Branscombe Village and Coast Path Circular

This circular 4mi/6.9km walk begins in Branscombe Beach Pay and Display Car Park (What3words: ///police.nylon.sprain). It takes you alongside a leat, a working mill, an orchard and a forge, then up through the village until you reach the coast path with stunning views of the sea and cliffs before dropping back down into Branscombe, arriving back at the beach. It can be strenuous in a few places with uneven ground and steep inclines, sturdy footwear is advised. There are two pubs and a cafe in Branscombe as well as the National Trust Old Bakery Tea Rooms which you will pass on the walk. (Check opening times online). Toilets are located at the beginning of the walk, as well as National Trust toilets beside the Old Bakery Tea Rooms. This walk is dog friendly, but be aware they may have to remain on lead for sections of the walk due to grazing livestock, and also stretches of road and coast path.

From the car park walk past the toilets behind The Sea Shanty Cafe, turning right on a path that takes you alongside a stream, shaded by trees. Soon you’ll cross over a bridge with a National Trust sign encouraging you to play pooh sticks here. We heard several blue tits and goldcrests along this route as we continued on, ignoring any signs coming off the main path. We also spotted 3 different species of beetle in the brambles on the left next to the wire fence, one being a very shiny and beautiful bronze beetle, as well as another National Trust sign, this one was for a scavenger hunt game. As we crossed over another bridge, we spotted dragonflies darting about in the field to the left, as well as a noisy jay flying from one tree to another as we continued along the gravel path. When you reach a gate, turn left and walk down the track to National Trust Manor Mill, then taking the gate to the right of the steps, with a sign pointing to ‘the Old Bakery Tea Rooms and The Forge’. Walking along the trodden grass track with the water trickling on your left, you’ll soon pass through gates on a bridge, then through another field before entering into an orchard via a ‘snaking’ bridge.

The snaking bridge leading to the orchard

Soon you’ll pass the Old Bakery Tea Rooms on your left and the National Trust visitor information centre and toilets on your right. The Tea Rooms are open on certain days for a refreshment stop (check online for opening times) as is the working forge on the other side of the road. Turn left and walk up the road passing the yellow thatched cottage as you do so. Soon you’ll also pass the church where you’ll be treated to beautiful views of the valley below on your left. We could hear buzzards calling out and circling in the sky above as we continued on up the hill, eventually passing (and ignoring) a footpath sign leading into fields on our left. Be careful of cars passing you as you walk along this road, soon passing Pitt Farm then arriving at a junction in front of a beautiful house named Beehive Cottage. Turn left up this road then up the hill, but keep an eye out for a public footpath to ‘Berry Cliff Coast Path’ just to the right of ‘Rookeries House’. If required, you can have a drink stop at The Fountain Head Inn, just behind Beehive cottage, near the entrance to the footpath.

We spotted a couple of rabbits along this gravel track as it continued up the hill, up some steps and through a gate into Pit Coppice. Here it can be uneven with rocks and tree roots underfoot, as well as a challenging incline. Luckily the steepness doesn't last long before we leave the woods through a kissing gate and into a field. Continue straight through the field, note that there is evidence that cows graze in here so keep dogs on lead if you do spot any livestock. There will soon be a natural trodden path through the contour of the field, you’ll then arrive at a gravel public footpath. Here you can choose to turn left and take a shortened route back to Branscombe via the coast path, or like us, turn right, adding on an extra stretch of the coast path. We took the track through a metal farm gate, continuing ahead with hedgerows on either side, until you reach a stone walled kissing gate. Pass through the kissing gate on the left (marked as a public footpath), and take the track straight ahead through the field. Soon you’ll be able to see the sea on your left as you follow the track, picking up the South West Coast Path by a signpost. From here, turn left and walk the coast path towards Branscombe Mouth. Here we saw plenty of stonechats on the gorse, and heard a dunnock calling as we passed by.

As you walk along the coast path, be sure to enjoy the views of the East Devon coastline behind you. On a clear day you can see Sidmouth, Ladram Bay and Straight point near Exmouth. As we passed through a kissing gate to Berry Cliff Camp, we saw so many swallows dipping down and flying low over us, probably the most I’ve seen in one place. Once you pass through another kissing gate, the path will become uneven and stony before opening up into ‘Fluff’s Car Park’. From here, turn left, then at the end of the track turn right, following the coast path signs for Branscombe Mouth. This part of the track was so peaceful and quiet, listening to the sound of blackbirds and robins singing. This path will turn more sheltered with trees and ferns as you pass another sign post pointing you towards Branscombe, thankfully not down the steps to the left of the gate you pass through.

Looking back at the East Devon Coastline

The woodland path will soon open up to a beautiful view of Branscombe Village with the perfectly placed bench to rest and enjoy the view. We sat here for a while looking down at the valley and listening to a raven calling out in the tree just behind us. There were also plenty of butterflies around this area, enjoying what was left of the summer sunshine. Continuing on, we passed through a kissing gate, where eventually the stony path opened up to the sea views of Branscombe Beach. Once again, there was a bench placed here to enjoy the views before heading down the hill, through a kissing gate into a field, where it then takes you to where we first started the walk beside the beach and car park. If you like the look of the steep hill on the other side of the beach, then there is a lovely walk from Beer to Branscombe (and back) that I have previously posted here.

A perfect spot to enjoy the view before heading down the hill

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Laura Waddell 8/24/26 Laura Waddell 8/24/26

Beer to Branscombe Coast Path Loop

I first published this walk 6 years ago, but have recently enjoyed walking it again. This is an updated version of the original walk, with changes put in place where necessary, as the under cliffs are currently closed off due to a landslip.

This walk along the East Devon stretch of the South West Coast Path from Beer to Branscombe is quite easy to follow as there are very clear signposts and paths leading you in the right direction. We love this stretch of the South West Coast Path, Beer and Branscombe are both beautiful, small villages, with fishing boats moored on the pebble beaches. I’ve written a post before about Branscombe (here) and I’ll do another post in the near future about Beer as it deserves its own post. It’s such a lovely little village to stroll round, visiting the independent shops and sitting in one of the deck chairs having an ice cream or chips on the beach, watching the fishing boats go out to sea.

We started this walk by parking in the main car park (Clapp’s Lane) in Beer as we first went down to the beach to have some lunch, but we resisted the urge to get an ice cream, instead promising ourselves we would have one once we reached Branscombe. If you aren’t planning on visiting the village or if there’s no space in the main car park, then there’s a larger one right by the start of the coast path called Cliff Top car park. To reach the coast path from Beer Beach, we walked past our favourite pub in the village, ‘The Anchor Inn’ and walked up Common Lane. From here we had beautiful views of Beer Beach, its white cliffs and the coastline over the well kept gardens, belonging to the beautiful terraced houses on the other side of this road. Once half way up this hill we then turned down a lane on our left called Little Lane. From here it leads us past the bigger car park I mentioned earlier, and a caravan park on our right. Going through a gate, and into a field, this lane joins onto the coast path.

For those of you who enjoy geocaching, there are some great ones along this route all the way to Branscombe. We actually ended up finding some of the ones we couldn’t find last time we walked this route, though it can be hard sometimes as this path can get fairly popular, so you need to have a lot of stealth!

Views of Beer and Seaton from the coast path.

As we carried on along the coast path the views just kept getting better, we did this walk on a hot, sunny day, but a word of warning, be prepared that there’s a steep hill on the way back from Branscombe, which can be made a lot more strenuous in the heat. There’s also a section of rather steep steps if you descend the cliff path, but the rest of the walk is rather easy going and the views make it even more enjoyable.

A lovely spot to sit and take in the views.

Views of Branscombe beach from the coast path.

The lower path takes you through twists and turns with the white cliffs on your right, and there’s a short cut to the Eastern side of the beach when you reach the end of this path. However, there are quite a few steps on this path, whereas if you choose the high path it’s just through several fields then down one set of steps and then down East Cliff hill.

Some of the steps you’ll encounter along Hooken Undercliff. — Some of the steps you’ll encounter along the lower path.

Both paths offer the beautiful views of the coastline and are clearly marked on how to get to the beach. Once we reached the end of the lower path, we could have walked further which would take us out to the bottom of the hill before the car park at Branscombe, instead we chose to enter the beach by a path on our left. This took us to the Eastern end of the beach. Note: The under cliffs section is currently closed due to a landslip, there is a sign on the kissing gate stating a closure until October 2026. The section that is closed is Hooken Undercliff, through the holiday park that arrives at the car park. There is a clear sign and barrier at the point where you cannot currently access. Taking the lower path to exit at Branscombe beach is possible but be aware you cannot access the beach at high tide.

This part of the pebble beach is a lot quieter than the main stretch close to the car park. We decided to sit here for a bit and watch a few dogs enjoying the water as the waves crashed against the pebbles. After a while, we carried on our walk towards ‘The Sea Shanty beach cafe’ by the car park and the entrance to the beach, it’s a short walk along the beach to get here. This is the only cafe by the beach, but it has a good variety of food and drink options, including a good choice of ice creams which is what we came for!

The Eastern end of Branscombe beach is always a lot more quiet. — The Eastern end of Branscombe beach is always a lot quieter.

We sat and watched the waves crashing against the pebbles.

The busier part of the beach, with The Sea Shanty Beach cafe to the right.

After having an ice cream and relaxing in the sun, we decided we had better start climbing the hill back onto the coast path, to return to Beer. From the Sea Shanty cafe, there’s an entrance to the hill ahead through a gate by the mouth of the river that’s just to the side of the car park. Look for the massive hill, it is hard to miss!

We sat and had an ice cream, while looking at the hill we were about to climb.

The hill does have some benches you can rest on if need be, we sat and looked at the views of the beach below before continuing on our walk, up some steps then through more fields which eventually took us back to Beer. Along the way we spotted what used to be Beer’s old historic lookout building, which has since been updated and turned into a rather impressive three-storey holiday let. From here, we ignored the gate and cattle grid ahead, and instead turned right and walked down towards some hedges, (full of blackberries!) and through a gate to continue along the coast path.

The views of Branscombe village, beach and coastline from the top of the hill.

This walk took us about 3 hours to do, but we did it at a leisurely pace. It’s best to give yourself plenty of time, as I’ve said before the hill and steps can be quite strenuous! The stunning coastal views really do make up for the hard work involved on some parts of the coast path though. Both beaches are dog friendly, Beer does have restrictions in place for certain areas (clearly marked) during peak season, but the whole of Branscombe beach is dog friendly all year round. If you are taking a dog on this walk, please bear in mind that there are steep drops from the cliff side so be very careful dogs don’t run off the edge, and as always, keep dogs under strict control around any livestock you may encounter (we walked through fields with sheep and cattle in them).

Views of Seaton from the coast path on the way back to Beer.

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