Autumnal delights at stourhead
iT was exactly 200 years ago that John Keats penned that most lyrical of poems entitled ‘To Autumn’, with that well-known opening line which described this time of year as a ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. Fewer local beauty spots can offer such a riot of colour in the autumn as Stourhead, with the National Trust website commenting on ‘vistas highlighted with burnished leaves and rusty coloured palettes’. A planting scheme means that the colours wash through the landscape over a 6-8 week period, with the Head Gardener recording a weekly leaf line with what the garden is looking like each particular week.
The Stourhead Estate is often referred to as the jewel in the National Trust’s crown – and for once this is no publicist’s strapline. The grand house is, of course, the centrepiece of this magnificent property. Henry Hoare, a wealthy London banker, bought the manor of Stourton in 1718, demolished the old Stourton House and in its place erected an imposing Palladian mansion, Stourhead House.
The house contains a fine collection of art treasures and furniture, some of which was made on the premises by Thomas Chippendale. The house is open to the public through until November 10th.
The adjoining Stourhead Gardens – open all year around – are quite rightly ranked as one of the most famous landscaped gardens in the world. What was once a series of medieval fishponds was transformed in the 18th-century by Henry Hoare II into one of the earliest idyllic landscapes in England. A lake is the central focus, surrounded by classical temples, bridges and rustic grottos, rare specimens of trees and plants, and a steady succession of flowers that add beauty throughout the seasons.
Having passed Stourhead House and a nearby obelisk, the walk drops down into Six Wells Bottom, a grassy valley surrounded by wooded hillsides. This is where we find the literal source of the River Stour at the start of its 65-mile journey to Christchurch Harbour in Dorset. The source is marked by a monument called St Peter’s Pump, an ancient 14th-century pumping house that was originally located in Bristol. The pump was located at the nominal source of the Stour by Henry Hoare II in 1786.
Beyond St Peter’s Pump, a hilltop path known as ‘The Terrace’ leads onto Alfred’s Tower, a 160-feet-high folly designed by Henry Flitcroft for Henry Hoare II in 1772. It is believed to mark the site where King Alfred the Great rallied his troops in 878AD.
The tower also commemorates the accession of George III to the throne in 1760 and the end of the Seven Years’ War.
Viewed from above, the tower is triangular with a hollow interior. The tower, a National Trust property, is open to the public at weekends but only until the end of October.
The walk returns to Stourton village through ancient woodland. The woodland is but a small part of the former Selwood Forest that at one time swept in a mighty arc from Bath deep into the heart of Dorset. Literally the ‘wood of sallows’, the name is indicative of the waterlogged nature of the terrain at that time.
Selwood was a natural frontier that checked the westward progress of successive waves of invaders, from the Romans and the Celts to the Saxons.
Back in Stourton it is a time for choices, with some rather fine places to eat and drink in this corner of Wiltshire. Next to the car park is a rather good National Trust restaurant, which serves delicious food using ingredients from around the estate.
Down in the village is the quite exceptional Spreadeagle
Inn, whilst on the main road back to Frome is the very traditional Red Lion, with both inns earning main entries in the ‘Good Pub Guide’. I make no recommendation!
Getting there
Stourhead lies just off of the B3092 Frome to Mere road, 1¼ miles from Mere and 8 miles from Frome.
1. Beyond the NT entrance building at the bottom of the car park, follow a path that winds its way downhill. At a junction with a bridge ahead leading to a walled garden, follow the path to the right down to a road – opposite is an ornate entrance driveway leading to Stourhead House. Follow this driveway up to Stourhead House and then along to a cattle grid before bearing left on a path signposted to Alfred’s Tower. Beyond another cattle grid, veer left across parkland to an obelisk. Follow a track behind – and to the left of – this obelisk down to a gate before continuing downhill into a valley known as Six Wells Bottom. Walk the length of this valley to reach St Peter’s Pump, a monument that marks the source of the Stour.
2. Pass to the right of St Peter’s Pump and climb uphill to reach a path on the hilltop known as The Terrace. Follow this path to the left to a gate before continuing for ¾ mile to Alfred’s Tower. Having explored the tower area, retrace your steps for 250 yards back to a track on the right, with a barrier on the left. Follow this track to the right into woodland. Ignoring one right turn, continue along this path for ½ mile to a crossroads of tracks. Follow the path opposite downhill for 200 yards to the next crossroads of paths and turn left. Follow this path along the edge of the woodland, passing a barn early on, to reach a junction in 600 yards.
3. Turn right down to a gate at the edge of the woodland, before following a footpath across the right edge of a field to the next gate. Continue along a track to reach a junction in 200 yards. Turn right – signposted to Turner’s Paddock – and follow the path for 600 yards to a road on the edge of Stourton. Turn left and, having passed the entrance to Stourhead Gardens in 250 yards, veer right into a courtyard just past the Spreadeagle pub. Turn left through this courtyard, pass under an archway and follow the path ahead back up to the car park.