Fordscroft

Fordscroft sits in the gently rolling farmland of south Somerset, close to the market town of Crewkerne on the county's border with Dorset. It is not a place you will find marked with its own church or high street; rather it belongs to the patchwork of farms, hedgerows and quiet lanes that surround Crewkerne, two miles to the east. This is classic west country countryside, a mix of arable fields, orchards and wooded valleys, with the land rising gently towards the ridge at Ham Hill and dipping away south towards the Devon and Dorset coast.

The wider area has been settled for a very long time. Crewkerne itself was already important enough by 899 AD to be left in the will of Alfred the Great to his youngest son, and its market was recorded in the Domesday Book as the second most valuable in the whole of Somerset. Later the town became a centre of the flax and sailcloth trade, weaving the canvas that rigged ships including Nelson's HMS Victory. Today the same landscape that supported that industry, along with the fertile farmland around Fordscroft, is better known for a slower pace of life: dog walks along public footpaths, farm shops, and easy access to some of the best scenery in the South West.

Top things to do near Fordscroft

Fordscroft is best used as a rural base for exploring south Somerset and the neighbouring Dorset and Devon coast. Within a short drive you will find:

• Ham Hill Country Park — an Iron Age hillfort and nature reserve with some of the best panoramic views in Somerset, plus a war memorial and stone circle, roughly 20 minutes from Crewkerne.
• Crewkerne Museum and Heritage Centre — a small local museum telling the story of the town's Saxon origins and its centuries as a centre of sailcloth and flax production.
• Lyme Regis and the Jurassic Coast — a UNESCO World Heritage coastline around 25 minutes away by car, famous for fossil hunting on the beaches at Lyme Regis and Charmouth.
• Forde Abbey and Gardens — a Grade I listed former Cistercian monastery with parts dating to the 1100s, set in extensive gardens, a short drive south of Crewkerne.
• St Bartholomew's Church, Crewkerne — a fine 15th-century parish church at the heart of the town's Georgian conservation area.
• Dinosaurland Fossil Museum, Lyme Regis — a family-friendly museum of local fossils, a good rainy-day stop when combined with a coastal visit.

Getting to Fordscroft

The area sits just off the A30 and within easy reach of the A303, the main route linking the South West to London and the M3, making it a straightforward drive from most of southern England. Crewkerne itself has a railway station on the West of England line, with services running between Exeter and London Waterloo, useful if you are travelling without a car and picking up a taxi or lift for the final few miles. Yeovil, with its wider range of shops and Yeovil Country Park, lies about 10 miles to the north-east and is the nearest larger town.

Best time to visit Fordscroft

Spring and early summer bring the surrounding farmland and orchards into leaf, and the footpaths and bridleways around Crewkerne are at their most pleasant for walking and riding. Summer is the natural choice for combining a stay with the Jurassic Coast beaches at Lyme Regis and Charmouth, though the coast gets busy in the school holidays. Autumn suits fossil hunting after storms have freshly exposed the cliffs, and September brings the long-running Crewkerne and District Agricultural Show, a fixture of the local calendar for over 150 years. Winter is quieter still, best suited to short walks and pub lunches rather than long days out.

Where to stay near Fordscroft

Accommodation around Fordscroft leans towards converted farm buildings and countryside cottages rather than hotels, reflecting the rural nature of the area. Crewkerne itself has a small selection of pubs with rooms and guesthouses, while Yeovil and the coastal towns of Lyme Regis and Bridport offer a wider choice of hotels and B&Bs for those wanting to be closer to the sea.

Food and drink near Fordscroft

Crewkerne's town centre has independent cafés, bakeries and a handful of traditional pubs serving classic British food, along with a Waitrose for supermarket shopping. For a special occasion, Forde Abbey's tea room makes a pleasant stop after touring the gardens, and the seafood restaurants of Lyme Regis are well worth the short drive for anyone staying a few days in the area.