WALK 10 DISTANCE:
5 miles
SURRENDELL
and DUNLEY WOOD
This walk explores the interesting and varied countryside to the west of the village. A number of routes have already been described to reach Surrendell House. The quickest is probably the bridleway Oarhedge Lane which begins by the copse called Priors Corner. (See Walk Seven).
From Surrendell cottages, go over the cattle grid and follow the track to Surrendell Farm. In the field on the left just after the grid observe an ancient Standing Stone under a hawthorn bush, known locally as "The Roman's Grave"; lore and legend maintain that it should never be ploughed up. This ceased to be a working farmhouse in the early 1960's when John and Dorothy Rawlins moved into Mays Farm in the village, having been there since just after the Second World War. John farmed the land at Surrendell for several ears whilst the house stood empty. Since 1970 it has been occupied and expensively and tastefully restored in the in the last decade. You can read a little of the history of Surrendell in June Badeni's "Wiltshire Forefathers"; there was almost certainly a scattering of cottages there 150 years ago.
Follow the wide track up to
the gates of Surrendell Farm. Just
before these gates there is a gate on your left that leads into a pasture
Cow ground.. Go through it and walk along the farm house garden boundary
keeping it on your right until you pass through another gate. There are some
good views here down into the valley cut over the centuries by the Gauze Brook. Once through this gate head
towards the metalled track and follow it to the end*[1]
where it joins with a tarmac drive
heading left. Follow the drive left past the converted barn and the large new house ( a sort of South Fork
type mini mansion) on your left. Not so long ago there were 2 farm cottages
where this monstrous blot on the
landscape now stands.
The tarmac drive turns right just past South Fork, but you take the well marked bridleway to the left. along the edge of The Forty Acres and enter Dunley Wood about 400 yards ahead. The old cart track is clearly defined here with steep gradients.
Note the attractive old bridge as you cross the upper reaches of the Gauze Brook which runs through the wood, though it's usually dry for half the year. The wood is a haven for rabbits, foxes (except in the hunting season) and badgers, as well as pheasants and many different kinds of birds. If you're lucky you might see roe deer.
The track leaves the wood, becoming double-hedged and eventually joins the bridleway and access road to Roberts Berry Farm (formerly Clapcote) turn left towards Roberts Berry Farm following the bridleway. Fading daffodils and flowering cherries line the road in late April,
Follow the bridleway to the farm, it goes between the farm buildings with the old farm house on your right. At the end of the track, you'll see a modern dwelling on the right and a gate straight ahead, go through it into the field and look for another gate about 20 yards on the right which takes you into a small field. Head diagonally left to the visible stile at the top of this field and cross into the next field. From here the actual footpath goes diagonally left for about 200 yards to the gate (but it is often easier to walk round the edge of the field keeping the hedges on your right) that leads on to Pig Lane where you re-enter Hullavington Parish.
You now have a choice. By road, you turn left and then right in about ¼ mile to follow the winding Vlow Lane for ¾ mile back to the village via Gardners Farm. Otherwise, you cross the road into Mr Hawker's fields and by a series of zig-zagging paths around Hullavington Field shown on the map but too tedious to describe, you should emerge from Water Furrows onto the Grittleton road. Turn left and it is ¼ mile back to the village.
In the text, the names of fields and roads printed in italics are those given on the 1842 Parish of Hullavington Tithe Map and other contemporary maps, being included for historical interest and to encourage their current use.