This 6.5 mile walking trail will lead you through the Rights of Way paths around the beautiful grounds and lake of the Bowood Estate.
Important information:
Parking is available in the lay-by opposite Pillars Lodge. Take special care crossing Silver Street (A3102).
Additional parking is available at the Calne Leisure Centre / Kingsbury Green Academy car park , following the path down to the start point.
This trail is accessible from Pillars Lodge to the bridge by the lake and back again, creating a 1.2 mile (2 km) trail.
There are not many benches along this trail. The Black Dog Inn is worth a visit, when open.
Please make sure that dogs remain on a lead as there are livestock in the fields. Part of this walk goes across a permissive path, for which walkers are welcome.
Directions:
1) This trail begins at Pillars Lodge. The gate pillars that give this Grade II listed, early Victorian, cottage its name, used to be much closer to the road, but have been moved back as the road has been widened.
This part of the trail is a single track for just over half a mile. When you reach the fork in the track, continue straight on, ignoring the right fork that leads to Pinhills (and upon which track we shall return).
Shortly after Pinhills, to your right, is Hilltop Plantation. At Hilltop, behind the woodland, a scatter of Romano-British pot including Savernake, North Wiltshire coarsewares and combed tile have been found in the past.
As you continue, there are some gaps in the woodland, revealing beautiful countryside. One sweet name is Half Moon piece, named for its shape. Evidence suggests that this piece of land has been a wooded plantation for at least 180 years.
2) As you reach the bridge that separates the silt pond from the lake, you will enter Coombe Grove, which is held back by retaining walls.
The Bowood Lake and garden were designed by Capability Brown in 1762. His idea of using a silt pond to ensure that the lake remained as clear as possible, was a good one, as the silt is also 'harvested' from the pond to use on the fields as fertiliser.
The bridge itself leads to Pond Tail Lodge and is Grade II listed and has an arched opening on the north side to feed the lake.
If you're keeping to the accessible track, then now is a good place to turn back as the track isn't as well kept further on.
If you're continuing, take the gate on the right of the track to follow the lake.
3) Cross the grassy bridge and continue through the large white metal gate. Turn right to follow the path alongside the lake.
It can often be the case that you have the RoW around Bowood more or less to yourself - and what a beautiful landscape it is.
4) This whole landscape is a Grade I listed park and garden. With views across the lake, it is not difficult to see why.
Believe it or not, under the waters lie the remains of the village, or hamlet, of Mannings Hill.
The rising lake eventually subsumed
the village, with cottages built for the displaced residents, possibly at Sandy
Lane. One apocryphal story tells that one old lady refused to leave her house,
staying until the rising waters reached her hearth.
5) Follow the path around to the right. Cross the dam, via the kissing gates, that separates the lake from the ponds that are fed by Wash Way stream. To the right of this bridge you will hear a cascade, built c. 1765. There is no public access to the cascade, which is Grade II listed and likely another Capability Brown feature, but it is created of two high steps of tufa. The water from the pond supplies this cascade from a covered opening, which falls into a brick-lined circular tank.
6) Follow the well-worn path and go through the kissing gate beside the wooden gate. Continue along the path to the right edge of the field, following the blue 'Public Footpath', which will lead you across the middle of the field, often occupied by sheep.
7) Follow the path through the kissing gate, at the end of this field you will be at the tarmac track that connects to an old farmstead called The Osprey, which as its origins back in the 1750s.
Turn right and follow this track, with the golf course to your left. The wood, a little further on, to your left is called Brick Kiln Wood and was the home to a Brick Works back in the 1800s.
8) Following the blue 'Public Footpath' signs, provided by the Bowood Estate, will take you past a tree plantation and The Osprey.
Shortly afterwards, you will take a right. Then a left, following a short way to the east.
Then take another left to follow the path into the woodland.
9) Continue to follow the path through the woodland. Eventually, you will have the gold course to your left.
You will then notice that the access road into Bowood House and Gardens is visible on your right.
Continue onwards, until there is a gap in the trees. This will allow access to the access road. Follow this through the large white gates and onto Church Road.
Straight ahead is the 1873-built house and village hall, which was previously a school and built for the Bowood Estate.
10) After exiting Bowood onto Church Road, turn right onto Old Road. taking in the varied beautiful houses along this road; which used to be called Rag Lane.
11) At the end of Old Road, turn right onto New Road (A4), keeping to the pavement.
At a group of cottages, the path becomes a driveway before ending. At this point cross the road, taking good care.
Continue in the same direction on the other side of the A4, crossing Norley Road.
12) Shortly after Rumsey Farmhouse, you will be treated to the fabulous view of Cherhill White Horse and Black Dog bridge, designed by Mark Lovell, for the millennium. The main arch of this bridge utilises redwood glue laminated (glulam) beams and is a fantastic advertisement for the Sustrans cycle route that it serves.
13) Just after the exit road from Bowood House and Garden, the path begins on the south of the A4 again. When it is safe cross the road. You are now walking alongside the runoff stream from the Bowood Lake, which will join the River Marden near the bridge.
As you continue under the bridge, take a moment to take in the architecture of the bridge. Then turn right up the track to Black Dog Halt.
As the top of the incline, you'll be greeted by the two dogs of Black Dog Halt. The gate and railings were designed by artist, Laura Lian, after winning a 1988 competition to separate the cycle path from the residential houses, including the old station master's house.
14) Head left (south east) away from the bridge.
You will walk past the old station master's house, dated 1874, with a version of the Lansdowne crest. The bungalow before this house was part of the stables when the halt was operational. It has since been converted into a lovely bungalow by Patrick Wiltshire, who called it Patrick's Folly.
Continue along the cycle path for around 0.75 miles / 1.20km, until you reach a gate on your right with a notice stating 'Permissive Right of Way to Wenhill Lane'.
This field leads you towards Wenhill, at the end of the field, pass the gate onto the track, turning right towards Wenhill Cottages.
Shortly, you will see a blue 'Public Footpath' sign. Follow this into the field and you will reach a Bowood information board.
15) Continue along the well-worn path, which differs to the Right of Way shown on the OS maps and no longer provides any access.
16) Eventually, you will see a gap in the hedge ahead. Cross the wooden plank bridge and the stile, keeping to the left edge of the next field.
17) Follow the path to the left at the next blue sign and cross the stile.
Turn right and follow the path as it curves and reaches an access road to the Bowood Estate.
In the grounds of Pinhill farm, which is to the right of the cottages, is an L-shaped house, said to have been constructed from the ruins of the manor house by Ambrose Blake. The moat remains as a scheduled monument. The moat was drained on 8 January 1644 and the manor house destroyed by Royalists as part of Civil War action. There was no fighting here, with the Parliamentarians surrendering.
After the end of the Civil War, Ambrose was back at Pinhills. His son, Henry, became MP for Calne in 1695, 1698, and 1701. It seems that being a Royalist did not hinder the families progress after the Civil War.
18) Join the access road walking away from the cottages and through a young avenue of trees.
Eventually you will join Pinhills Lane, which quickly joins the access road that we started on at the start of the trail.
Continue towards Silver Street and the end of the trail.
Thank you for using this route!
Map from the lovely folks at OpenStreetMap. © OpenStreetMap contributors
