Clouds Hill and Moreton

St Nicholas, Moreton

For our Sunday walk we decided to again visit the area south of Bere Regis, where we walked yesterday to Turners Puddle. It is always interesting to "join up" walks and get a fuller appreciation of where you are walking.

This walk starts by the MOD tank range just south of TE Lawrence's house at Clouds Hill. It was just along this road that he had his fatal motorcycle accident in 1935. The route takes you along a path through the woods parallel to the toad and then round the back of Clouds Hill. So you do not see anything of the house, which is anyway shut for the winter.

You then cross the corner of Turners Puddle Heath and follow a quiet lane before turning left to cross Bryants Puddle Heath and walk through Okers wood - now walking along the Jubilee Trail. This was created by the Dorset Ramblers to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Ramblers Association (or simply Ramblers, as they are known now). The route runs 90 miles across Dorset from Forde Abbey on the Somerset border to Bokerly Dyke on the Hampshire border. A Guide is available from the South Dorset Ramblers.

The route now becomes more open as you follow the Jubilee Way to the outskirts of Moreton, where you cross the Frome over a long, narrow concrete bridge.

You pass the Moreton Tea Rooms (once the village school) and then, set back in its park, Moreton House. This beautiful, rather austere, house dates from 1744 and was built for James Frampton. Pevsner describes the facade as "cultured but unassuming".

A little further on you reach the cemetery, where TH Lawrence is buried. His grave is at the end of the main path.

The entrance to the cemetery is a porch consisting of four Ionic columns under a pedimented roof. It looks both incongruous and slightly false, but Pevsner explains that it was originally the entrance to the kitchen garden at Moreton House and was moved to its present location around 1950.

We now visited the fascinating church: : a gem of a Georgian Gothick building" (Pevsner). James Frampton was the benefactor. It dates from 1776, with the north aisle and porch being added in the 19th century.

The most striking feature is Lawrence Whistler's stained glass of 1958: delicate designs set in clear glass. "It has the elegance and lightness of the building" (Pevsner again).

You now return along the Jubilee Way, cross the river and this time fork right to head across fields and then Bovington Heath back to the start. Once on the field path we were surprised to see a tall column above the tops of the trees with what seemed to be an urn on the top. This 70 ft high obelisk, it turns out, lies in Moreton Park and was built in 1783-6 by Captain John Houlton, in memory of James Frampton.

Generally the heathland was not too photogenic on this walk: a combination of the season and the number of electricity pylons. However, we enjoyed this view of Bovington Heath through a stand of pines. 

From: 50 walks in Dorset (AA).

Map: Explorer OL15 (Purbeck and South Dorset).

Conditions: bright and sunny, about 8 degrees.

Distance: 6 miles.

Rating: three stars.