Country Article / Postcards

Porlock Weir: A tale of lepers, smugglers, and a diminutive church

Date: 03/20/2007

Porlock Weir, a tiny medieval harbor in west Dorset, England’s southwest, with three shops, a 16th-century coaching inn, and a busy hotel, is the end of my road.

The atmosphere is romantic and wild, and my imagination is fuelled by the tide crashing onto the shingles—or is it the heady local “scrumpy” (alcoholic cider) from the thatched Ship Inn? Smugglers and damsels in distress, shipwrecks and booty are all part of Porlock’s ragged history, inspiring writers like Daphne du Maurier, and three miles outside the village lies a further intriguing symbol of its past.

From the harbor, follow a steady climbing path among age-old trees and clinging dampness, and you’ll come to Culbone church, St. Beuno’s. This is a typical English church in all respects but one: size—it measures less than 40 feet long.

Monks have reportedly occupied the original site of this church since 430 A.D, with the first church being built around 635 A.D. In 1544, the church authorities decided to use Culbone as a site for lepers, and around 45 men, women, and children were sent here.

They received no assistance during their isolation—the priest said to have lived in the church at that time devoted himself solely to prayer. Starting out with seed but no tools, the lepers learned to forage, farm, and make charcoal to survive. A tiny “leper–window” in the north wall of the church allowed them to follow mass services, but, by 1622, with the death of the last leper, the community was no more, and the area remained uninhabited for a hundred years or so.

In the early 18th century, the lepers’ dwellings were put to a new use by smugglers looking for shelter and storage for their loot. By the end of the 1700s, smuggling had declined and the area was again abandoned.

Accessible only by foot, the church is beautifully intact with ancient oak pews, intricate carved screen work, and oak roof beams. A new slate roof replaced the original thatch in renovations around 1768 when the priest’s hermit cell was dismantled. Occasional services are still held here with an uncomfortable seating capacity of just 30 people.

Just above the Culbone church is Ash Farm, now a B&B, where Coleridge wrote his opium-induced Kubla Khan lines. When interrupted by “a person from Porlock,” his inspiration left him, and he abandoned the poem. For such a tiny end-of-the-road place, Porlock Weir has plenty to offer the curious traveler.

Traveling to Porlock
The nearest airports are Bristol or Exeter.
The nearest main town and railway station is Taunton.
For accommodation and further information, go to http://www.porlock.co.uk

For property sales, go to http://www.chaninandthomas.co.uk