Sturminster Newton

St Mary, Sturminster Newton

The description of this walk advocated staring at the main car park, but we were very keen to see the wonderful stained glass in St Mary's church that we decided to start there.

The church is something of a hybrid. The tower, roof and aisle walls are 14th or early 15th century (Pevsner), but everything else was the result of a rebuilding in 1825-28.

The stained glass we came to see is by Harry Clarke of Dublin and was installed in 1921 in the south aisle. Its principal subjects are St Elizabeth of Hungary, the Virgin Mary and St Barbara.  But the whole thing is an exquisite riot of colour and beauty.

We walked up Church St and passed the attractive Swan Inn in the Market Place

We passed the car park and this unusual monument to the former railway line.

Now we continued along the B3092 heading northwards out of the village and past the secondary school. We turned right into a very attractive drive leading to the Manor House of Hinton St Mary. This is a view looking back.

The Manor House dates mostly from 1630, but it incorporates a remodelled medieval hall, possibly 13th century in origin according to Pevsner. We rather liked the herons on the gate posts.

We headed northwards doing an anti-clockwise circle of the pretty village to cross the B3092 and cross some fields and a patch of woodland to reach Cutt Mill on the River Stour.

There has apparently been a mill here since ancient times, but the present derelict structure seems to date from the 18th or 19th century. It is quite picturesque.

We now followed the Stour Valley Way along the banks of the Stour back to Sturminster Newton. It was pretty muddy and rather grey, so not massively exciting. We enjoyed these Primroses in a small area of woodland.

The rest of the way was along fields close by the river. I thought this tree was a fine sight with its almost symmetrical shape.

We plodded on through the mud for about a mile and a half and it was only as we were approaching Sturminster Newton that a reasonably picturesque view offered itself. The viaduct of the former railway can be seen in the centre on the right of the river.

We decided to complete the walk on the road.

Distance: About 4 miles.

From: Dorset Magazine, December 2012.

Conditions: grey and cool.

Map: Explorer 129 (Yeovil & Sherborne).

Rating: three stars.