Dawdling Through Dorset – Worth Matravers

A beautiful old stone house in the village of Worth Matravers

My friend Valerie really loves the area of England in which she lives – the lovely south coast – both to the west and to the east.  On the first day we had gone eastward to Brighton and this time we went west, took a little ferry to the Swanage area in Dorset to a little town called Worth Matravers.  This is a great place to go because from this lovely little enclave is quite a number of walks on a noted Jurassic coastline.

A California poppy valiantly grows through the stone roof of a farmhouse

Worth Matravers is a lovely Purbeck stone village with a history from the age of dinosaurs to the second world war.  People have made their living here by farming, fishing and quarrying.  The name Worth is from the Saxon period.  In the 1390s the area was owned by the wealthy Maltravers family and Worth Matravers was named after them (although the ‘l’ was dropped).  The land around this area has been quarried since medieval times providing Purbeck stone for building houses and walls.  Most of the cottages are from the 18th and 19th centuries when Worth had a thriving community including a dairy, shoemaker’s shop and blacksmith forge.  The Square and Compass Pub, which of course we visited after three hours of hiking, dates back as an Inn from 1752.  Parts of the Parish Church date back to 1100.

The Parish Church at Worth Matravers

Smuggling has also been rife in the area in the past and we visited Chapman’s Pool which was an area used heavily for such purposes.  Now it is good for fishing and beachcombing for fossils.  The cove is surrounded by steep inclines.

A waylaid anchor sits abandoned at Chapman's Pool

Which way do we go?

The surrounding countryside and coastline are beautiful, desolate, bleak and blustery all at once.  It was very windy when we were there, so it is no surprise that some of the local business names reflect that.

... as I said ...

Valerie makes sure we know where we are going - but is also checking out the local birdlife

After we slogged up and down from the cliffs to the beach and back up again, through gorgeous typical English countryside, we made way for St. Aldhelm’s Chapel at St. Aldhelm’s Head.

A rubber boot held hostage in the slate/shale/clay aggregate of the rugged coast

Oh so English and so pastoral

St. Aldhelm’s Chapel is still an open church.  This isolated chapel stands on cliffs 108 m above sea level.  What is most unusual about this chapel is that the angles of the building are pointing approximately to the cardinal points of the compass, not the walls as is customary.  Secondly, the square shape is most unusual for an ecclesiastical building.  This has caused people to speculate the the chapel did not, in the first instance, have a religious origin.   Few facts about its early history are known, although the first mention occurs in the reign of Henry III (1216 – 1272) where this chapel was served by a chaplain, paid fifty shillings per year.

St. Aldhelm on the isolated blustery cliffs of Dorset

Graffiti inside the church from 1665

There is another local legend that says that in 1140 a bride and groom were sailing around the headland watched by the bride’s father.  A storm suddenly arose, the boat capsized and both were drowned.  The desolate father (note I have called this a desolate coast) is said to have built the chapel to their memory.  It was a cool little place.  So after checking it out, snacking on some lunch, we made our way back to Worth Matravers and enjoyed some libation in the Square and Compass Pub.  But this was not the end of our day.  We then headed to Tyneham Village.  Next post ….

It's the little details I love - but I can't post all my pictures.

Bleak is beautiful