk through the campsite to reach the road (Gore Lane) where you turn left and descend to reach the Talbot Arms. Here go right to reach Blacksmith’s Cottage.

This is a delightful short walk which begins at Lyme Regis in Dorset and ends at Uplyme in Devon. The walk starts at the historic resort of Lyme Regis and follows alongside the River Lym (or Lim) to reach the village of Uplyme.

Much of this walk is on firm surfaces so it makes a good all year round walk. Several sections are part of the East Devon Way – a 40mile (60 km) inland footpath from Exmouth to Lyme Regis marked by a foxglove logo and signed by pink arrows.

Directions

From Cobb Gate at Lyme Regis there are two routes to the Town Mill:

a) Go through Broad Street (pay & display) car park and descend the steps on the right at the back of the car park to reach the Town Mill and Craft Centre.

b) Walk along Coombe Street, opposite the Museum and Guildhall, signed ‘Riverside Walk Town Mill’. After 120 yards (110m) go sharp left signed ‘Riverside Walk Town Mill’ to reach the Town Mill and Craft Centre

The Town Mill dates from the 14^th century and was used as a wheat mill until the 1920s when it closed. After being a Council yard and used for storage (including deck chairs) the mill fell into a derelict state until it was restored and reopened to mill grain in 2001. Grain is still milled here and three different kinds of flour are on sale inside. Surrounding the mill are other buildings used as a Craft Centre and cafe.

Turn left between the end of the mill building and ‘Old Lynch Mill Lane’ (house) along a narrow walled path. At the end go right. Walk along with the mill leat on your right and the river on your left.

At the road continue ahead up Mill Green (a road) and after a short distance, you join the riverside path again.

Cross the river to reach a road with Windsor Terrace opposite. Continue along Windsor Terrace with the river on your left to reach a stone arch bridge and fingerpost at Horne Bridge (named after the Horne Tavern which once stood near here). Continue ahead signed ‘Uplyme & East Devon Way ‘(part of the Wessex Ridgeway).

Continue ahead with the river on your left crossing a stone footbridge to reach a field. Go through the field aiming for the fingerpost and gate ahead.

After the gate cross a wooden footbridge and go left at a fingerpost (grid referenced SY 333933) at ‘The Old Mill’ and signed ‘Uplyme ½ ‘.

From the 14^th to 18^th century there were lots of mills along the river with many of them being textile mills producing good-quality cloth. Dying and weaving was also carried out in the village and it is said that cloth was produced here for Queen Elizabeth I’s soldiers.

One of the remaining mills is the Old Mill here which was built in the 18^th century as a textile mill driven by an overshot water wheel.

Walk in front of the Old Mill and then along a raised path above the river. You reach a track (Mill Lane) where you go left passing Honeysuckle Cottage to reach a road (where the fingerpost is at SY 329934).

Cross the road and continue ahead (signed ‘Uplyme ¼’).

At the next road (Church Street) take the path to the left of Church Cottage unless you wish to visit the church where you turn right and climb the hill to the church.

The Church

The original church was medieval but it was largely restored in 1876 and has a very attractive wagon roof. On the right from the entrance, there is a fine stained glass window dedicated to the memory of Wilfred Parke, a very early aviator, who was killed in 1912 ‘by the fall of his aeroplane’ (the word “crash” had not yet been invented).

The yew tree is the oldest living inhabitant of Uplyme being over a thousand years old.

The path on the left of Church Cottage reaches the car park of the Talbot Arms and the bus stop with the Village Hall opposite.

The Talbot Arms is named after a local landowner Sir John Talbot who was an admiral and Lord of the Manor from the early part of the 19^th century.