On Foot

On Foot NIGHT WALK ON EGGARDON HILL

Emma Tabor and Paul Newman

Distance: 2½ miles Time: Approx 1½ hours Park: Limited parking on roadside near the summit of Eggardon Hill (Roman Road and King’s Lane). Walk Features: An area rich in prehistoric earthworks including barrows and a nearby burial chamber as well as mediaeval strip lynchets and the dramatic banks and ditches of Eggardon Hillfort. Some steep sections are rewarded with incredible views across West Dorset and Lyme Bay towards Dartmoor and back towards the Isle of Wight in the east. There is also tranquility and an abundance of wildflowers inside the southern part of the hillfort which is owned by the National Trust. Refreshments: The Marquis of Lorne, Nettlecombe.

Each month we devise a walk for you to try with your family and friends (including four-legged members) pointing out a few interesting things along the way, be it flora, fauna, architecture, history, the unusual and sometimes the unfamiliar. For August, we take a night-time ramble on the slopes of Eggardon Hill under a full moon, inspired by tales of smuggling and with the chance to see glow-worms. The walk can be enjoyed at any time but at dusk you can still appreciate the wonderful panorama across the Marshwood Vale and explore the drama and enormity of Eggardon’s defences. Needless to say, care should be taken, especially on the banks and ditches of the hillfort and, if walking late, don’t forget a torch. A detailed Ordnance Survey map is also handy to help identify the many prehistoric remains surrounding this area.

Directions Start: SY 547944 The walk starts at the road junction nearest the triangulation point at the top of Eggardon Hill. 1 From the start, cross the Askerswell road and follow the road to Powerstock. After 200 metres, take the bridleway to your left, through a small metal gate.

Head across the field to the far right-hand corner nearest the hillfort. Pass through a small gate onto a track and turn right. After a few yards you’ll come to a five-bar gate. You can take a detour to the right here and explore the centre of the hillfort, which is divided by a boundary as one part belongs to the National Trust and the other half is privately owned. Aerial photos have revealed the shape of an octagonal structure inside the hillfort, believed to be the outline of a coppice planted by the smuggler

Isaac Gulliver, and used as a marker for ships out in the channel. There are excellent views west towards the summits of Pilsdon Pen and Lewesdon Hill and you will also be able to see the ‘Bell Stone’ outcrop at the western end of Eggardon. Inside the fort is also a good spot for glow-worms, adonis blue butterflies and spotted orchids in summer. 2 Returning to the five-bar gate, head down around the outer edge of the hillfort keeping the fence to your left and the hillfort to your right. After a few minutes, the track rises slightly, then drops to bear left and meet a small gate into a field. Go through this and follow a slightly sunken footpath down the right-hand side of a field bordered by a hedge and trees. After a short while, this emerges onto a track.

Keep walking downhill and, after another short

distance, the track reaches North Eggardon Farm. 3 Turn left at the farm buildings and follow the drive which bends right and then left, away from the farm and towards a dwelling on the left. Pass in front of this, on a grassy path, to a five-bar gate.

Look out for the large sarsen stones in front and to the side of the house, which are sandstone deposits from the Ice Age. Go through the gate into a field. Bear slight right across this, which is boggy in places, following the telegraph poles to the far corner and go through a gate into a short, wooded section. The path here can be very muddy. Emerge into the corner of a field, which is boggy. Cross this and head downhill to the right to go through a gate. Keeping woods on your left and a stream on your right, the path turns left and then downhill towards a pond on the left. Go through a gate and head uphill where the path meets a driveway. Pass through another gate and turn left into a gateway for South Eggardon Farm. After a few metres the footpath leaves the driveway on the right and goes through a five-bar gate into a field. 4 The path crosses the field, less distinct at first, to then follow the contours of the hill above, beneath a line of trees and with the farm down to your left.

In 150 metres, the path turns right in front of a gate and deer fence and heads steeply uphill. Keep the fence on your left; the path then turns left where the fence meets the tree line. Go through the gate here, again following the path along the contours of the hill. The path ascends gradually, with increasingly better views across West Dorset and to Eggardon. Keep the line of trees on your left, which then turns into a small wood which you pass through. Climb more steeply as the path heads for the corner of the field near the top of the hill, to meet the road. Cross the stile, turn left onto the road and head back to where you parked your car.

If you finish your walk in time to make the pub, the road from Eggardon to Nettlecombe travels along the outer rampart of the hillfort for a spectacular drive.

"Inside the fort is also a good spot for glow-worms, adonis blue butterflies and spotted orchids in summer."