Henley to Petworth (Serpent Trail 5)

The Duke of Cumberland pub, Henley

We return to the Serpent Trail with Viv and Giles for the first time since June last year, some previous planned returns having had to be cancelled. We set off from the excellent Duke of Cumberland pub at Henley and are soon deep in dark pine woods. The lack of views is one of the weaknesses of the Serpent Trail. Eventually, we pass a house and there is a bit of open view across its back garden.

At Leggatt Hill, things suddenly open up: an area of Birch wood has been cleared and there are great view south towards the South Downs, with lovely native bluebells in the foreground.

We head downhill and skirt the edge of a field of cows to reach a road. Soon we are in sunny light woodland - it seems so welcoming!

This gives way to an even lighter copse of Silver Birch with primroses and bluebells at the wayside. We see a Peacock butterfly.

We emerge out of this into an area of open fields, the first on the Trail so far, and pass an extravagant barn conversion. Soon there a view back towards our old friend Black Down, with a splendid oak tree offering some foreground interest.

Then it is back into the woods at Upperton Common. There are many dense areas of beautiful Bluebells to the side of the muddy track

Eventually, this track begins to climb quite steeply and suddenly we emerge at Upperton Folly on the north-western corner of Petworth Park.

We follow the walls through the village of Upperton and into Tillington. Legend has it that All Hallows church was designed by the great painter J M W Turner, who famously painted at Petworth House. The tower with its Scots Crown was built in 1807, but parts are Norman.

We intended to divert from the official route and go through the Park but somehow missed our entry and found ourselves carrying on beside the walls to go in through the New Lodges entrance. After passing the Upper Pond we headed towards the house. It was a castle of the Percy family, but was rebuilt in 1688-96. This is the west front which, according to Pevsner, was once crowned by a dome. Unusually, the architect is unknown.

Petworth is now owned by the National Trust and although it is easy to wander into the Park, to get out through the reception building you have to show your membership card (there is a subway for non-members).

You come out by the church of St Mary with its unusual brick tower on a stone base. The base is medieval, but the tower was added in 1827.

Just round the corner is Somerset Hospital, almshouses founded in 1746 by converting an early 16th century house.

That was the end of the walk and we repaired to the Cumberland Arms for a late afternoon refreshing glass of shandy.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: 7.8 miles. Distance now covered 31.9 miles.

Map: Explorer 133 (Haslemere and Petersfield).

Rating: four stars.

Midhurst

The ruins of Cowdray

Today a "town and country" walk starting in Midhurst with my friend Merv. We parked in North St on the northern edge of the town and headed across the main road, past the former Grammar School, to the new South Downs Visitor Centre where we were delighted to find the excellent Town Trail leaflet. I immediately went just a little further up North St to photograph Ognell's Almshouses. The twin plaques reveal that they were erected in 1578 and rebuilt in 1840.

We made a loop around Lambert's Lane a rejoined North Street nearer the town centre, noticing some fine Georgian buildings such as the Clock House.

Some apparently Georgian buildings were in fact medieval ones which had been refronted, sometimes quite blatently. We saw one with a Georgian facade on the main street and half-timbering along the side.

A bit further on we saw this wonderful art deco shop front. I couldn't take the whole of it because a large white van pulled up as we were approaching.

We walked along the charming Duck Lane to find the other, unnamed, Almshouses in Bepton Road. They were originally 16th century, but were rebuilt in 1832.

Turning now into West Street, we enjoyed a lovely street scene with timber-clad and timber-framed houses.

On the right a mysterious plaque announced that "In 1811 The Commandery House of the Knights of St John stood here". We collected a leaflet about this is the Midhurst Museum, of which more in a moment. Apparently, the Knights of the Hospital of St John the Baptist at Jerusalem, to give them their full name, held property in Midhurst and had a chapel there. The Knights were suppressed by Henry VIII in 1540 and their lands were seized, the chapel later being demolished. The plaque and the doorway in which is located, were erected in 1811 by John Seymour, local antiquarian, but there is apparently no evidence of the existence of a Commandery.

At the end of West St we turned right into South St and looked back on a lovely view with the Spread Eagel Hotel on the left. The tower of St Mary Magdalen and St Denys can be seen to the right. It is of 13th century origin but has been subject to "too much restoration" (Pevsner). It is certainly rather  a jumble of disparate elements.

The Market Square stands in front of the church and on the right is the Old Market Hall dating back to 1571. "Indifferent" says Pevsner and it is not hard to agree.

We followed Church Hill into Knockhundred Row, admiring a mixture of half-timbered and Georgian buildings. The town Museum already mentioned is in Knockhundred Market and is a remarkably small one: a single room 8ft 6in square. A very helpful volunteer explained that the collection changes every week.

We were now nearly at the end of our town walk and I must just mention one other impression: we saw several houses with their woodwork painted a rather virulent shade of dark yellow and we spent some time trying to conjure explanations for this. Maybe somebody had bought too much and sold it off cheap to his friends? The house in the background on the right above is an example.

Now up Sheep Lane past St Ann's, the largest of the many Georgian houses and along a narrow lane to suddenly emerge in the country, at the bottom of St Ann's Hill.

This quiet wooded hill is now all that remains of the Norman castle built here not long after the Conquest. We walked round it and then down to follow a path by the River Rother which soon led us to the magnificent ruins of Cowdray. This view taken on an angle gives more a sense of the large scale of the house and a glimpse of the ruins of the chapel.

The house was started in 1492 and bought by Sir William FitzWilliam, later Earl of Southampton, in 1537. It was he who added the magnificent gatehouse. His half-brother, Sir Anthony Browne, took over in 1542 and made further additions. The house was sadly destroyed by fire in 1793. Pevsner adds that eight days later the last of the family was killed trying to shoot the Rhine Falls; this fulfilled a curse (Pevsner does not say by whom or why).

We followed a wide path to nearby Easebourne, once the site of an important Priory, now a house attached to the church. "A picturesque ramble" says Pevsner.

We were soon confronted by more dark yellow woodwork. This building is the (Cowdray) Estate Office and it finally dawned on us that the ubiquitous dark yellow is the Cowdray colour. 

After a very good pub lunch we headed on through the village and turned right to walk through teh outskirts of Cowdray Park. After passing Vining Farm, there was a pleasing view south towards the South Downs.

Soon after this there was great excitement as we saw our first butterfly of the year, a Comma.

This was quickly followed by a Small Heath as we walked through classic country house parkland - landscaped, inevitably, by Capability Brown. Then across the golf course, the A272 road and beside the massive Polo field to return to Easebourne and thence past Cowdray again and back to the car park.

Conditions: sunny, but very windy.

Distance: about 6.5 miles.

Map: Explorer 133 (Haslemere & Petersfield).

Rating: four stars. A delightful small town with a wonderful ruined castle nearby.

Arundel

Arundel Castle

I was in Brighton on business, but I decided I would take myself off for a morning to do this walk around Arundel which I had found on the AA website.

You start at the Mill Rd car park at the end of the High St and follow Mill Rd as it curves under the watchful eye of the castle. Pevsner berates Arundel Castle for the unhistorical rebuilding, in imitation of Windsor, which took place in the 1890s. The overall effect is chaotic, but the range at the south end is quite impressive.

When Mill Rd meets  a stream you turn right and follow the bank to meet the River Arun, now straight and wide between reedy banks. You follow the river for a while, with the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust centre on the left. At the Balck Rabbit pub a left turn onto the road brings you to the entrance to Arundel Park.

You follow the edge of the steep-sided Swanbourne Lake and gradually it becomes clear that it was made by damming one end of a long ravine. You walk on up the ravine. This is the view looking back (into the sun). The remains of the recent snow create an interesting effect.

Soon you double back, climbing the left side of the ravine, with a nice view down to the path crossing where you turned.

At the top of the climb there is an even more panoramic view. This is still Arundel Park, but it looks surprisingly wild.

At the the top of the climb, you turn right to cross a horse gallop and pass in front of Hiorne Tower. The walk description simply names it, but it is a delightful structure, worthy of more. From Pevsner, I learn that it dates from 1790 and was built by Francis Hiorne. He describes it as "a serious and sober piece of Gothic", although it looks like a folly.

It reminds me somewhat of the Broadway Tower, which was built in 1799 - we passed it on our first encounter with the Cotswold Way. Further research reveals that Hiorne built the tower to demonstrate his architectural ability to the Duke of Norfolk, but it not clear whether His Grace was impressed.

From here you follow a drive to emerge into the town near the RC Cathedral. It is enormously high and looks very impressive from a distance perched at one end of a ridge, with the castle at the other. It was built in 1870-3 to the designs of J A Hansom (whose most famous design was the cab that bears his name). It is in a reconisable French style - I thought of Beauvais and was thrilled to find that Pevsner agreed. He finds the detail unconvincing however and there is certainly something mass-produced about the spacious interior.

Walking along the road towards the centre of the town you glimpse this extraordinary wooden pavilion in the Castle gardens. I haven't been able to find out anything about it, but the gardens are clearly a fine sight.

A bit further on you come to a genuine piece of old Arundel. The church of St Nicholas was built, says Pevsner, "all of piece after 1380" in the early Perpendicular style. I was running out of time by now and did not go in.

Now you are in front of the main entrance to the castle with its impressive sky line.

And a stone's throw away is the Town Hall of 1836 - "gloomy" says Pevsner and it is hard to disagree.

Now finally down the pretty High St and back to the car park at the bottom.

Conditions: bright and not too cold.

Distance: about 3.5 miles.

Rating: four stars. Worth doing again and combining it with a visit to the Castle.


Sightings

I was entertained to see these Mandarin ducks on the bank of the stream near the start of the walk.

Chichester

The East walls

The original plan was to see the cathedral, but we pestered Viv and Giles, with whom we were staying, to show us the walk around the city walls as well. We began in the South East Quadrant, which turned out to be one of the least impressive sections: just a path through a small garden.



We headed across town, past the impressive octagonal St John's chapel.



Apart from being a handsome building, it has a fascinating story. It was built in 1814 as a proprietary chapel: it was part of the Church of England, but was run as a commercial venture. The trustees had to raise enough money to pay a dividend to their investors and pay the minister's salary. It is no longer used as a place of religion.

We then passed St Pancas Church to follow the East walls. The first section was pleasant, but the walls became much more impressive once we reached the section that flanks Priory Park. To left was the handsome Guildhall.



But it looks like a church! And in fact it was once the church of a Franciscan friary founded in 1240. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was sold by Henry VIII to the city and became its Guildhall. It is now part of the Chichester museum.

A bit further on is a mound that was apparently once the site of a castle. Presumably health and safety concerns account for the barriers. The cathedral can be glimpsed in the background.



The North walls, the next section, also offer a nice promenade and the interesting array of houses, large and small, that back onto them provided us with plenty to discuss.



At the end of this section, we walked along East Street to see the fine Chichester Market Cross, which dates from 1501.



We then retraced our steps to have a look at the magnificent cathedral. The first thing you see is the separate campanile, free-standing in the Italian fashion. It dates from 1406.


The original cathedral was founded by St Wilfrid in Selsey, but the Normans built a new one here starting in 1076. It is difficult to take a photo of the cathedral which shows it as a whole: this one is from a corner of the cloister. A service was underway so we did not get to see the interior.


Emerging out of the cloister, we walked along the charming Vicars Close and emerged under an archway into the town centre again.



Conditions: sunny, fresh.

Distance: a couple of miles.

Rating: four stars.


Reflections

I found it surprising that Chichester does not make more its walls. There does not even seem to be a leaflet describing a walk around them or the sights you can see from them. Chichester District Council's web site contains only sketchy information and even admits that the signposting is poor. However, it does at least describe a Walls Project and promises improvements that will allow 2011 to be the celebratory year of the walls.

Petworth Park

Petworth Park

We met up with our friends Viv and Giles for this lovely walk in Petworth Park. We started in the northernmost car park and headed across the lovely undulating parkland - created by Capability Brown between 1751 and 1764. Our first view of the Park is shown above.

After a while we noticed an increasing number of people in hunting garb riding across our route towards the house. This view, looking back, shows a couple of them.



We pondered what they might be hunting and concluded that they were drag hunting. Or maybe hunting in drag, cue general hilarity and unrepeatable jokes.

Once we reached the far hillside, this fine folly came into view.



A little further on there was a wonderful view across the park.



We now left the park and walked along the road into the village of Tillington. We enjoyed a notice on the outside of the Post Office offering to transact insurance and annuity business. When did that date from? The church of All Hallows, opposite, was mostly rebuilt and enlarged between 1807 and 1837. Its unusual Scots crown tower is distinctive.



We admired the pair of knightly - or perhaps kingly - gargoyles on either side of the main door.



After a further stretch along the road, we reached the main entrance to Petworth House. We walked up the main drive, past Capability Brown's fine lake.



And then studied the rear facade of the House itself across a vast lawn. The House dates from 1688 and was built, on the site of an earlier house, for Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. It holds a fine and famous collection of paintings, but unfortunately for us had just closed for the winter.



There now followed a long diagonal stretch across the park, past an area where a large herd of deer had gathered, back to the car park. Petworth is famous for having the oldest and largest herd of fallow deer in the UK.



Cloudy with a threat of rain.

Distance: almost 5 miles.

Rating: four stars. We have walked in a few country house parks (Hatfield House, Claydon House, Audley End, Lyme Park ), but this was surely one of the finest.