Mortehoe - Lee Bay - Bull Point - Mortehoe

Our walk begins in the small village of Mortehoe with its varied selection of local craft shops. We follow a footpath parallel to the road out of the village before joining the road further along for a short section of road-walk. Soon we turn off to pass through a campsite that passes the ancient farm of Damage Barton on our way down to the coast. Here a detour may be made to visit ancient stones of our ancestors before continuing along fields and tracks to a minor road leading down to the small cove of Lee Bay. There is a hotel here that also has a snack-bar. (Alternatively, there is a large, grassy area on 'Damage Cliffs' - where we rejoin the coast path - ideally suited to a picnic). As we return up the quiet road from Lee to join the coast path, we pass an award-winning clifftop garden that you may like to visit. We now traverse several miles of coast path with many different vistas as we travel from bay to bay. Although steep in places, the well-trodden path leads us to Bull Point Lighthouse. After about 3km, the path turns inland and leads us through a selection of pleasant fields, back to Mortehoe and our transport.

Damage Barton Farmhouse is dated 1656 but some of its structures could be earlier. There is evidence of a dwelling here in medieval times, when it was the home of the Lords of the Manor of Lincombe and Warcombe (ancient names for Lee). Damage Barton is built of local morte slate and consists of a tall screen wall with a massive gate enclosing a cobbled courtyard.

This walk is about 8½ kilometres according to the map - but the feet say it is nearer 8½ miles! There are some very steep flights of steps on some of the coastal sections. If the coast path becomes too strenuous for any of the party, or if the weather turns very bad, there are several alternative paths leading inland to Mortehoe.

Note: there are many walks in this scenic area and several holiday camps are in easy reach of the walks we have done here. Check the newspapers around springtime and you will find many bargain breaks. We stayed at the Twitchen site over five days in 2007 for the grand sum of £58 (£10 per person, minimum four people plus £18 services) courtesy of the Herald Express and Western Morning News. These are West Country papers but some nationals also do bargain breaks.

England - South West England - Devon - Coast

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Walk id: 4511

Walk grade

Moderate Walk

Length

5 Miles

Height gain

330 Metres

Duration

2 Hours 33 Mins

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