WALKING WITH ANDREW SWIFT

A distant view of Bath Looking down to Stanton Prior

Stantonbury Camp walk

Andrew Swift takes an eight-mile hike through rolling countryside west of Bath, where nothing appears to have changed for years. The highlight is a stiff climb to an Iron Age hillfort enclosed by a single rampart

Although the starting point of this walk is less than four miles from the city centre, for the most part it feels as though you are walking through a land that has had a spell cast over it. Nothing appears to have changed for decades – even, at some points, for centuries – and, towards the end of the walk, when you catch sight of Lansdown Crescent on a high and distant hill, it is easy to imagine how a farm labourer from generations ago might have felt, raising his head as he trudged these fields and gazed at a far-off fabled city. This immutability is the result of the land having been owned until the 1940s by the Gore Langtons of Newton Park and since then by the Duchy of Cornwall. So development has been almost non-existent, and that gives this walk a character all its own.

The walk starts in Corston (ST695654; BA2 9AH), where parking is limited, although you should be able to find a space in Corston Lane (first turning on the left along the A4, half a mile after the Newton St Loe roundabout) but, if you do park here, park considerately. A better option is to catch the X39, which runs every 15 minutes from Bath bus station, get off at the Corston Lane stop and turn left along the lane a few metres further on.

Whichever option you take, head north along Corston Lane, cross the main road, turn right, and after 100m follow a footpath sign down the drive to Manor Farm, an extraordinarily impressive building from around 1700. After passing it, the track gets rougher, climbs uphill and leads through a gate. Carry straight on beside the fence, and, at the end of the field, go through a KG (ST695645). Turn left through another KG a little further on, passing a cascade and ignoring a KG on the right. Cross a drive and carry on along a tarmac path which after 250m broadens into a lane. 125m further on, turn left, following a public footpath sign, and, just past a garage on the right, go through a KG and head towards Holy Trinity Church.

Carry on through the churchyard and along Newton St Loe’s main street. The school on the right dates from 1698, while Stonewalls opposite, with a large ammonite incorporated in its porch, bears the date 1715 on a sundial. The large building ahead, now Duchy of Cornwall offices, is the Old Rectory. Head past it, turn right at the end and right again by a thatched cottage. After another 150m, turn left to follow a public footpath sign past metal gates, across a cattle grid and along a drive. Despite signs stating dog walking is prohibited, this is a public footpath, so you are legally entitled to walk dogs along it, although as there is livestock they need to be on a short lead.

After 650m, as you approach Bath Spa University, go through a KG on the left (ST698642) and cut diagonally across the field to the left of the small building ahead. (Here, as elsewhere in this area, you may be obliged to step over a low electric fence.) After going through another KG, carry on in the direction of the waymark. To your right is Newton Park, described by Pevsner as one of Somerset’s finest 18th-century mansions, and now the centrepiece of Bath Spa University.

After passing a car park, go through a KG to carry straight on between buildings and past a walled garden. At the playing fields, bear right for 75m before continuing westward through an avenue of trees. The small, ancient building over to your left is marked as a pumping house on old maps. A KG leads into an avenue of newly-planted trees, which crosses the course of the Wansdyke – still just about discernible –75m along. After going through another KG, the avenue continues, but before long the land starts dropping steeply away.

Go through a KG (ST686632) to follow a path which follows and eventually crosses a brook. When you are faced with a choice of footpaths, keep straight on with the hedge on your left. A KG leads on to a lane, on the far side of which is a handgate. Go through it, head towards a church tower, and, when you come to a lane, carry on in the same direction.

This is the delightfully unmanicured village of Stanton Prior. Much of St Martin’s Church dates from the 13th century, although it was was restored by Major Davis – the architect of Bath’s Empire Hotel – in 1860. Next door is Church Farmhouse, built in 1737, while across the road is a range of old farm buildings, still used for the purposes for which they were designed.

Between Corston and Newton Park

Follow the lane as it swings right and carry on, ignoring a turning to the left. After 375m, at a T junction by Poplar Farm, turn left. A few metres further on, when the lane forks, go through a wooden KG by the six-bar gate ahead (ST678631) and walk up a large field. At the top, bear right through a gap in the hedge and turn left to carry on uphill alongside the hedge. At the top, turn right along the edge of the field for 100m, before turning left through a KG to climb a path through woods to Stantonbury Camp. This Iron Age hillfort, enclosed by a single rampart is one of Somerset’s strangest ancient sites. It is also one of the least visited, partly because of the difficulty of getting here, but mainly because the far-reaching views it once commanded are hidden by trees. The chances are you will have this elevated spot, totally cut off from the outside world, and holding who knows what ancient secrets, to yourself. It seems very much the sort of place that would have fired the imagination of M.R. James.

From here, retrace your steps down through the woods and the first field. When you come to the next field, however, instead of heading back down to Poplar Farm, turn left alongside the hedgerow – making sure you keep to the right of it.

At the end, go through a KG and turn left along a lane (ST679635). A row of enormous tree trunks, 175m along, marks the place where the Wansdyke crosses the lane. After another 600m, follow a footpath sign on the right up a couple of steps and through a broken KG (ST677643). As you head east – with the hedge on your left – Lansdown Crescent and the tower of St Stephen’s Church come into view ahead. To the right of it are Bathampton Down and Bath University, while over to your left is Kelston Round Hill.

After 600m, the path crosses a footbridge over a ditch before continuing alongside it. Just past a barn, continue through a KG, and, at the next KG, carry on along the top of the field with the hedge on your left and a view across to Newton Park.

Continue through a KG, and as Kelston Round Hill comes into view, you will see Kelston House nestling beneath it. After going through another KG, the stony track swings left, the tower of Corston church appears ahead, and all that remains is to go through a final gate and retrace your steps to the starting point. n

Fact file

n Distance: 8 miles

n No facilities on route

n Level of challenge: Generally straightforward, although the ascent and descent of Stantonbury Hill needs to be taken with care.

n Map: OS Explorer 155

More on the details of this and many more walks can be found in Andrew Swift’s Country Walks from Bath, published by Akeman Press; akemanpress.com.

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