Long Bredy

Walk

From the car parking spot head out onto The Bend, an almost 90 degree curve in the Roman Road, and turn right. The Roman road from Dorchester (Durnovaria) to Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) was built early during the Roman Invasion as a military highway. Maiden Castle had been ‘captured’ in about 44AD and the road developed the following year, eventually reaching Exeter and establishing a fort there in 55AD. Its route is still used by traffic today on the busy A35 until the turnpike curves away from the older route as it approaches Winterborne Abbas. The Roman road then climbs up the hill in a zig zag fashion to Two Gates and on to cruise the ramparts of Eggardon Hillfort. It then disappears into the clay of the Marshwood Vale, where its path is debated. Investigations were carried out in the 1970s which concluded that a road possibly diverted north at Two Gates, heading up along the ridge, avoiding the boggy and wild Marshwood Vale. It merges with the ancient Harrow Way to the north of the Beaminster Bowl near Horn Hill, and then continues to the Roman fort of Waddon. The route leaves the county having passed the hillforts of Lewesdon, Pilsdon and Lambert’s Castle. Another small road was suggested in an episode of Time Team, while researching the history of Pickett’s Farm, heading north to the Fosse Way.

Follow the Roman road to the crossroads and turn right, signposted for Kingston Russell Farm. After approximately 400m turn left through a farm gate onto a bridleway. Bear right in the field, with Hardy’s Monument on the horizon ahead, to then merge onto a grass track in the hedge’s corner. Drop gently down with the track to the pylons and, after a gate, turn right onto a medieval drove road from Maiden Newton.

With the hedge on the right, skim past Hill Barn to then merge onto its entrance drive, through another farm gate and down into Kingston Russell. Turn left on the village road to pass between the 18^th century farmhouse and shabby barns to then climb out of its little valley up to the A35. Cross over with care and follow the little farm road into Long Barrow Farm. Stay on the same track through the farm buildings to then climb up the gentle rise onto Martins Down.

Martin’s Down can easily be confused with the more well-known Martin Down on Cranborne Chase. Both are rich with ancient earthworks spanning centuries, from Neolithic through to the Roman period, the remains captured within the chalk of the slopes. The surrounding landscape is littered with ancient tumuli including bowl barrows, round barrows and dykes, the smooth horizon often broken by the rise of a mound. To the east of Martin’s Down are the Poor Lot Barrows, a cemetery believed to have the most amount of burials in one small area, the total being 44.

Bend with the track to the right then at the end, turn left, through the smallest of the gates. Stay on the old Maiden Newton drove road as it carve its way through the hillside, a track that dates back centuries. Drop down the slopes with views looking out to sea and the valley below rising up to the Knoll, south of Puncknowle.  Gradually the church of St Peter’s comes into view, nestled between spurs of the valley.

St Peter’s Church sits in the Education and Salvation corner of Little Bredy, in the company of the old village school and School Master’s House. The chancel, which is uniquely bigger than the nave, dates back to the 13th century but was restored in 1842 by Benjamin Ferry, the remaining building being rebuilt and restored in 1863 by John Hicks. Within the graveyard are a number of mysterious monuments. At the top of the churchyard is a stone coffin fenced off by iron gates. It is dedicated to a young 19 year old girl, daughter of Noel of Upper Tooting. The reason for her early death is unknown, but she was clearly missed, placed in an area of importance, awaiting more to join her but never did. Outside the front of the St Peter’s is another gravestone, in the company of the following 3 generations of the same family, despite them moving away. The 19th century Rectory, now known and Langbride House, is a private residence today and sits just behind the School Master’s House

As the church is high up in the valley, protected on three sides by the surrounding hills of Martin Down, it looks down upon the village to the south, placed in the wider valley below. Evidence of activity, dating back to the Neolithic, scatter the slopes with additional Bronze Age burial mounds and Dolmen placed on the highest spurs. In 2015 an Iron Age burial consisting of three teenage skeletons were found during drainage works of the National Trust owned property of Bottle Knap Cottage. The village itself is believed to date back to the Saxon period with it later being recorded in the Domesday Bool as ‘Langebride’, pronounced ‘Langabridda’. The name derives from the River Bride as it flows to the south while the Long is reflection of the village shape, following the dry valley down to the river.

Take the gate on the left hand side of the church to wrap around the west tower into a field. Bear left to begin the steep climb up Martin’s Down and back into the landscape of our ancestors. Once through the gate at the top, curve gently to the left around the peak or climb straight up to the OS Trig Point. Beyond the trig point is the 2m high Neolithic Bank Barrow, measuring 195m in length and 20 metres wide, lined by ditches either side. A theory has been put forward that a cursus leads to its north eastern corner (a cursus also existing on Cranborne Chase). It is surrounded by a number of later Bronze Age burial mounds, dykes, boundaries, strip lynchets and field boundaries, yet the Bank Barrow is one of only ten recorded in the country, three of which are in Dorset, the others at Pentridge (on Martin Down) and Broadmayne.

The location was clearly chosen due to its prominence, visibility and possible connection to the skies. The 360 degree view taken in the Jurassic Coast, including Portland, Golden Cap and Lyme Regis, as well as the Frome and Piddle valleys to the north. The ancient monuments were capped in chalk which would have shone in the sunshine and glowed in the moonlight for all those below to honour and respect.

Skim the corner of the fence on the right and drop down the slopes to the left. The A35 climbs the hill to the west. The road heavily features in the new novel ‘Death at the White Heart’ written Chris Chibnall, who also wrote Broadchurch, which turned into a popular BBC series making West Bay and the waterfall at Little Bredy famous.

Head through a gate at the bottom to exit onto the busy A35 at the bus stop. Before the introduction of the turnpikes, old cart ways cut through the hills with the main route east to west following the Roman road. In 1753 the second Turnpike Trust in Dorset was set up called the Harnham, Blandford and Dorchester Trust. The new Turnpike road left Dorchester following the old Roman Road for about three miles before veering off onto an existing route into the South Winterbourne valley. It therefore satisfied a different need than the military Roman route, connecting the isolated villages and settlements on its path. It has since become one of Dorset’s main arteries.

Turn left to follow the pavement to the junction, passing the site of the old turnpike Toll house, then cross over the road to merge on to the old road to Wynford Eagle. Skim past the ancient burial mounds on the left the veer off to the right onto the bridleway in Broomhill Estate. Drop down into the trees to then cut through a narrow field with a lonely standing stone, 2m high, in its bottom on the right. Enter back into the woodland to gently climb up the hill on Broom Hill Lane. Continue along the same track for just over a mile, passing under the pylon wires, dipping down into dry valleys and climbing up the other side through the trees.

Having conquered the forest, the trees drop away on the left and are replaced with a field of farmed firs. Underneath their roots is a possible Iron Age Hillfort. The oval enclosure, of a faint bank and ditch, encircles approximately 12 acres on the ridgeway, however it has been greatly reduced by agricultural activity. The banks have been cut in a few places suggesting a number of different entrances, but the most prominent was cut by the development of the Roman Road, straight through its northern edge. Another enclosure sits to the north of the road, which also neighbours a settlement in use from the Iron Age into the Roman period. The earthworks consist of banks and platforms which have never been excavated but simple field walking has produced a number of fragments of Iron Age pottery and Roman roof tiles. Although little is known about the hillfort, enclosure and settlement earthworks, they all bridge the same periods and therefore can be believed to have been used in conjunction with each other.

Continue up the track, through the tall Broomhill Estate gates to return to the Roman Road, the car park and your vehicle.