The best walks and hikes around Shapwick

Lovely ancient ruins at Badbury rings

Brilliant dog walk alongside the stream perfect for a cool dip in the summer

Stunning avenue of trees perfect for a photo or two x

Great pub walk on the stour valley way

Old Roman rd dating 43 AD to 409 AD. Excavations on the line of the Dorchester road at Crab Farm revealed that it was above and therefore later than the filling of the three fortification ditches dating to the later 2nd century. Finds of coins above the road metalling were 3rd- 4th century in date. The Bath and Hamworthy roads are probably 1st or 2nd century in date. An earlier route to Old Sarum branches from the Bath and Hamworthy roads and is partly followed by the east boundary of the Batts Bed field. This was one of the key route centres of Roman Dorset, even more so if the Shapwick/ Pamphill parish boundary proves to be on the line of a road to Hod Hill and Ilchester. Apart from Dorchester there are no other crossroads like this in Dorset and because it is not occupied by a town it is often used in text books as an example of the Roman communications network.

Perfect place to park for free.

Shapwick is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour five miles south-east of Blandford Forum and eight miles north of Poole. The village has a population of around 200 people, 9 dogs, 12 cats and 3 sheep, and an angry squirrel named Dennis. In Roman times there was a Roman Fort at Crab Farm, between Shapwick and Badbury Rings. Just to the west of the fort was a small Romano-British town, believed to be that listed in the Antonine Itinerary as Vindocladia.

Badbury Rings is an Iron Age hill fort and Scheduled Monument in east Dorset, England. In the Roman era a temple was located immediately west of the fort, and there was a Romano-British town known as Vindocladia ( Known today as Shapwick ) a short distance to the south-west. It sits over 300 feet above sea level, and there are two main phases of construction; the first covered 18 acres and was defended by multiple ditches, while the second was more than twice the size, covering 41 acres and defended by a single ditch and rampart. These ramparts make for great walking, but imagine the terror of trying to scale one whilst under attack from the occupants. Once you'd scaled one, there were more waiting for you. No wonder it was the last fort to be sacked by the Romans. Wonder just how many soldiers died trying to take it. Until 1983 Badbury Rings was privately owned as part of the Kingston Lacy estate, and the owners discouraged investigation of the site.[2] The site now belongs to the National Trust.[2] A survey of the hillfort by the RCHME was begun in 1993. The summit area was cleared of undergrowth by the National Trust in 1997 and the conifer plantation was thinned out. A survey in 1998, which recorded 28 potential hut sites within the ramparts, although some depressions are probably caused by uprooted trees. The first excavations, led by Martin Papworth, took place in 2004, when three evaluation trenches were dug. Almost all of the pottery found was dated to the Late Iron Age. The current evidence does not suggest that the hillfort was a principal settlement in the Early Iron Age. It seems likely that the hillfort became depopulated towards the end of the Late Iron Age, perhaps as the Vindocladia settlement near Shapwick developed.