West Somerset Coast Path

West Somerset Coast Path
West Somerset Coast Path sign
Length	25 mi (40 km)
Location	Somerset, England
Designation	UK National Trail
Trailheads	Minehead, Steart Peninsula
Use	Hiking
Elevation
Lowest point	Sea level
Hiking details
Season	All year

The West Somerset Coast Path is a long-distance footpath that links the northern end of the South West Coast Path to the River Parrett Trail in Somerset, England, UK.

In March 2016 a 58 miles (93 km) stretch of the England Coast Path from Brean Down to Minehead, which incorporates the West Somerset Coast Path, was opened and designated as part of the England Coast Path.

It runs from the hamlet of Steart on the Steart Peninsula, and passes through the villages of Kilve, West Quantoxhead, Williton, Watchet, Blue Anchor, and Dunster beach to Minehead.

The beach at Kilve was described by William Wordsworth, the Romantic poet, as "Kilve's delightful shore". Kilve Pill, where the stream from Holford runs into the sea, was once a tiny port, used for importing culm, an inferior type of coal which was used in the limeburning process. It was also the site for "glatting" which was the hunting of conger eels by dogs. On the shore a Saint Keyne serpent can be seen, which a local legend says is a snake turned to stone, but is in reality an ammonite. It is just possible to make out the remains of a stone jetty and the ruins of a lime kiln nearby. Here the limestone was burnt to provide farmers with the lime to spread on their fields. The limestone carrier Laurina was wrecked at Kilve in 1876.