nigel vile’s walk
MAP
OS Explorer 156 Chippenham & Bradfordon-avon
DISTANCE
5 miles
TIME
Up to three hours
TERRAIN
A flat and easy walk
START
monkton Farleigh School (GR 804654 or postcode BA15 2QD)
Place names reveal a good deal about the history of a village. Take, for example, Monkton Farleigh. Farleigh in Old english was “fern leah” which translated to a “woodland clearing”. Monkton was clearly something to do with a monastic settlement. It was about 900 years ago that a cluniac foundation was established here, possibly the Priory of St Mary Magdalene. little remains of this episode in the village’s history, the most visible artefact being the Monks’ conduit, a small building with a steep-pitched roof, a well that provided the monks with their water supply. a quiet lane drops downhill through Monkton Farleigh, passing St Peter’s church, before heading out across country to south Wraxall. This was the ancestral home of the long family, whose wealth was derived from the local cloth trade. evidence of the family is everywhere, most notably in the shape of the longs arms pub, as well as a memorial to the longs in the village church. The walk also passes South Wraxall Manor, where Sir Walter long and Sir Walter Raleigh were allegedly the first victims of nicotine back in the 16th century. South Wraxall Manor was described by Pevsner as “an outstandingly successful mixture of the c15 and the later elizabethan and Jacobean”. From nearby, a one-and-a-half-mile tree-lined carriageway heads across country back to Monkton Farleigh, affording a rare glimpse of that village’s manor house. This one is described by Pevsner as having “an early facade which seems an early Victorian remodelling of an early Georgian front”. There are fragments of the cluniac Priory in the grounds but, being a very private property, you will have to wait for the annual summer fete to confirm these sightings! a loop around Monkton Farleigh, with fine views across the West Wiltshire landscape towards Salisbury Plain, brings the walk to journey’s end and the Kings arms. attempts to rebrand the pub into The Muddy Duck and even The Kings arms Bar at the Muddy Duck quite rightly failed, with the locals not wanting their local turned into a gastropub for outsiders. The result is a traditional local with excellent food and a good range of real ales, wines and spirits. Being lunchtime, we went for the “fish finger sarnie” with a side of chunky chips, which proved delicious – but for a real winter warmer you might be tempted by slow braised ox cheek with red cabbage, mash and stout jus. and like all good pubs these days, the Kings arms offers “small plates” for those with lesser appetites.
GETTING THERE
leave the a363 midway between Bathford and Bradford-on-avon and follow an unclassified road into Monkton Farleigh. On entering the village, park on the roadside just past the village school.
MONKTON FARLEIGH
continue to a junction in the centre of Monkton Farleigh and turn right. In 350 yards, at the end of the village, ignore a left turn signposted to Kingsdown. continue ahead on a quiet lane for 1½ miles to a junction, turn left and continue for ¼ mile to a junction in south Wraxall by the longs arms.
SOUTH WRAXALL
Turn right and, in a few paces, left into a cul-de-sac that runs alongside St James’ church. In 150 yards, at a junction by Willow cottage, turn left and keep on an access road – it shortly bears right – all of the way up to a rank of cottages. Follow a path to the left of these cottages to a stile and field with a good view of South Wraxall Manor ahead. Walk up the left edge of the field to a stile and lane, turn left and continue to a gate on the left in 150 yards, just past Mount Pleasant Farm. Pass through this gateway, cross a field to a stile, walk through a copse and cross the following field to a gate and lane.
GRAND AVENUE
cross a stile opposite to the left of a grand gateway, and walk ahead along a tree-lined avenue leading to Monkton Farleigh Manor. In ½ mile, cross a stile at the left-hand end of a fence. continue following the tree-lined avenue to a stile alongside a cottage. Join a lane, turn right and continue for ¼ mile before taking the second left turn onto a tree-lined lane. In 200 yards, turn left along a track to a gate, follow the left edge of the field ahead to a gate and lane in Monkton Farleigh. Turn right up to Home Farm, keep on the lane as it bears left and continue to a junction just below the Kings arms. Turn left, and first right, back to the village school.