Nunney Castle Circular

This 3.5 mile circular walk through the countryside starts by exploring the small but spectacular ruins of Nunney Castle. The castle dates from the 1370s, its builder was Sir John de la Mare, a local knight who was beginning to enjoy royal favour. Modernised in the late 16th century, the castle was besieged and damaged in 1645 during the English Civil War. The grounds and castle are dog friendly.

Start by exploring the castle ruins before walking away from the village into the fields, which is mostly arable land, afterwards, venture back along the woodland stream, which will give dogs plenty of opportunities to splash around and cool down. When you have finished your walk, you could stop for a refresh at the dog friendly cafe Moat & Turret (which serves dog ice cream) or The George pub.

We did not walk through any fields with livestock, but we think one field may have cows in at some point in the year.

We absolutely loved this walk, so thank you for the recommendation @thegoddamn_bronson_and_bane and The Adventures of Nova.

Walking directions
1. Park for free at Nunney Castle car park (BA11 4NL), this may get busy at weekends. From the car park. turn left into the village and take the first left, Castle Street, which will lead you right to the castle ruins!

2. After exploring the castle, exit through the gate and follow the bridge across the stream, where you will come to Church Street, turn left and walk up the street which runs alongside the stream. Take the first exit left onto Donkey Lane.

3. Soon after, take the first right onto the quiet Fulwell Lane, and follow it until it becomes a footpath with trees on each side.

4. Follow the path, which will take you through a cattle gate and into a field (keep close to the hedge to stay on the footpath). We did see cows in adjacent fields, but none in the fields we walked through in mid-August. However, there were signs of cows in one field only, so please be aware and keep dogs under control.

5. Walk across a small farm access lane and into another field, keeping close to the hedges as you go, until you reach a gate in the corner of the field. This will take you into an arable field, where you can follow the footpath along the edge until you reach another crop field. Walk through the centre of this field, following the footpath.

6. This footpath will shortly come to a gap between the hedges and into another field, follow the footpath adjacent to the hedge. Once you reach the end of this field, you will be in the midst of quite a few fields in a slightly cleared area, with a farm building in the distance. (Maybe best to double-check our map here as there are no real discernable features!) You basically want to head back southwest so you can meet the stream.

7. From this point in the middle of the fields, take the footpath to your left, running alongside the hedge. Do not take the path which has deep tractor lines as this will send you in the wrong direction. Follow the footpath around the edge of the field, where it will take you into another field (there were towers of sweetcorn goring when we visited!) The footpath should be worn down enough to follow.

8. After a little while, the footpath will open out onto a gravelly track, taking you downhill and around the corner to the left until you reach the stream and woodland.

9. Follow the brook. The footpath will take you over a small bridge and continue to follow the brook on the other side.

10. After a while, you will come out into an open area, with a ford, rope swing and logs (we loved this part!) Next, walk through the field, past some strange little houses (?) and a tree trunk carved into a tortoise. Walk past the ford and lane to the end of the field where you will see a gate and a small quiet lane surrounded by trees (Donkey Lane).

11. Follow this lane until it takes you back into the village. We stopped at the Moat & Turret after for some dog ice cream for Bella and sandwiches for us, perfect!

 

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