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Coleridge Way

Coleridge's Cottage in Nether Stowey

The Coleridge Way starts at Nether Stowey, Somerset and finishes at Porlock, Somerset. Between 1797 and 1799 Coleridge lived in this area, along with William and Dorothy Wordsworth. This was the time of Coleridge's greatest poetry, and the walk explores some of the landscape that inspired it.

The walk is thirty six miles long, through the Somerset countryside of the Quantock Hills, the Brendon Hills, and Exmoor.

The walk can be broken into four sections:

 

 

Section 1 runs from Nether Stowey to Bicknoller, a distance of just over nine miles. This section has some steady climbs and sharp descents, but is easier than some of the later sections.

Section 2 runs for nine and a half miles from Bicknoller to Roadwater in the Brendon Hills. There is a steep climb up to Bird Hill.

Section 3 is eight and a half miles miles from Roadwater to Wheddon Cross in the heart of Exmoor. There are two long climbs, one through Langridge Woods, and a second up Lympe Hill.

Section 4 is the last leg of the walk, covering nine miles from Wheddon Cross to Porlock on the coast. There are steep climbs and descents, followed by a two and a half mile descent down into Porlock, where the walk ends at the visitors' centre.

Please note: this is a challenging walk, and some sections are remote. Weather can change rapidly. Mobile phone coverage is patchy. Make sure you have appropriate clothing, and enough water.

Directions: Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Nether Stowey. Map controls can then be used to follow the rest of the route westwards from Nether Stowey

Somerset Coast at Culbone, looking back towards Porlock

If that walk isn't enough for you, the South West Coast Path runs west out of Porlock, and continues along a coastline which was very important to Coleridge. In 1797 he walked this route with Wordsworth, and the idea for The Ancient Mariner was first discussed. It was in an isolated farmhouse near Culbone, just west of Porlock, that Coleridge had his vision that inspired Kubla Khan.

 

 

 

 

Contact: Exmoor National Park Authority:

phone: 01392 383560

Web site: www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk