10 of the prettiest places in Dorset
Cursing the often snail-paced traffic heading west on the A303 or getting stuck behind a dawdling tractor as you weave your way along to the Jurassic Coast is par for the course on a trip to Dorset. But it’s the absence of a motorway that is perhaps the county’s secret weapon. Nearly half of Dorset is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with villages that whisk you back to a bygone era and a sprawling coastline with long, windswept beaches, as well as quiet coves that trick you into thinking you might just have been the first to discover them. Here we've rounded up the loveliest spots in Dorset.
Getty ImagesDurdle Door, near Lulworth
So unreal is this 200-foot arch rising out of the inky English Channel that you’ll find yourself questioning whether this really can all be Mother Nature’s work. It was formed 25 million years ago when the unrelenting sea pierced through the limestone, leaving a structural feat in its wake. Set up camp on the swathe of shingle beach in the bay, dipping in and out of the turquoise sea closer to shore before gearing up for a swim under the arch, a rite of passage once you’ve made it here. Afterwards, hit the coastal path heading east to marvel at another natural masterpiece, Lulworth Cove – a near-perfect scallop-shaped harbour.
AlamyAshmore, near Shaftesbury
Set 700ft above sea level on Cranborne Chase is Dorset’s highest village, where thatched cottages sit around a clay-lined dew pond. Ashmore appeared in the Domesday Book as Aisemere, derived from Old English and meaning ‘pool where the ash trees grow’. There’s a feeling of splendid isolation here; in 1963 a snowstorm cut it off entirely for weeks. But this sleepy spot comes alive on the summer solstice each year with the ancient Filly Loo celebration. Expect an otherworldly mix of characters including the Green Man, antlered deer-men, Morris dancers and torches lit around the pond for the final fling.
Getty ImagesAbbotsbury Hill, near Weymouth
Muster the energy to climb this hill and the prize is a panoramic view of all 18 miles of Chesil Beach, a shingle barrier that sweeps from West Bay to Portland, with fishermen hoping for mackerel scattered along it. This is a place brimming with history: the Iron Age hill fort of Abbotsbury Castle was once occupied by the Celtic Durotriges tribe before the Romans invaded. In the foreground from high up on the chalk hill is the 14th-century St Catherine’s Chapel sitting all alone, built by the monks of the abbey. Beyond is the impossibly pretty village of Abbotsbury, where the vast medieval tithe barn – which appeared in the 1967 film adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd – is one of the showpieces among the rows of thatched cottages.
AlamyGold Hill, Shaftesbury
It’s thanks to the 1973 Hovis bread advert directed by Sir Ridley Scott that this cobbled hill in Shaftesbury shot to fame. In the years since, it seems to have become embedded in our subconscious as a symbol of bucolic bliss, with its higgledy-piggledy roofs and patchwork Dorset farmland beyond. Here is a tiny slither of England that lets you forget it’s the 21st century, with sleepy cottages on one side of the street and the Grade II-listed walls of Shaftesbury Abbey (founded by King Alfred the Great) running alongside the other. Grab a coffee and a cinnamon-spiced Lovington bun from Pamplemousse, the florist/café in town, before you make the steep descent – bracing yourself for a breathless climb back up.
AlamyWhite Mill Bridge, near Wimborne Minster
Downstream from an 18th-century retired corn mill on the edge of Sturminster Marshall is the handsome White Mill Bridge, where eight red and white arches straddle the River Stour. Paddle in the shallows and admire what is thought to be the oldest bridge in Dorset (the timber pilings that it stands on date from the 12th century), or head 500 yards downstream for a proper dip, where gravel shallows make way for deeper waters. Hearty swimmers might want to head on to Eye Bridge near the largely thatched village of Pamphill. Here wildlife buffs can spot kingfishers and herons, while others can marvel at the 17th-century Italian-inspired Kingston Lacy mansion and its grand grounds, which include a seven-acre Japanese garden. 10 Castle Street, a smart member's club with rooms is a 15 minute drive away.
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AlamyStudland Bay, near Swanage
You can’t help feeling a little smug as you explore this four-mile stretch of coastline. While sunbathers along much of the rest of Dorset’s shores master that undignified hobble across pebbles and curse the rocks they’re lying on, here the sand is soft and golden. Bag a bedroom at The Pig’s Studland outpost for easy access to South Beach – two-storey The Lookout comes with its own hut – and enjoy a day of buckets and spades. Follow the bay round and you’ll reach Middle, Knoll and Shell beaches (plus a half-mile dedicated naturist area in the mix), with rugged dunes behind and the Old Harry Rocks formation standing proudly at the southern end.
Getty ImagesSherborne Abbey, Sherborne
The approach to the abbey, down honey-coloured Cheap Street, is riddled with temptation (Bella Freud sweaters and Penelope Chilvers boots at The Circus, French antiques at D’Urberville and Dorset cave-aged Cheddar at deli Ingredients). But you’ll be well-rewarded for persevering – on visiting in 1823, John Constable declared it ‘a magnificent church finer than Salisbury Cathedral’. Don’t forget to look heavenwards at the acclaimed fan-vaulted roof; then there’s the splendour of a Saxon doorway at the west end of the north aisle and the heaviest peal of eight bells in the world, as well as the graves of two Saxon kings.
AlamyBurton Bradstock, near Bridport
With its thatched roofs and yellow stone, the village of Burton Bradstock might strike you as yet another dose of Dorset’s plentiful chocolate-box offering. But here the brilliantly unspoilt Hive beach, less than a mile away from the centre, sets it apart. Found alongside looming cliffs and rolling farmland, the Hive Beach Café has been refuelling walkers and swimmers with monkfish sandwiches and heaps of king prawns with garlic mayonnaise for about 30 years. Meanwhile, up a few steps to the left is the slightly smarter Seaside Boarding House for a rosé lunch. And just three miles away is Bridport, dubbed Notting Hill on Sea, where sleepy village life is given a shake-up: there’s the Art Deco Electric Palace cinema and theatre; East Asian-inspired small plates at Dorshi, and a sprawling vintage and antiques market.
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Getty ImagesChapman’s Pool, near Swanage
Not everyone has the energy for the two-mile hike from the pretty village of Worth Matravers to this hidden cove cut into the cliffs at St Aldhelm’s Head on the Isle of Purbeck – but you’ll be glad you did. Even in the height of summer – while nearby Lulworth Cove, whose geology is considered a little superior, can heave with tourists – it’s unlikely for more than 20 people to be found dotted along this shoreline. Among them will be fossil hunters – shells, reptiles and ammonites are often found here – and others simply looking to escape the crowds with a book on the shingle beach or a potter in the rock pools.
Getty ImagesCorfe Castle, near the Purbeck Hills
The crumbling ruins of Corfe Castle look their most magical at sunset, when the light catches the Purbeck limestone. This spot has a colourful past: once a Saxon stronghold and later a Norman fortress. Throw in the sound of the steam train pulling into the village’s station from Swanage, and the rolling Purbeck Hills that surround it, and you can see why Enid Blyton’s holidays to this corner of Dorset prompted her to rattle out her treasured children’s tales. Corfe Castle itself is thought to have inspired Kirrin Castle in Five on a Treasure Island (published a year after her visit) and its fictional reincarnation perfectly describes what’s here today: ‘Broken archways, tumbledown towers, ruined walls – that was all that was left of a once beautiful castle, proud and strong. Now the jackdaws nested in it and the gulls sat on the topmost stones. “It looks awfully mysterious,” said Julian.’
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