Fontmell Down and Melbury Hill

Since the end of World War II over 80 per cent of the chalk downs in England have been altered or lost because enriching artificial fertilisers have been introduced and land has been claimed for arable crops. Grazing is the key, in a scheme first introduced by the Neolithic farmers. Without grazing, the closecropped grass of the downs would soon revert to scrub and woodland. Modern management is therefore based on restoring the old farming cycles of grazing by sheep and cattle and maintaining the land for the benefit of threatened wildlife as well as for agricultural output. Preservation of the precious habitat of the outstanding area of Melbury and Fontmell Downs is in the hands of the National Trust, with assistance from the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

A chief beneficiary of this policy is the butterfly, for more than 35 species have been recorded here. Some have very specific requirements for their survival. The silver-spotted skipper, for example, breeds in only 14 places in Britain, and only one in Dorset – Fontmell Down. It lays its eggs on the underside of sheep’s fescue grass, but the grass has to be just the right length. If the juicy new grass shoots are nibbled by the sheep in August, the caterpillars will starve. Adonis blues are hardly less demanding – they need a tightly packed, south-facing, warm, grassy slope. The grand-sounding Duke of Burgundy fritillary, on the other hand, likes to live on the edge of the sward, that is, where the cowslips blossom in springtime.

The wealth and variety of wild flowers found on these chalky downs is the other delight. They thrive on the poorer soils, not squeezed out by fastergrowing monocultures. In summer look for the vivid violet-blue specks of early gentians in the turf, the tiny stalked spikes of the mauve milkwort and the deeper purple of thyme. They give way in autumn to the browny yellow flowers of the carline thistle and the spiralling, white-flowered spikes of autumn lady’s tresses. In autumn, this is a place to find glow-worms. About the length of a fingernail, these little creatures were once a common sight. It is the females who glow. Wingless and defenceless, they hide during the day, but at night crawl onto vegetation to shine their lower abdomens upwards to attract males.

Take the rough track from the bottom right corner of the car park, walking downhill towards Compton Abbas. Pass an old chalk quarry. Soon turn right up some wooden steps and cross a stile to access Compton Down. Bear left and uphill towards a fence, and eventually join it at a corner. Pick up a narrow cattle path just below the fence to contour down and around the shoulder of the Down, heading towards the saddle between the Down and Melbury Hill.

Pass a steep, natural amphitheatre on your left and continue dropping gently to join the saddle at a fingerpost and gate. Turn left here to head upwards to the top of Melbury Hill – a steep climb but well worth it for the views. Pass the scar of an ancient cross dyke, on the left as you climb, and look down the other side to the silvery tower of Melbury Abbas church.

A toposcope marks the top of the hill, with fantastic views all around, including Shaftesbury on its ridge to the north and the ridges of Hambledon Hill to the southeast. Retrace your route to the signpost and gate. Ignore the signposted bridleway and turn half right across the grass to join a track coming in from the left. Shortly, at the end of the field below you, bear down steeply left to three gates and go through two of them. Head straight along the field-edge towards Compton Abbas. Pass through a gate to emerge onto a road.

Turn left and follow this road right round a sharp bend. Pass the tower of the original church, isolated in its small graveyard. Continue along the lane, passing houses of varying ages. Descend between high hedges and turn left at the junction. Continue on this winding road through the bottom of the village, passing attractive, stone-built, thatched cottages.

Pass the Clock House and turn left up the bridleway, signposted ‘Gore Clump’. The gravel track – which often doubles as a stream – gives way to a tree-lined path between the fields. Go through a gate and continue straight on. Go up the right edge of this and the next field. In the corner, turn left along a fence and walk up the track above some trees to reach a gate and National Trust sign for Fontmell Down. Pass through this onto Fontmell Down. Continue straight ahead on the rising track. After 0.5 miles (800m) ignore the gate to the right and keep straight ahead along the fence, to reach the top of the hill and the car park.