King Charles III England Coast Path: Lyme Regis to Rufus Castle
Find out about the progress of improving coastal access - including maps, process and timing - in Dorset.
Introduction
Natural England is working to improve public access along a 40 miles (67 km) stretch of the Dorset coast between Lyme Regis and Rufus Castle, Portland.
Officers from Dorset access authority are providing Natural England with expert local advice during the establishment of the route.
This page has information about the stage of progress for each section of the stretch.
You can see the status of all parts of this report in the table.
| Report section | Stage 4 | Stage 5 (approved) | Open to the public |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cobb, Lyme Regis to Charmouth Beach (LRR1) | 18 September 2025 | no | |
| Charmouth Beach to Seatown (LRR2) | 18 September 2025 | no | |
| Seatown to West Bay (LRR3) | 18 September 2025 | no | |
| West Bay to Hive Beach (LRR4) | 18 September 2025 | no | |
| Hive Beach to Abbotsbury Beach (LRR5) | yet to be determined | ||
| Abbotsbury Beach to Rodden Hive (LRR6) | yet to be determined | ||
| Rodden Hive to Chickerell Hive Point (LRR7) | yet to be determined | ||
| Chickerell Hive Point to Ferry Bridge (LRR8) | yet to be determined | ||
| Ferry Bridge to Chiswell (LRR9) | yet to be determined | ||
| Chiswell to Blacknor (Weston) (LRR10) | yet to be determined | ||
| Blacknor (Weston) to Portland Bill (LRR11) | yet to be determined | ||
| Portland Bill to Rufus Castle (LRR12) | yet to be determined |
If you’re planning a walk on the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP), check our interactive access maps for details of local access restrictions and coast path diversions which may therefore apply at certain times.
Coastal access rights normally apply to all land that is coastal margin - including any land seaward of the route - unless it falls into a category of excepted land or if an access restriction applies to the land.
The maps in Natural England’s original proposals to the Secretary of State are still available to view. They show the route of the KCIIIECP along this stretch of coast as it was proposed at that time. They also show the adjoining land that is coastal margin.
Any variation needed after a stretch has been proposed, approved or opened is achieved through rollback or a modification or variation report that you can comment on. Modification and variation reports are published on GOV.UK and details will be added to this page.
Use the link that follows for guidance on your rights and responsibilities if the KCIIIECP passes through your land.
Stage 5: Open (not yet available for public use - work to establish the route is being planned or currently taking place)
The Cobb, Lyme Regis to Hive Beach (LRR1 to LRR4)
On 18 September 2025, the Secretary of State approved this section of the King Charles III England Coast Path.
Natural England will publish further details of the approved route in due course.
Stage 4: Determine
Hive Beach to Rufus Castle (LRR5 to LRR12)
On 8 July 2015, Natural England submitted a report to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs setting out the proposals for improved access to the coast between Lyme Regis and Rufus Castle, Portland.
The period for making formal representations and objections about the report closed at 5pm on 2 September 2015. The report is still available to view.
Objections were forwarded for consideration by an independent inspector from the Planning Inspectorate. After considering these objections, the inspector was minded to determine that Natural England’s proposals do not strike a fair balance in respect to 2 objections and invited further representations on these objections.
See the notices for more details. The opportunity to submit a representation is now closed.
A public inquiry considered the objection by Ilchester Estates. The inquiry concluded on 13 December 2016.
The planning inspector will now make a report and recommendation about the objections to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will take these into account when deciding whether to approve Natural England’s coastal access report for this stretch of the coast.
Next steps
Once the Secretary of State has approved 1 or more of the reports, Natural England will work with Dorset County Council on preparing the route for public use.
The first step will be to contact owners and occupiers of the affected land to discuss the design and location of any new infrastructure which is required such as signs and gates.
When preparations are complete, new access rights will come into force along the route and adjoining spreading room.
Find out more about the King Charles III England Coast Path
See information about all stretches in preparation around England’s coast.
The coastal access scheme gives details of the process being followed to improve access to the coast.
Contact the coastal access team
If you have any further questions about the work we are doing then please contact us:
Coastal access delivery team (Somerset, Avon and Dorset)
Natural England
Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AH
Email westcoastalaccess@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephone: Natural England enquiry team - 0300 060 3900
See the map below for more information about progress on improving coastal access in other parts of the west of England.
Updates to this page
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Page updated to show that Secretary of State has approved reports LRR1 to LRR4 (The Cobb, Lyme Regis to Hive Beach).
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Removed the sentence giving a date for when access is expected to be ready.
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Date amended: access expected to be ready in 2020.
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Text updated: public inquiry has ended.
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Updated page with information that the Public Inquiry held on 1 November in Dorchester has been adjourned and will resume on 13 December at 10am.
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Text updated with information about a public inquiry for the objection by the Ilchester Estates
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Added link to notice on objections issued by the Planning Inspectorate.
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Updated text to show that opportunity to submit a representation and objection about the proposals has closed.
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Updated page - proposals for England Coast Path on this stretch have been published.
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First published.