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Melbury Loop

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Walk directions

Walk down the street, cross the ford, and follow the road up past Townsend Dairy House. Across a cattle grid, take the straight estate road for almost a mile (1.6km) to Melbury House.

Before the house, at a cattle grid, turn right along the road around the outbuildings. It bends left over a cattle grid, then runs for another 0.75 miles (1.2km) through the park, up and over a hill. Cross a stile by a lion gateway.

With Evershot in sight ahead, hook back to the left on a tarmac track, which becomes gravel. Follow this up the hill. Where it divides, take the track straight ahead downhill, past a plantation on your right. At the foot of the slope, turn right. The track curves left and starts to rise. Where the wood on your right runs out, bear slightly left up the field, to a small gate into woodland. Follow the path ahead through the wood to the A37.

Carefully cross to the bridleway gate ahead. Follow a path up through the wood, then turn left along an earth track. Soon an open field can be seen below. Go straight across one gravel track for just 70yds (65m), to turn right on a second gravel track (Murderers Lane) beyond. It winds up to the wood edge and a great view northwards.

Keep straight ahead down the field, to the right of the trig point, and turn right along the hedge behind. Through a ramshackle gate, turn down left to Melbury Bubb. Use two gates to go through a farmyard. Follow the lane right to explore the church.

Retrace your route up to the trig point. Bend left around it and contour above two steep little combes, then drop right. Cross a stile in the corner just left of power lines. Walk along rotting duckboards through boggy woodland, cross a stile into a field and bear left, joining a gravel farm track. Access to St Edwold’s is over a brick-built bridge to your left. Pass Church Farm to your left, and bear right up its access track to a road.

Turn right on the road, then immediately left, through a gate into a field. Turn right and walk along the hedge. Cross two stiles and bear left down the next field. About halfway down, bear left over two stiles in a hedge. Turn right along the field edge, then left up the field end to a footbridge in the hedge, almost swallowed up by vegetation. The right of way continues the same line but is often planted over; in which case, turn right along two sides of the field to take a mud track up left to the A37.

Turn left along the verge, then cross to a stile just before a car showroom. Keep ahead along the hedge. At the field end go through a gateway and turn left over a footbridge and a stile. Bear half right up the field, and aim towards a triple-gabled stone house, crossing a drive and going through a hedge gap. Take the gate to the left of the house, and walk on to the road by the watersplash. Turn right to return to the church.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Village lanes, estate tracks, farmland paths

Landscape - Hills, valleys and parkland

Dog friendliness - Keep dogs on leads in the park of Melbury House; some lifting over stiles may be necessary and there may be temporary electric fences

Parking - By church, Melbury Osmond, signed off A37

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Dorset Dog-friendly walks in Dorset

About the walk

Melbury comes from two Old English words: ‘maele’, meaning multicoloured, and ‘burh’, meaning a fortified settlement. The three settlements may well be pre-Norman: Melbury Osmond is listed in the Domesday Book (1086). This first Melbury is a typical Dorset village. In Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders...

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About the area

Dorset is made up of rugged coastlines, high chalk downlands and a chain of picturesque villages and seaside towns that make up Britain’s Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, noted for its layers of shale and numerous fossils embedded in the rock. Hidden gems of Dorset can be found down winding, country lanes that lead to snug villages hidden from view.

Route details

Difficulty:

Medium

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

6 miles (9.7kms)

Ascent:

656ft (200m)

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Melbury Loop

Recommended by

Walk details

Difficulty:

Medium

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

6 miles (9.7kms)

Ascent:

656ft (200m)

Walk directions

Walk down the street, cross the ford, and follow the road up past Townsend Dairy House. Across a cattle grid, take the straight estate road for almost a mile (1.6km) to Melbury House.

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Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Village lanes, estate tracks, farmland paths

Landscape - Hills, valleys and parkland

Dog friendliness - Keep dogs on leads in the park of Melbury House; some lifting over stiles may be necessary and there may be temporary electric fences

Parking - By church, Melbury Osmond, signed off A37

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Dorset Dog-friendly walks in Dorset

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Dorset

Melbury Loop

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Walking in Safety

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Melbury Loop

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