Trails
Murals, sculptures, fossils and history underfoot. Who runs each one, where it starts, how long it takes and where the leaflet is.
Weymouth has quietly filled its pavements with things to look for: ceramic history plaques underfoot, ten murals, six sculptures, sixteen fossils and a cannonball in a wall. Most of these cost nothing and none of them need booking. Grab a leaflet and look down, then up.
Checked in September 2026 against the sources linked. Things change, ring ahead for anything that matters.
The trails
10 trails. Free means the organiser says so.
Weymouth History Trail (the heritage paving slabs)
Ceramic heritage plaques set into the pavement at 18 spots between Bowleaze Cove and the Stone Pier. The first six were made by Ned Heywood of Heritage Ceramics with words and artwork from Weymouth Museum, to mark 450 years since the two towns were joined in 1571. Look up in Maiden Street for the cannonball lodged in the gable of the RAFA Club, damage from the Civil War fighting of February 1645.
- Who runs it:
- Created by We Are Weymouth, the town's Business Improvement District. Hosted on Weymouth Trails, the Town Council's trail site.
- Start:
- Not stated in the leaflet. The slabs run from Bowleaze Cove to the Stone Pier, so most people start on the Esplanade.
- Length or time:
- Not published.
- When:
- All year, on public streets.
The 18 stops
- 1Roman Temple, Bowleaze Cove
- 2Pier Bandstand
- 3Royal Hotel
- 4Royal Dipping, near the King's Statue
- 5The Esplanade
- 6D-Day Embarkation, Ferry Steps
- 7Custom House
- 8Black Death, Custom House Quay
- 9The Cannonball, Maiden Street
- 10St Mary's Church
- 11Town Bridge
- 12Old Town Hall, High West Street
- 13Holy Trinity Church
- 14Ralph Allen's House, Trinity Road
- 15Town Pump and Old Rooms
- 16Tudor House
- 17Hope Square
- 18Nothe Fort, Stone Pier
The cannonball at 41 Maiden Street is a replica set high in the wall of the early 17th century building, formerly the Ship Inn, with a plaque near Helen Lane. About 250 people died in the Crabchurch Conspiracy of February 1645 when Royalist soldiers were let into the town.
Source:Weymouth TrailsHeritage paving slabsBattlefields Trust, the cannonball
Weymouth Mural Trail
Ten murals from Overcombe and Lodmoor through the town centre to South Harbourside and Nothe Gardens, by Delphine Jones, Hugh Dunford-Wood, Si Jubb, Marina Renee-Cemmick, Sockoven, Roo (Sarah Hesketh), Ivy Langley, Georgia Green and Claire Nuttall.
- Who runs it:
- Weymouth Town Council in partnership with We Are Weymouth.
- Start:
- No fixed start, the murals are spread across the town. The council page has an interactive Google map.
- Length or time:
- Not published.
- When:
- All year, outdoors.
Questions to Weymouth Town Council on 01305 239839 or office@weymouthtowncouncil.gov.uk.
Weymouth Sculpture Trail, between beach and backwater
Six permanent artworks on a walk of about a mile through the town centre conservation area, three of them doubling as seats: Steve Geliot's Apparition (Swannery car park, under the bridge, DT4 7TY, an augmented reality piece you activate by scanning with your phone), Raphael Daden's The Levels (promenade near the Jubilee Clock, DT4 7EB), Denman and Gould's Constant Bearing (New Bond Street, DT4 8LY), Alex Evans's Duel (Hope Square, DT4 8TR), Nigel Ross's Time and Tide (an oak bench on the Stone Pier, DT4 8DZ) and Ben Russell's Reef Dwellers (promenade, DT4 7AT).
- Who runs it:
- Commissioned by Dorset Council with Weymouth Town Council and Arts Council England, delivered by Dorset Council Place Services with b-side. Artists chosen by the council's Arts Advisory Panel after a national open call.
- Start:
- Any of the six. The Swannery car park and the Stone Pier are the two ends.
- Length or time:
- About one mile.
- When:
- All year. Installed November to December 2021.
Only Apparition uses augmented reality, via a phone scan on site, and no separate app name is published. An access guide PDF is offered on the Weymouth Trails page. Wessex Water put water refill points along the route.
Weymouth Fossil Trail
A free trail of 16 fossil sculptures in Weymouth town centre. Announced as a permanent installation, with phase one launched at February half term 2025.
- Who runs it:
- We Are Weymouth BID.
- Start:
- Not verified from a non BID source. Visit Dorset has a map.
- Length or time:
- Not published.
- When:
- Listed as permanent and still shown on Visit Dorset as of 2 September 2026.
Start point, leaflet and any later phases could not be verified. Check the Visit Dorset page before you set out.
Lodmoor Tree Trail
Sixteen marked trees on a circular walk round Lodmoor Country Park, with Tree Detectives boxes for children.
- Who runs it:
- Weymouth Town Council with the Friends of Lodmoor Country Park.
- Start:
- Near the main entrance of Lodmoor Country Park, just before the children's play area.
- Length or time:
- About 45 minutes, circular.
- When:
- All year. Installed 27 October 2021.
Paper leaflets at the pitch and putt kiosk or the model railway.
Railway Heritage Trail
The story of the station, the town and its holidaymakers. Weymouth station opened on 20 January 1857 and the rebuilt station opened on 3 July 1986. The harbour tramway opened in 1865, regular passenger trains along it ended in 1987, the last train ran on 2 May 1999 and the track was lifted from 5 October 2020.
- Who runs it:
- Created by We Are Weymouth, hosted on Weymouth Trails.
- Start:
- Weymouth railway station.
- Length or time:
- Not published.
- When:
- All year.
A PDF leaflet can be downloaded from the Weymouth Trails page.
Journey Through Time
Twelve historic sites along ten miles of coast, from Roman Weymouth at Bowleaze Cove to Portland Bill lighthouse.
- Who runs it:
- Produced by Weymouth Museum, Nothe Fort and Portland Museum together, with Harbour Media, funded by a South West Museum Development grant. Launched 7 September 2019. (The Weymouth Trails page credits it to We Are Weymouth instead.)
- Start:
- Bowleaze Cove, or Portland Bill if you like to finish in town.
- Length or time:
- About ten miles end to end. Most people do it in bits.
- When:
- All year.
Free to follow, but Nothe Fort, the two museums and the lighthouse charge admission. The leaflet PDF is a large file.
Heritage Walk round the Nothe
A short loop round the Nothe headland past the fort, the wartime searchlight positions and a monument to the anti slavery campaigner Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton.
- Who runs it:
- Weymouth Trails (Weymouth Town Council with the RSPB and Dorset Wildlife Trust).
- Start:
- Nothe Gardens car parks, Barrack Road.
- Length or time:
- 1.48 km (0.9 miles).
- When:
- All year.
The gardens date from the late 1880s and their Second World War searchlight emplacements are scheduled monuments.
Source:Weymouth TrailsNothe Gardens
Rodwell Trail and Sandsfoot Gardens
The old Weymouth to Portland railway trackbed from Westham to Ferrybridge, with platform remains, a tunnel and replica station signs, calling at the Green Flag gardens round Sandsfoot Castle.
- Who runs it:
- Weymouth Trails (Weymouth Town Council with the RSPB and Dorset Wildlife Trust), with the Friends of Rodwell Trail.
- Start:
- Swannery car park.
- Length or time:
- 3.6 km (2.2 miles), about an hour.
- When:
- All year.
A PDF leaflet is on the Weymouth Trails page.
Source:Weymouth TrailsWikipedia
Geogaming and geocaching
Geogaming: free outdoor games played on a phone with augmented reality characters, story choices and puzzles, launched from a button on the Weymouth Trails page. Geocaching: geocaching.com lists a Weymouth Town Circuit series of traditional caches in the town (for example GC1ZHHE and GC1ZHFH).
- Who runs it:
- Geogaming was created by We Are Weymouth and is listed on Weymouth Trails. Geocaching is the worldwide geocaching.com community.
- Start:
- Wherever the game sends you.
- Length or time:
- Not published.
- When:
- All year.
The app or platform behind Geogaming is not named on the page, and whether the Weymouth Town Circuit caches are still in place was not verified. Check before you go.
Fossil hunting: the rules
Because the trail sculptures will make the kids want the real thing.
Where and how, from the people who look after the coast
- Collect only loose fossils on the beach. Never hammer or dig into cliff faces or rocky ledges.
- Go at low tide, on a falling tide, and keep away from the cliffs and any rockfalls. Eye protection if you use a hammer.
- The Jurassic Coast Trust names Charmouth as the best and safest place on the whole coast to try it, with guided walks from the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre or Lyme Regis Museum. It advises against Sidmouth (few fossils), Durlston Bay (dangerous) and Kimmeridge Bay (sensitive).
- Chesil Beach and Portland are not mentioned in the Trust’s fossil guidance, and we found no primary source that permits collecting on Chesil. Assume you cannot.
- Chesil is closed anyway for much of the year: the beach from the Portland boundary stone to Abbotsbury is shut from 1 April to the end of August for nesting birds, and the Fleet slope from Wyke to Abbotsbury is closed all year. Chesil and the Fleet is an SSSI, SAC, SPA and Ramsar site.
- The West Dorset Fossil Collecting Code covers National Trust and Charmouth Parish Council land between Lyme Regis and Hive Beach at Burton Bradstock. Beginners keep to the beach, digging in cliffs needs the landowner’s permission, and anything new, very rare or exceptionally preserved must be recorded at the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre. Landowners keep ownership but pass it to collectors who follow the code, so long as important finds are offered to accredited UK museums before any sale. First drafted in the late 1990s, revised 2013, amended 2022 to 2023, and endorsed by the National Trust, Charmouth Parish Council, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast Trust.
Source:Jurassic Coast TrustFossil Collecting Code 2023Charmouth Heritage Coast CentreChesil Beach