Walk Number 5 Witch Pit Wood

Map 4 3 miles 1.5 hours

Outline: Village Hall, through Southfield to Lambert's Marsh across fields to Witch Pit Wood climbing up to Southwick Ridge, back through fields to join Lambert's Marsh and return to the village hall.

Commentary: A good walk for viewing local wildlife, particularly hares and deer. The views along the Southwick Ridge are some of the best in the locality.

It also passes Witch Pit Wood, a disused quarry, where the Baptists used to meet when long ago they were banned from meeting in towns and villages.

This is a walk for the hale and hearty with a good climb up to Southwick Ridge. Very muddy making wellies or waterproofed boots essential in the winter. Wonderful views once at the top.

1. Starting at the village hall use the tarmac footpath on the
edge of the playing field to cut through to the Southfield
estate. Walk along Southfield to join Wesley Lane.

2. To reach Lambert's Marsh use the gateway ahead of you
on the right to cross the left hand corner of the field before
climbing the stile into Lambert's Marsh and turning right
down the lane. Alternatively you can stay on tarmac by
turning left into Wesley Lane and then right into Lamberts
Marsh.

Correction

Since the publication of this walk it has been determined that there was a an error on the County Council "working copy" of the Definitive Map and that the ( highlighted in yellow) spur linking path 29 to 33 is not a definitive right of way. Therefore to complete this circular walk you will need to use the map and walk to the end of path 29, then along the lane to path 24 that takes you through Overcourt farm and back to the opposite end of the missing link and the continuation of the described walk.

3. Follow the lane to the Y junction and turn left to Mutton
Marsh Farm. The county road (number 6111) that you are
walking gradually worsens until it is full of ruts and often
mud and deep pools of water. Walk on past the bungalow
and then the farm until the lane ends when you reach the
fields. Enter the field through the gateway and follow the
hedge on your left until you reach a gate.

4. Walk through the gateway and turn right to follow what is
now a bridle-way . Follow the hedge on your right for 250
metres until you reach the bottom right hand comer of the
field and the remains of an old stone stile. Pass through
the hedge and continue through the next field to its bottom
right hand corner and the remains of a stone stile and
bridge. Carefully cross the stream!

5. Follow the hedge on your right to the right hand corner of
the field (where the bridle way changes into a footpath).
Ignore the gateway on your right and go through the
gateway directly ahead of you and climb uphill to the corner
of Witch Pit Wood.

6. When you reach the top right-hand corner of the field you
will see in the distance to the south the Westbury White
Horse. Turn round to face Southwick and the north. The
view is magnificent and well worth all your effort.

7. Turn left along the ridge track and you will see Trowbridge
in the distance. When you reach the gate across the path,
climb the stile on its right-hand side.

8. In the next field the road to Brokerswood is on your right in
front of Druce's Farm. Cross the field diagonally to the stag-headed oak tree where you need to climb a double stile into the next field.

9. Follow the hedge on your left downhill. This is a fairly
steep slope and difficult when the field is ploughed right to
the edge of the field. At the bottom of the field, 25 metres
out from the left-hand comer there is a bridge over the
brook that leads into a landfill site/field.

10. Carefully cross this site/field and re-join the path on the
opposite side of the field. From the bridge you need to walk
diagonally to your right in a "2 O'clock" direction until you
locate the hedge between the two fields on the opposite
side of the site/field.

11. The footpath follows the hedge which you must keep on
your right. At the bottom there is a very overgrown stile.
Climb the stile and you will see Mutton Marsh Farm on your
left.

12. Cross the field to the opposite hedge and you will find a
stile. Climb the stile taking you behind Poles Hole Farm.
Follow the path with the hedge on your left until you come
to the next stile. Climb the stile and across a small bridge
into the next field.

13. Follow the path across the middle of the field. This path is usually well marked and you come to a stile. Climb the
stile and follow the narrow path that gets very overgrown
taking you back to Lambert's Marsh.

14. You should be facing the stile you climbed over an hour
ago to get into Lambert's Marsh . So retrace your steps to
return to the Village Hall.