Take this Hint-on where to enjoy your next adventure
Hinton Blewett has a certain charm, primarily on account of its location. It is an attractive place – especially in the older part of the settlement around the Ring o’ Bells Inn and the 15th-century church – but it is its remoteness that has the greatest appeal.
Lying on a hilltop along a scattered network of country lanes, this is not the easiest of places to find - Arthur Mee noted that it was hidden away on a hill looking out to the Mendips. He went on to write that it was not too hidden for the Romans to find, however, with a forum having been built close by and coins bearing the legend of the Emperor Claudius having been found in the locality.
Frome the Barbury, the village green in front of the Ring o’ Bells, fieldpaths with some far ranging views across northeast Somerset bring the walk to the diminutive hamlet of Cameley. Despite its lack of size, many visitors pass this way, maybe to enjoy the hospitality of Cameley Lodge a corporate and wedding venue with adjoining fishing lakes. The lakes amount to some 5 acres of water, and are fed by small streams that run down from the Mendip Hills.
The jewel in the crown, however, is undoubtedly Cameley Church. No less a person than Sir John Betjeman described St James as a ‘Rip-van-winkle’s Church’ that looked as if it had been asleep for a century and a half. It is not difficult to see what he meant, with this now redundant place of worship having seemingly escaped any of the so-called Victorian improvements.
The last modification was a gallery … erected as long ago as 1819! This is a place of old timbers and uneven floors, box pews and rough benches, with its highlight being a large number of ancient wall paintings. A visit to St James really is a step back in time to a long forgotten era of ranting pastors and a halfasleep congregation.
A series of fieldpaths bring the walk to Hollow Marsh Meadow Nature Reserve. A traditional hay meadow, the rich flora that includes orchids and scabious, trefoil and knapweed attracts countless butterflies that include fritillaries and skippers. Amongst the mammals, you could be lucky enough to spot one of the roe deer that live in the neighbouring woodland. The meadow is cut for hay in late summer, usually towards the end of July, so be sure to visit before then or all you will experience is what is known as ‘aftermath grazing.’