This month, Andrew Swift is on the trail of the Ruralists in the heart of Somerset, exploring among other sights the village of Wellow on a walk full of treasures waiting to be discovered by the whole family…
The village of Wellow lies less than three miles south of Bath, yet is one of the most deeply rural places you can imagine. Nestled in a wooded valley, approached by winding lanes, with cottages built of the local honey-coloured stone, time here seems to have stood still. In the corner of its tiny square, benches flank the entrance to a resolutely traditional inn – the Fox & Badger – while beside it a lane leads down to a packhorse bridge over a brook.
Wellow once had a wayside station, served by the late lamented Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. After it closed in 1966, two pop artists from London – Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, famous for designing the cover for the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album – bought the station and moved to Wellow in search of a less frenetic lifestyle. In 1975, they founded the Brotherhood of Ruralists, a group of artists who rejected ‘the scholarly nature of contemporary art’ and drew their inspiration from ‘Samuel Palmer, Stanley Spencer, Thomas Hardy, Elgar, cricket, the English landscape and the Pre-Raphaelites’. In 1979, they also founded the Looking Glass School at Wellow, a progressive primary school inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
Ancient treasures
Aside from its artistic connections, Wellow has a long and distinguished history. The church of St Julian the Hospitaller, built by Sir Thomas Hungerford in the 14th century, contains some real treasures, including richly-decorated tombs in the Hungerford chapel, a medieval wall painting and a 15th-century rood screen.
On a remote hilltop south west of the village lies something even more remarkable. Stoney Littleton Long Barrow, built as a burial chamber around 5,500 years ago, is one of the most important and best-preserved Neolithic monuments in the south west. Discovered by a local farmer while digging for stone in 1760, it was excavated in the early 19th century. Today, if you are agile enough – and bring a torch – it is yours to explore.
Although there is a small parking area near the long barrow, on Littleton Lane, a more rewarding option, which also gives you the opportunity of exploring the glorious countryside around Wellow, is to take a three-mile walk, starting – and ending – outside the Fox & Badger. Most of the walk follows field paths, with a short stretch along a quiet lane. Although generally straightforward, some paths may be overgrown and bordered by nettles, thistles and brambles, so it may be an idea to wear trousers – which are also recommended if you want to crawl inside the barrow.
Follow my lead
Arriving in Wellow, you will find a large free car park 150m west of the Fox & Badger along Station Road (where, naturally enough, you will also find the old station). Having parked, walk back to the square and turn right down the lane beside the Fox & Badger. Idyllic as it seems today, this area was once a hive of industry. The large brick building you pass on the left was a Fullers Earth drying house, while the stone building a little further along on the right is a former steam mill.
Beyond it, you come to the old railway line, and a signalbox once used by Jann Haworth as a studio. Carry straight on past a gate to the right of the signalbox, and down a gravel path leading to the packhorse bridge over Wellow Brook – a popular spot for children and dogs to splash about.
Carry on along a lane and when it forks bear right uphill. After another 75m bear right along a bridleway.
The first 500m are likely to be overgrown, after which you emerge into a field of barley. Carry on for another 500m, and, as you approach the end of the field, bear right along a track leading to a gate into the enclosure surrounding Stoney Littleton Long Barrow. It stands on the lip of the hill, with wide vistas in every direction, and crouching down to crawl inside it, past an ammonite set into the arch, is like dropping down into the underworld. The main gallery is around 15 metres long but no more than a metre high, and there are three pairs of side chambers and an end chamber, so caution – and a torch – is needed. A hard hat would also come in handy.
Leaving the enclosure by a gate further along on the west side, head down to go through a kissing gate and turn left alongside the hedge. Go through another kissing gate at the end and turn right downhill. After passing a six-bar gate, when the track forks, follow the fainter track on the right alongside the hedgerow. At the bottom, go through a kissing gate, cross a footbridge over the brook and turn right along a lane.
After 600m, go through a kissing gate on the right with a footpath sign. As you enter a field, look up to the right for a last glimpse of the barrow, before following a path along the edge of a ploughed field. The brook is below you on the right, but the bank is so overgrown that you only catch fleeting glimpses of it.
At the end of the field, follow the path as it heads into the undergrowth and curves alongside the brook – a delightful shady spot. A kissing gate leads into an overgrown meadow, at the far end of which the path forks. Take the right fork into the trees, past a kissing gate, over a plank bridge and through another kissing gate. This meadow is, if anything, even more overgrown, with nettles, thistles and brambles – promising an abundance of blackberries in a few weeks time. The path through the meadow seems well walked, however, and is largely clear.
At the end of the meadow, the path climbs up to a kissing gate. Go through it and, after passing another kissing gate a few metres further on, turn left to head up past the signalbox to the Fox & Badger.
Looking across the square – once the venue for an annual sheep fair – you will see George House, once the George Inn. Turning right along the High Street, you come to the manor house. A short diversion up Farm Lane, beside it, leads to a conical, thatched dovecote, built in the 14th century to provide the Hungerfords with a steady supply of fresh meat. Finally, a little further along the High Street, past more ancient buildings, you come to the church, with a statue of St Julian the Hospitaller over the porch.
More sights to see
There are more fascinating places to explore around Wellow. If your appetite for Neolithic monuments has been whetted, the three stone circles at Stanton Drew, 14 miles north west, constitute the third largest collection of standing stones in the country. Closer by, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, five miles to the east, is one of the most impressive medieval fortresses in Somerset. It was the home of the Hungerfords, who were also lords of the manor of Wellow. At the heart of its gaunt ruins, on an eminence high above the river, is a medieval chapel, in whose crypt lie coffins containing the remains of members of the family. If you are after something more pastoral, however, the fields, shop and cafe of the Somerset Lavender Farm can be found at Faulkland, three miles to the south.
Discover more of Andrew Swift’s books and writings online from akemanpress.com | All photos provided courtesy of Andrew Swift
