Ramsbury and Littlecote

Ramsbury

Today's walk is from Ramsbury to Littlecote, beloved of the local Nordic Walkers and guided by one of them. I was astonished to discover that Ramsbury is a bishopric and has been since 909 when Aethelstan became the first bishop.

We parked by the pub and walked east to turn right and cross the Kennet. It was full of water after recent rain, but the main delight was the beginnings of green on the willows.

Shortly after this we turned left onto a track running parallel with the river and with a ridge over to the right.

At the end of the track we passed this lovely house with an unusual circular structure on one end.

We continued along the same line and soon reached Littlecote, with its Roman remains.

The mosaics, nowadays protected by a wooden canopy are absolutely excellent. They date from 360 AD.

This is the Orpheus mosaic which was rediscovered by Steward of the Littlecote Park estate in 1727.

Beyond the mosaics you can see the former manor house now a hotel. The first house was built in the 14th century and replaced in the 1590s.

We headed uphill and turned right with a wonderful line of trees on our right. We were now walking on a line broadly parallel with the one we had followed from Ramsbury.

Some of these trees had graffiti written by American soldiers stationed at Littlecote during the War. I couldn't decide whether these were poignant memorials or damage to beautiful trees.

The end of one of the trees seemed to have started in a controlled fashion and ended in a rush.

We passed an information panel telling us we were now in the Ramsbury Estate and bore right through woodland to follow a pleasant path which brought us back to the edge of Ramsbury.

Conditions: grey, cool.

Distance: about 4 miles.

Map: Explorer 157 Marlborough & Savernake Forest and Explorer 158 (Newbury & Hungerford).

Rating: four stars. A delightful walk.

Portugal: Conimbriga

The house of the fountains

Conimbriga is a Roman archaeological site to the south of the University city of Coimbra, tomorrow's destination. It is celebrated as the best such site in Portugal and we could see that excavations are still underway. The visit follows a clockwise route from the entrance. The first striking sight is a stretch of Roman road which heads towards a gateway.

The road in fact ran from Olisipo (Lisbon) to Braccara Augusta (Braga) and was 4m wide which was the standard for Roman roads. This section would have had shops under porticos beside the road.

To the left is a series of buildings (well the bases of such buildings: low walls and mosaic floors). The mosaics are all geometrical patterns, with not a person nor a flower in sight. Some of them are very attractive.

At the back of this area is a massive wall, erected at the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century in the style of the wall surrounding Rome built by the Emperor Aurelianus in 270-275. For some reason it did not surround the whole city. 

The house nearest the wall is interesting for its round brick pillars made from bricks shaped like a thick slice of camembert.

We headed around the end of the wall and soon reached the Great Southern Baths in the style of the Imperial baths in Rome ...

... and the Palestra for sports activities. It is unusual to see ancient buildings recreated in this way, but it certainly makes it easier to get a sense of what they were really like.

Not far away was the Forum, the centre of any Roman town or city. This has also been recreated to some extent with three columns giving a flavour of the portico which would have surrounded it.

We headed back towards the wall where we admire this beautiful arch at right angles to it.

Then through a gap in the wall to reach the House of the Fountains, which is seen as the greatest treasure of the site. It dates back to the 1st century and would have been the home of an aristocratic family. It was demolished at the time the wall was built, but the surrounding mosaics and the water works were restored in 1953. The protective roof dates from 1971. You can see the water works in action by putting a Euro in the slot to one side of the building.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: about two miles in all.

Rating: four stars.

Stonesfield

The prettiest house in Stonesfield

We spotted this walk in the Ramblers magazine and it felt just right for an interesting Sunday stroll. We started out from the White Horse pub on the north side of the village and skirted its edge to turn right onto the Oxfordshire Way (we walked this section in the opposite direction when we were doing the Oxfordshire Way a few years ago).

We headed across open country and turned left towards the hamlet of Fawler, where we passed the substantial Fawler Manor (1660).

We walked under a railway bridge and crossed the River Evenlode by a small bridge

Now we followed a bottom-of-the valley track which led into Finstock. On the right a large flowering ivy was home to a good number of Red Admiral ...

.. and Comma butterflies. What a delight!

We turned left by the Plough Inn and headed uphill and then across fields to another hamlet, Wilcote. We made a small detour to see the 12th century church of St Peter. Pevsner is rather scathing, calling it "bleak and drab". That is perhaps a bit harsh - it is quite picturesque.

Perhaps his real point is that one blocked doorway is the only evidence of its Norman origins, the church having been restored twice in the 19th century, including the addition of the porch.

We skirted Wilcote Grange and headed downhill entering a pleasing avenue of trees on the right side.

At the bottom of the slope is the remains of the Lady Well.

Soon after this we passed the handsome Bridewell Farm. The stone over the doorway seems to promise a date, but I cannot decipher it.

A short stretch of road and some field paths brought us to the village of East End. We turned right, through, woodland and successfully navigated our way to the correct exit, near the Stonesfield Roman Villa. Pevsner describes it as "small", but there is quite a large footprint of one-time walls.

One of the information boards has a reconstruction, which suggests a quite substantial building.

Under cover in locked building there is the remains of a mosaic, illustrated on another panel.

We headed northwards up an extremely sunken path which led to the edge of the pretty stone village of Stonefield.

Conditions: greyish, but mild.

Distance: 8 miles.

Map: Explorer 180 (Oxford, Witney & Woodstock).

Rating: four stars. Most enjoyable.