Porlock, Culbourne Church and Somerset Coast

This is a great walk exploring the beautiful coastal scenery of N Somerset. Starting out from pretty Porlock Village with its famous hill that was once a test of motor vehicles endurance, we will avoid the climb and take a more gentle ascent towards the west, on the fringes of Exmoor. At our most westerly point we will turn towards the sea, and pass the grade 1 lsted church at Culborne, said to be the smallest parish church in England.

Long before Christianity reached these shores, Culbone was a centre for pagan worship. A community of monks was established here in the fifth century, and the first church was built on the site two centuries later. It is thought that parts of the current church, St Beuno's, date back to Saxon times, although over the centuries it has been rebuilt and refenestrated numerous times. The church was used in the television version of R. D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone as the scene of John Ridd's wedding.

The return route to Porlock hugs the cliff top and should reward with fabulous views across the Bristol Channel towards the mountains of Wales if visibility is good, and passing the fairytale tunnels and Porlock Wier. Porlock was recently featured on a TV program for its revitalied Oyster industry and you might want to find an outlet for some to eat or take home.

Photo of culborne church By Julie Anne Workman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons