Toller Porcorum

Toller Porcorum offers nature and history that you can weigh differently when choosing your destination. Kingcombe Meadows represents the landscape around Lower Kingcombe; St Peter, Railway Cottage and Toller Station tell the story of the area’s architectural and transport history. If you’re looking for a hotel for your trip, this overview will help you understand what the area has to offer.

Nature around Kingcombe Meadows

Kingcombe Meadows in Lower Kingcombe, Toller Porcorum, is a traditionally managed farm. Its landscape includes flower-rich grassland, old hedgerows, unimproved pasture and damp woodland. The area therefore comprises several different landscape features, rather than just open meadows. Its importance as a natural area is also closely linked to a specific feature: Kingcombe Meadows is of national importance for its waxcap fungi of the genus Hygrocybe; 27 species are found there.

On 2 June 2021, Natural England declared the land concerned in the parishes of Toller Porcorum, Powerstock and Wraxall the Kingcombe National Nature Reserve. Lady’s Mead, a Coronation Meadow, is also near Kingcombe. This designation adds the protected status of the land concerned and a named meadow to the picture of the landscape’s individual features.

Paths and wildlife watching

The Kingcombe Visitor Centre is in Lower Kingcombe, Toller Porcorum. Its facilities include wildlife-friendly gardens, orchards and a bird hide. Alongside the grassland and hedgerows, gardens and orchards, as well as a place for birdwatching, are also highlights. These different details give you several specific points of interest if you’d like to explore the natural area.

The paths also differ in type. The Jubilee Trail runs through Kingcombe Meadows as a footpath; the Wessex Ridgeway passes through the area as a bridleway. The purple walking trail at the Kingcombe Visitor Centre takes about half an hour. The orange walking trail takes about 45 minutes and is seasonal. These times are approximate; the orange trail’s seasonal status should also be taken into account. This lets you consider the type of path, approximate duration and seasonal restriction as separate aspects of your planning.

A longer walking option is the 13-mile circular route “The Dorset That Time Forgot”, which is associated with Toller Porcorum. Check the current trail conditions before setting out. The details about the paths at the Visitor Centre and the longer circular route describe different options; they should therefore not be understood as one continuous route.

Church and architectural history

The parish church of St Peter is a medieval Grade II* listed church. Its chancel dates from the late 13th or early 14th century; the building was altered in the 14th century. Another distinctive feature is the 12th-century font, whose shape resembles an ancient Roman funerary altar. The different dates make the church a place where several building phases and an unusual design motif can be distinguished.

Railway Cottage is another historic building in Toller Porcorum. The detached cottage dates from the late 17th century and has flint and rubble-stone walls and a thatched roof. Its materials and roof give the building a different architectural profile from the medieval church. It therefore complements the church’s architectural history with a residential building from a later period.

Another historical point of reference is Toller Station: the last train passed through the station in 1975. This date is part of the area’s railway history. Together with the church and Railway Cottage, it shows that Toller Porcorum can be explored not only through its landscape, but also through its buildings and former transport history.

Discover more destinations: Boscombe, Worth Matravers, Dewlish, West Moors, Canford Magna, Marnhull, Sturminster Newton, Winterbourne Abbas.

For the main travel overview: Dorset.