The Liberty Trail is a 28-mile (45.1 km) trail between Ham Hill in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England.

History

The route of the Liberty Trail route is based on information recorded by six rebels from various villages in Somerset and Dorset. Villagers from the two counties made their way to join the Protestant

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II of England, James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II of England, Charles II as king of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and ...

in 1685. The rebels wore green sprigs tucked into their hats to declare their support for the

Duke of Monmouth Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. Weapons that they carried included farm scythes and other suitable agricultural tools.

Route

Ham Hill is at its highest point, and Lyme Regis is at sea level. Below are six possible walking stages that may be used to traverse the Liberty Trail: * Ham Hill to West Chinnock - - 1.75 hours *West Chinnock to Misterton - - 2.5 hours *Misterton to Wayford - - 2 hours *Wayford to Thorncombe - - 3 hours *Thorncombe to Wootton Fitzpaine - - 2.75 hours *Wootton Fitzpaine to

- - 2 hours

Places of interest

At Ham Hill there are links with other Trails including the Monarch's Way,

Leland Trail The Leland Trail is a footpath in Somerset, England. It was named after the antiquary John Leland (antiquary), John Leland, and runs from King Alfred's Tower in Penselwood, southwest to Ham Hill Country Park near Yeovil. History The path was ...

and River Parrett Trail. Ham Hill Iron Age Hill Fort is one of the largest in Europe. Many local buildings are made from the local yellow

Hamstone Hamstone is a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material which weather dif ...

. At Wayford is Clapton Court Gardens, one of Somerset's more historic gardens that are open to the public. Forde Abbey is situated on a curved section of the River Axe, its original purpose was as a Cistercian Monastery. It has a garden of some elegance which has won many awards. At this location the Dorset Jubilee Trail crosses over the path of the Liberty Trail. Two other Iron Age Hill Forts may be seen at this stage, the first one is Lambert's Castle and further on is Coney's Castle. During clear weather conditions

Chesil Beach Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England, is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associ ...

and Portland Bill are visible, both are famous features of this part of the South coast of England. Lyme Regis is located to the west of Chesil Beach on the Jurassic Coast, a place where many fossils may be found. The Cobb at Lyme Regis was the location for

The French Lieutenant's Woman (film) ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' is a 1981 British romantic drama film directed by Karel Reisz, produced by Leon Clore, and adapted by the playwright Harold Pinter. It is based on ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'', a 1969 novel by John Fowles ...

in 1981. The

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...

also leads into this part of the town. Lymeregiscobbnwprot

Sections of the Liberty Trail also form part of other trails in the area, such as the

Macmillan Way West The Macmillan Way West is a long-distance footpath in Somerset and Devon, England. It runs for from Castle Cary in Somerset to Barnstaple in Devon. It is one of the Macmillan Ways and connects with the main Macmillan Way at Castle Cary. The ...

, River Parrett Trail, Wessex Ridgeway. Further detail of the Liberty Trail is available from Yeovil Tourist Information Centre and South Somerset Tourist Information.

Way points and maps

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

Explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

map series:- 129 - Yeovil & Sherborne (Sherbourne), :- 116 - Lyme Regis & Bridport, provide the geographical details for this trail.

References

External links

Geology of Lyme Regis area
British Geological Survey {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty Trail Footpaths in Somerset