The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Brympton

Good cafe and place to rest

The Roman villa at Lufton was discovered by Mr K. C. J. Hill in 1945. Mr Hill was ploughing a field and realised that his plough had hit the ruins of a stone building. The site was soon confirmed as that of a Roman Villa and it was excavated by Mr Leonard Hayward FSA and the boys of Yeovil Grammar School between 1946 and 1952 and again between 1960 and 1963. The excavations identified a fourth-century corridor house richly adorned with painted wall plaster and mosaics. Many of the finds from the excavations are now in the Community Heritage Access Centre in Yeovil. Today the site of the villa is a scheduled ancient monument and protected by law. The villa has attracted considerable academic attention because it is one of a small number of excavated corridor houses that include a large and ostentatious octagonal bath suite. https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/luftonarchaeology/2013/04/25/the-discovery-of-the-villa-1946-1963/

Montacute Road was rerouted through what is now the Agusta Park estate, leaving behind the original road as part of a footpath network. There is an old Victoria Lodge left to crumble, which was on the original junction of Lufton Road and Montacute Road

The ancient parish of Thorn Coffin, known since 1884 as Thorne, (fn. 1) lies 2 miles north-west of Yeovil. It measured 413 a. in 1901, (fn. 2) and since 1933 has formed part of the civil parish of Brympton. (fn. 3) It is irregular in shape: its northern boundary with Chilthorne Domer follows, with slight deviations, the Yeovil-Tintinhull road, and was marked c. 1300 by Thorn Ditch. (fn. 4) Part of its southern boundary with Brympton and Lufton is aligned with Thorn Lane, the road from the hundred stone of Stone to Montacute. At the Oaks, however, it leaves the road and runs (fn. 5) southwards towards Lufton, field boundaries at that point suggesting the line of an earlier road or track. The western limit of the parish has a protrusion reaching Montacute and including meadow land known as Castle Leasne in the 17th century (fn. 6) and Castle Leaze in the nineteenth. (fn. 7) The name is a possible indication of an early attachment to Montacute castle. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol3/pp250-255

Situated in Golden Stones car park directly down from Coopers Mill

Can be viewed from the road at the corner of Lower Hyde Road

Hollow Lane is a great example of a Hollow Way, a sunken lane typical of this area of the country. These ancient lanes are cut into the landscape but we're not entirely sure why. It could be simply due to erosion by booth people and animals over 100s of years, exacerbated by water run off. They may also have been cut initially to make animal heading easier and to provide protection from the weather. What ever the cause they make for very atmospheric riding!

National Trust managed property and gardens. Free entry for NT members non members have to pay. Open 10:00 - 17:00 every day although some areas may close a bit earlier or later seasonally.