Grand estate & Tormarton
‘It is so old, so unspoiled by the Age of Speed, that coming to it by the long walled lanes across windswept fields we feel the ancient spirit of the road still upon it.’ These are the words of Arthur Mee relating to tormarton, written back in 1938.
This all changed in the 1960s with the coming of the M4 motorway, a stone’s throw from the village, a development that only served to add to tormarton’s appeal. This most handsome of Cotswold villages was now within an easy commute of Bristol and Swindon, making it an idyllic rural bolthole.
The motorway does blight the surrounding area, with its traffic and vehicle noise, litter on the adjoining roads and tatty parking areas where cars are left for the day, but all of this is soon left behind as the walk crosses the A46 to pass a grand entrance to Dodington Park, marked by a fine gateway and the circular Bath Lodge.
A woodland path and a quiet lane bring the walk down to the village of Dodington, where we find the ‘back entrance’ to the Dodington Estate in the shape of Home Farm, where tradespersons and all and sundry make their deliveries.
There follows the highlight of the walk: a stroll through the manicured acres of Dodington
Park with an occasional glimpse of its grand mansion, now the home of Sir James Dyson. In the 1760s, Capability Brown redesigned the park at a cost of £1,368, a vast sum of money in those days. The end result was one of the finest panoramic views in the southern Cotswolds, with water features, clumps of trees and a grand driveway. Nature also played its part, with the Bristol Frome having its source high up in the parkland.
It is then back to tormarton, where St Mary Magdalene Church, with its fine font and pulpit, will catch the eye, as will a number of grand properties such as Manor Farm, tormarton Court and the Old Hundred.
In a previous life, there was the Major’s Retreat, a Cotswold stone pub built in the 1700s. Formerly known as the Portcullis, its name was changed to avoid confusion with the Portcullis in nearby Chipping Sodbury. Sadly, the village pub is now closed but the nearby Compass Inn is only two minutes’ drive away.
GETTING There
■ Leave the A46 just north of junction 18 on the M4 motorway and follow a right turn signposted to Tormarton. In one mile, turn right at the second crossroads and park on the roadside in 200 yards by Tormarton Church.
■ 1. Walk down the road into the village centre and, in 100 yards, keep on the road as it bears left towards Marshfield. In 350 yards, turn right on to a single track road. Follow this road for almost ¾ mile to a junction before bearing left to the busy A46. Cross with care, and follow the B4465 opposite signposted to Codrington, Pucklechurch and Westerleigh. In 175 yards, just past a right turn to Dodington, turn right on to a signposted bridleway.
■ 2. Beyond a gate, cross a field to another gate before following a woodland path for ½ mile through Southfield Clump (woodland) to reach an open field. Turn right and follow the bottom of this field, with the hedgerow on the left, for 300 yards to join the lane leading to Dodington. Follow this lane to the left as it drops down the Cotswold Escarpment and, in 1¼ miles, turn right to pass through a gateway to join the signposted Cotswold Way.
■ 3. Follow this National Trail for just over one mile uphill through Dodington Park to reach the A46; directions are unnecessary as the path is well signposted. Cross the A46 and follow what is, once again, the well-signposted Cotswold Way for 600 yards into Tormarton, crossing two roads along the way. Follow the road right into the centre of the village, passing the now closed Major’s Retreat pub, before turning left back up to the church.