Starting in the maze of narrow lanes, deep in the Marshwood Vale, trace the footsteps of a saint and the many pilgrims who followed. Visit the shrine of St Wite, a young girl who lived a life of isolation but in saving others, lost her own. Her legacy has survived for centuries, her tomb believed … Continue reading Morcombelake
Delve deep into the historic Land of Stone and Bone. Starting at a landmark, visible for miles around and stood on an ancient route which follows the South Dorset Ridgeway, sink into the surrounding heathland. Follow ancient tracks through thick woodland while skimming a Bronze Age cemetery and an animal graveyard. Pass deep gravel pits, … Continue reading Valley of the Stones
Explore the landscape caught between quarries and the army. Starting at a fresh green space, bordered by an ancient barrow, cross the railway that rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Clamber into heathlands skimming the military training area, through the wild landscape of Purbeck Nature Reserve. Wander past derelict farms and million pound houses … Continue reading Stoborough
Wander through a landscape where the villages have been deserted, woods exploited and the ground quarried. A landscape, full of forest, heath, floodplains and a lonely standing stone, which was once bustling with life from the medieval period, through both World Wars and up to modern day. The Norman knights, American soldiers and extraction machinery have … Continue reading West Knighton
Off the tourist trail on the Isle of Purbeck, filling the low land between Corfe Castle and Poole Harbour, is Wytch Heath. Follow medieval trails over little stone bridges through a once heavily industrial landscape, it’s resources tapped since the Bronze Age. Skim the oil refinery, hidden behind thick Corsican pines and hard working nodding donkeys, … Continue reading Wytch
Once greeted by elegant herons, escape into the landscape of the little dairies. Cross patchwork fields, with views to hill forts and hunting grounds, following the footsteps of Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Pass an elegant Elizabethan Manor House that neighbours agricultural barns, cross a little stream on its way to the mighty River Stour and … Continue reading Hinton St Mary
After following the little River Winterborne, trace the footsteps of the Roman soldiers as their road cuts through Winterborne Kingston, still scarring the landscape today. Tread the earth that hides many of their remains, some having been unearthed from the ground including a precious coffin and dedications to a shrine. Climb the hill to Bere … Continue reading Winterborne Kingston
Skim the southern corner of the Kingston Lacy estate, walking between the historically feuding neighbours of the Bankes and the Erles. Explore the medieval routes that once connected the estates to the surrounding countryside. Walk through the beech tree avenue, one of the most iconic scenes of the county, to reach Badbury Rings. Follow the … Continue reading Kingston Lacy to Badbury Rings
