History at every turn
tHIS week’s walk really is a step back in time. Along the way lies a 13th-century pilgrims’ chapel, a manor that dates back to at least the 15th century and a monument to a noted 19th-century explorer who met his fate in a remote field in this corner of Wiltshire.
The hamlet of Chapel Plaister has some beautiful properties, but the whole is somewhat spoiled by traffic on the B3109 seemingly attempting to ‘do’ Corsham to Bradford-on-avon in under 15 minutes. Tucked away here is a diminutive chapel, where pilgrims would have taken rest and refreshment when making a much-more relaxed journey to Glastonbury, possibly from the abbey at Malmesbury. The chapel is open on Wednesday afternoons between May and September, so that’s something to put in the diary for 2022.
Hazelbury Manor lies below Chapel Plaister at the bottom of a fine tree-lined avenue. This is no National Trust or English Heritage property, leaving visitors with just the chance to view the handsome exterior. To quote from one website: ‘The south front contains a C15 Great Hall, marked by a large canted bay and a two-storey entrance porch, both reconstructed by Brakspear in 1920-5. They are flanked to the east by an early C16 two-storey ashlar gable, and to the west by a paired gable range with a large external chimney stack’.
This is a figure-of-eight walk, which means a return to Chapel Plaister before heading out through the hamlets of Wadswick and Lower Wadswick to reach an evocative and little-known monument, which initially inspired this walk. i knew nothing of this until speaking to Howard Gibson, a noted local historian. Howard was walking this way when he came across what appeared to be a tomb located in a remote and off-the-beaten track location. it was none other than where the noted explorer John Hanning Speke met his death.
Speke was an English explorer and officer in the British indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile, and was the first
European to reach Lake Victoria. While walking in this corner of Wiltshire, he fell while crossing a wall, where his gun exploded and he was killed. There is some speculation that it could have been suicide, with Speke due to engage in a debate the following week with a fellow explorer who also claimed to have discovered the source of the Nile. Either way, it is a fine monument but it is not his tomb, which is located in Huish Episcopi in Somerset.
After any decent walk, thoughts turn to rest and refreshment. There are no pubs or cafes on this walk, but a short drive will bring you to Wadswick Country Store (postcode SN13 0NY). Here you can buy anything ‘countryside’, from a mask for your horse to new and used shotguns. More importantly there is Forage, which supplies ‘local food honestly done’. To continue with the quote: ‘At Forage we follow the nose-to-tail method of sustainable eating. We use as much of everything as we possibly can. We source our ingredients from local suppliers and even grow some of our own produce on site’.
Getting there
Follow the A4 to Box before taking the A365 towards Melksham. In 1¼ miles, at the traffic lights at Fiveways, turn left on the B3109 towards Corsham. In just under ½ mile, turn right on a lane in Chapel Plaister signposted to the ‘Chapel Parking’ and park just behind the Pilgrims’ Chapel.
1. Walk back along the lane passing behind the buildings in Chapel Plaister to the B3109. Cross with care and follow a path opposite for 25 yards before turning right along a driveway signposted to Hazelbury Hill. Continue for 600 yards to some gate posts and a cattle grid above Hazelbury Manor. Just past the cattle grid, turn right along a metalled footpath that borders the grounds of the manor. In 350 yards, where a signposted footpath enters a field on the left, turn right through a gap in a hedge and follow a footpath past a telegraph pole and up to a property in the top left corner of the field ahead.
2. At the end of this property, cross a stile on the left and follow a path along to the B3109 opposite the Pilgrims’ Chapel. Turn left for 20 yards, then first right past the parking area. In a few paces, at a junction, turn left and follow a quiet lane for ¾ mile to a left-hand bend where a footpath goes off on the right, ignoring a right turn to Lower Wadswick along the way. Follow this footpath for ¼ mile into Lower Wadswick, turn right and, in 25 yards, left, in front of some cottages. Follow the lane ahead for ¼ mile down to the A365.
3. Turn right and, in 20 yards, right on to a signposted footpath. Walk up the right edge of the field ahead to a stile by the Speke Memorial. Walk up the right edge of the following field for 250 yards to a stile on the right. Ignoring this stile, continue following the field