A moderate walk through the water meadows by the River Stour, and short distances on country lanes and along gravel tracks. Follow waymarks for Walk 10 on the route.
Begin trail
Start: Car park opposite White Mill
1
Leave the car park in the direction of Shapwick and then turn right up a straight country lane, passing White Mill Farm on the right.
Shapwick Parish name derives from the Saxon meaning sheep village. It was the smallest of the four Manors in East Dorset and pre-dates the Norman period. The village centre has an old stone cross, now a memorial to the men of the First and Second World Wars. In 1800 there were 409 inhabitants, today there are 197. The predominant employment in the area is agriculture. Two mills for corn and grain existed in Shapwick.
2
At the junction with Park Lane turn right onto the bridleway, Sweetbrier Drove. Sweetbrier Drove was the medieval route to Shapwick, before the more southerly road by the Stour was adopted. The walking surface is normally dry, being on chalk. The surrounding farmland is a mixture of arable and of particular value to birds. Continue to the end of the drove.
Sweetbrier Drove used to be the main road to Blandford. Looking south-easterly along the drove, the tower on the horizon is at Charborough Park Estate. At the end of Sweetbrier Drove, when the BP pipeline was being constructed from Wych Farm on Purbeck to Southampton in the 1980s, a Roman and Iron Age settlement was revealed in the field to the north. The Iron Age one likely to have been a farmstead with connections to the ancient hill fort at Badbury.
3
Here you meet Kingston Lacy Drove and the perimeter belt of Kingston Lacy Park. The woodland on the park side is known as Coneygar, associated with the breeding of rabbits in the medieval period. Artificial banks may have encouraged the creation of burrows. This section of the walk can be muddy underfoot after rain. Turn right and then right again onto the Stour Valley Way and proceed in the Sturminster Marshall direction. The link from here on the edge of Kingston Lacy Park back to White Mill forms part of the national long distance walk along the Stour Valley Way.
4
You will then rejoin the Shapwick to Cowgrove road, turn right, cross the road and then after approximately 220yd (200m) pass through the stile on your left. It is here that during the season you can make the short diversion to visit Barford Farm ice cream garden and shop. These long time tenants of the estate are building an excellent reputation for the quality of their products.
5
Crossing the pasture towards the river, another stile is encountered, whereupon the footpath then follows the bank of the Stour back to White Mill.
White Mill itself is open March-November at weekends and on Bank Holiday Mondays, subject to an admission charge, National Trust members free. Henry Bankes was responsible for having the Mill rebuilt in 1776 and we have conserved the 18th-century wooden machinery. The millstones remained in use right until the end of the 19th century, grinding grain (grist) for both flour and animal feed. The arched bridge here is reputed to be the oldest in Dorset.
End: Car park opposite White Mill.
To find out more visit the National Trust website. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/kingston-lacy/
Please ensure your dog or dogs are supervised at all times.
Have a great Walk!