Shute’s Lane Dorset

Shute’s Lane in Dorset is a fine example of a ‘holloway’ or sunken road.  The ‘shute’ (meaning a steep road or pathway through a cleft in a hill) or trail begins as a quite ordinary looking track on the edge of Symondsbury.

As you progress along it, the banks begin to rise up on either side, to as high as twenty feet.  These trails or ‘droves’ have been worn down by centuries of footfall and the passage of hooves, wheels and water.

Exposed roots in the banks form intricate patterns, reminiscent of Arthur Rackham illustrations or Tolkien-esque landscapes.  In Summer the tree canopy arches overhead, which gives welcome shade on a hot day.

What makes Shute’s Lane particularly other-worldly is the mass of carvings and graffiti on its banks.  Sometimes you’re not sure if you’re looking at a face actually carved into the bank or one provoked by your imagination from the writhing shapes of roots, ferns and shady hollows.

The carved graffiti comprise hundreds of initials, hearts and varied designs, and some have been executed with particularly serious effort and artistic flair.

One wonders if some of the carved faces have been simply imposed upon the rock, or whether, as in prehistoric times, the artist has first seen an image in the bank and subsequently given it a more defined life through a carved rendering.

Names, initials, hearts, declarations of love, grotesque faces, floral and other patterns comprise just some of the weird and wonderful carvings in this magical sunken lane.

Further on, Shute’s Lane meets Hell Lane, which slopes down, often through mud, water and in summer what seems like a billion insects.  One can understand why, hundreds of years ago, such a place would have been given the name: the descent, especially in the failing light of day, does seem to threaten to lead to some sort of underworld.

But it’s not scary—it’s quite magical.

Video: