The Dorset drive – West Dorset top to bottom
Matt Wilkinson explores from the Somerset border down to the coast
Published in December ’18
The view from the road approaching Compton Valence
1 Head downhill from Top o’Town on the A37 Yeovil road, past the Thomas Hardy statue and County Hall on the right. At the first roundabout [1.0], bear right to continue on the A37. Pass Wrackleford House, the former summer home of the Pope brewing family, then Bradford Peverell and Stratton, both villages largely hidden on the left. After Stratton, take the first on the left [3.9], signed to Muckleford and Winterbourne Abbas. Cross the Frome and continue to the first turning on the right [6.0]. Turn right here and take the first turning on the right [8.4], signed to Compton Valence. A lovely view opens up as the road runs down into the village, which is famous for its displays of snowdrops in early spring, and past the pretty little church of St Thomas of Canterbury.
The unmistakable shape of the church tower at Cattistock
2 At a T-junction beyond the village [10.0], turn right and just before reaching a main road at Tollerford, on the edge of Maiden Newton, turn left [12.7]. Go straight across the main road, signed to Chilfrome. At a T-junction on the edge of Chilfrome [13.5], turn right, signed to Cattistock. Follow the road round to the left then right, and at the next T-junction [14.1], turn left, signed to Cattistock, Rampisham and Evershot. Go through Cattistock, which gives its name to one of Dorset’s hunts and is the home of an annual knob-throwing contest, a knob being a type of biscuit. Admire the magnificent tower of the church of St Peter and St Paul (‘the cathedral of the Frome Valley’) and follow the road out of the village and through Lower Wraxall.
A fantastic two-trunked tree and a tump on the road before Winyard’s Gap
3 Reaching Rampisham, follow the road round to the right, opposite what used to be the Tiger’s Head pub [17.3], and continue to a T-junction at Benville Bridge [18.5]. Turn left here and then take the first on the right [19.7], signed to Corscombe, past the gates of Benville Manor. At the next T-junction [20.3], turn right and continue to the T-junction next to the Fox on the edge of Corscombe [21.0]. Turn left, take the first on the right [21.1] and at the end of this narrow lane [21.3], turn right and drive through Corscombe, where the singer, PJ Harvey, grew up on the family farm. Continue out of the village and to a T-junction [23.0], where turn left.
An artistic installation on an old railway bridge in Loders, looking back from the Uploders side
4 Having flirted with the Dorset-Somerset border, reach the crossroads at Winyard’s Gap [24.1] and go straight across. On the hill to the left is a monument, with striking views, to the 43rd (Wessex) Division, an exact copy of the one on Hill 112 near Caen; Rommel considered this hill the most important in Normandy, and it took the Allies a month of fierce fighting to capture it. Continue straight through Chedington and up to a T-junction [25.3], where turn right. Follow the road to Mosterton, home of Alexander and Samuel Hood, both of whom rose to flag rank in the 18th-century Royal Navy, and today of the Eeles family pottery. Turn left onto the A3066 [27.2] and follow it through the Horn Hill Tunnel – originally built in 1832 and re-constructed in 2013 following a landslide in which two people died – to Beaminster .
One of the most famous views in Dorset: looking towards Portland along Chesil Beach over St Catherine’s Chapel and the Fleet
5 At a roundabout on the edge of the town [30.5], bear left through what William Barnes famously described as ‘Sweet Be’mi’ster, that bist a-bound By green an’ woody hills all round , …Noo bigger pleace, noo gayer town, beyond thy sweet bells’ dyen soun’.’ Continue on the A3066 through Melplash towards Bridport. At Gore Cross [35.4], taking the turning on the left before the roundabout, Townsend Way, signed to Bradpole and Loders. Go through Bradpole and turn right into Higher Street [35.6]. Follow the road through Loders, between Waddon Hill and Boarsbarrow Hill, and Uploders before bearing right to Askerswell. ‘Asker’ is the Dorset dialect word for a newt, or, less interestingly, the village may have got its name from someone called Asger; the river name, Asker, is a back-formation from the village name. In Askerswell, go across a crossroads [39.2] and another [39.4] before climbing a steep hill to reach the A35 [39.9].
6 Take the second turning on the right at Whiteway Cross, signed to Litton Cheney [41.0], drive down into the village and turn right at the bottom of the hill [41.7]. Follow the road round to the left and with a stream running along on the left, drive down to the White Horse, where bear right [42.3]. Take the first turning on the left, Rectory Lane, signed to Puncknowle [43.2]. Drive up into Puncknowle (pronounced ‘Punnel’) and turn left at the junction in front of the church [43.7]. Pass the Crown, which was the favoured trysting place of Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee, members of the 1960s Portland spy ring masterminded by Gordon Lonsdale. Follow the main road, Clay Lane, down to the B3157 coast road and turn left [44.6]. Enjoy the view from Abbotsbury Hill before descending into the village and turning left into Back Street, next to the Strangways Hall and opposite the Ilchester Arms [47.6].
7 Follow this lane out of the village, up a narrow hill and eventually to a crossroads [49.9]. Go straight across and past the Hardy Monument, the foreshortened factory chimney erected in 1844 as a memorial to Thomas Masterman Hardy, who was Nelson’s flag-captain on HMS Victory at Trafalgar (hence ‘Kiss me, Hardy’). Descend to reach a main road on the edge of Martinstown [52.7] and turn right. Drive through the village, which until recently held the UK record for the most rainfall in a 24-hour period: 11 inches (actually in 15 hours) on 18 July 1955. At the end of the village, turn left, signed to Dorchester [53.4]. Drive up the hill to Monkey’s Jump roundabout [54.8] and take the third exit, the B3150, into Poundbury. At the first roundabout [54.9], turn left and drive through Queen Mother Square to see how the latest phase of this long-term, large-scale development is turning out. At the next roundabout [55.6], turn left towards the town centre and follow the road through to Top o’ Town [56.4].
Distance: About 56.4 miles
Start: Top o’ Town in Dorchester. OS reference SY689907. Postcode DT1 1RR.
Maps: OS Explorer 117 (Cerne Abbas & Bere Regis), 116 (Lyme Regis & Bridport) and OL15 (Purbeck & South Dorset). Landranger 194 (Dorchester & Weymouth), 193 (Taunton & Lyme Regis).
Refreshments: Dorchester, Cattistock, Corscombe, Winyard’s Gap, Mosterton, Beaminster, Melplash, Loders, Askerswell, Litton Cheney, Puncknowle, Abbotsbury, Martinstown, Poundbury.
[Milometer readings are given in square brackets. They should be generally reliable, but milometers do vary slightly.]
