Dancing Ledge – Winspit Quarry Caves loop from Langton Matravers

Hiking trails & Routes

Dancing Ledge – Winspit Quarry Caves loop from Langton Matravers

Moderate

4.8

(64)

341

hikers

Dancing Ledge – Winspit Quarry Caves loop from Langton Matravers

02:43

9.59km

200m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 6, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

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Dorset National Landscape

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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1.80 km

Dancing Ledge Rock Pool

Highlight • Natural Monument

It's not an easy descent to get to the rock pool but it's worth it

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1.91 km

Dancing Ledge

Highlight • Natural

It's a good place to spend day out. No network cover, only you and pure nature.

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2.90 km

The South West Coast Path is England's longest National Trail, stretching 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset. This epic route, originally used by coastguards to patrol for smugglers, offers a challenging yet rewarding experience through stunning scenery, from rugged cliffs and sandy beaches to charming fishing villages and diverse wildlife. While the full trail takes several weeks, it can be walked in sections.

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3.24 km

Seacombe Cliffs and Quarry

Highlight • Natural

From the 1770s these rock outcrops were good for ashlar, dressings and carving. In the accounts for 1771 William Chinchin dug 418 tons of ashlar or front stone, 101 tons of backing stone, 7 sets of caps and legs ( i.e. saddle stones to support granaries) and 1 ton for agricultural rollers. In the 1809-1811 accounts Seacombe is recorded as the place where stone was loaded onto boats for export "May 6th- June 3rd Chinchen Bower to Henry Bankes Esq for ground of stone shipped from Seacombe Quarry œ1-1s-10d".

The Dorset Quarry Company ran the quarry until the early 1930s

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3.50 km

Seacombe Cliff

Highlight • Viewpoint

The sea-cliff quarries at Seacombe are a popular spot along this stretch of coastline. The low-level platform left behind from quarrying has created a unique bathing spot.

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4.24 km

Winspit Quarry

Highlight • Historical Site

Part of the many deep craters located along the coast. Once dugout for a quarry.

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5.11 km

Winspit Quarry Caves

Highlight • Cave

Winspit quarry
Winspit is a disused quarry on the cliffs near Worth Matravers in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England that is no longer in use. To the west and east are the hills of West Man and East Man.

Until around 1940 Winspit was used as a stone quarry, providing stone for buildings in London. During World War II it was used as a site for naval and air defences. After the war the caves were opened to the public. They were used as a location for the planet Mecron II in the Blake's 7 episode "Games", and in Doctor Who they were used in the story "The Underwater Menace", and then as the planet Skaro in the serial "Destiny of the Daleks", the quarry's stone cottage and two other larger buildings, (which were just empty derelict shells, with their roofs missing), were used in "Destiny", they were transformed into the external ruins of the long abandoned Dalek city and disused Kaled Bunkers. Later for the 2012 Disney film John Carter it was used as the scene location for the "Orkney Dig". The quarry is now a lesser-known tourist attraction. Recently many of Winspit's caves have been closed off for public safety and bat conservation.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winspit

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6.52 km

Strip Lynchets in Dorset National Landscape

Highlight • Structure

A lynchet is a bank of earth that builds up on the downslope of a field ploughed over a long period of time. The disturbed soil slips down the hillside to create a lynchet. They are also referred to as ‘strip lynchets’ or in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as ‘lazybeds’.

Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems. Some people believe that they were passively formed under the long-term action of gravity and weathering (soil creep) on the loosened soil of a ploughed slope, while others believe they may have been intentionally formed, to prevent erosion and slippage of the ploughed slope. In Scotland they were used to grow potatoes and other subsistence crops.

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