St Aldhelm's Head and Chapman's Pool from Worth Matravers

From the car park at the north end of Worth Matravers the walk goes west past Renscombe to the valley above Chapman's Pool, a small cove with fishermen's huts under Houns-tout Cliff. A track leads down to the cove and a second path climbs back out. The cliff-top coast path then runs south past Emmetts Hill to St Aldhelm's Head, where St Aldhelm's Chapel, a small Norman chapel, stands at the edge of the cliff. The walk continues east along the coast path to the old Purbeck stone quarries at Winspit and climbs the Winspit valley back to the village.

It is 10.8 km round with 345 m of ascent; allow about 3½ hours. The grade is Moderate, for the length and the steep climbs out of Chapman's Pool and the Winspit valley.

The cliffs are unfenced and the shore at Chapman's Pool is soft clay and rock: keep to the paths and away from the foot of the cliffs. The old quarry workings at Winspit are dangerous: keep out of the caves. Livestock graze some of the fields along the paths, so keep dogs on leads.

The village car park takes donations by honesty box or the JustPark app; the parish council suggests £3. There is no station near; the nearest is Wareham, about 12 km away.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.