High on Ham

Ken Ward takes us on a spectacular walk beginning at a well-known South Somerset viewpoint and includes a folly tower, one of England’s finest Elizabethan houses and a descent into a green valley where a village died

Boots on, Let’s go!

1 Start at the Prince of Wales car park in Ham Hill Country Park, at Stoke sub Hamdon, off the A303, five miles west of Yeovil.

Begin walking along the road behind the pub to where road bends left, and here go right through chain-looped gate by the stone slab marked ‘Quarry Access Only’.

Immediately through gate locate narrow green track left up onto and along Iron Age hill-fort embankment. Head for stone pillar soon seen half-right in distance. (See over on right a circle of standing stones in central green area.)

Descend from embankment to stone steps leading up to pillar, erected in 1923 to Glorious Dead of 1914 to (unusually) 1919! From this 300-ft veiwpoint you should see on the horizon Alfred’s Tower near Stourhead, and King Arthur’s possible Camelot and Glastonbury Tor.

2 From pillar take wide twisting gravel path across green centre of hill-fort.

Pass close to the circle of 15 standing stones. Continue back to pub and through picnic tables to descend steps where signpost to Montacute bears symbols of River Parrett Trail and Leland Trail.

At bottom of the ten steps, ignore sharp turn to left and continue on narrow track, which winds through grass-covered hummocks to a junction of paths where two large sculptures stand.

One is a 10-ft high representation of an axe head with prominent tool marks, the other a stone disc with a hole. The sculptor Evelyn Body positioned them so that at dawn on the longest day the sun shines through the hole onto the axe head.

With sculptures on your right, go up to the gate into pasture, and follow field edge on left. Pass through gap in wall ahead, followed by a second gapped wall. Where a line of trees on the right meets the field boundary, go through gate into wood and proceed down with wire fence on right. Continue on sometimes stony track with tree-covered hill on left and fields on right. Leave wood at stile into field, and pass to right of wooded hill topped by a stone tower.

3 St Michael’s Mount Tower (NT), built by the Phelips family in 1760, may be visited by walking to the left and following the steep path up from a gate at the base of hill. A steep path down rejoins the route. The Normans called this steep hill Mont Acutus, and this gave the name to the village ahead.

Aim for Montacute Church ahead. Pass through gates at splendid castellated Abbey Farm and turn left to enter village between St Catherine’s Church and Kings Arms Hotel. Turn right along street of attractive stone cottages. The street bends to the right, with village square on the right and entrance to Montacute House (NT) on the left.

To the right of the driveway to Montacute House is the attractive building known as the Chantry. Large carved initials are those of Robert Sherborne, last prior of Montacute.

The square is called The Borough and was a marketplace, mostly for leather and wool.

Facing The Borough is the Phelips Arms pub, with food; and further along the unusual TV, Radio and Toy Museum.

Continue to beyond the Post Office and turn right down ‘Townsend leading to Pig Street’. Follow road when it bends first to left, and then right. Pass Park View. See half-hidden warning on left that footpath is 70 yards further up hill.

Almost immediately a beyond small lay-by on the right, enter field via metal kiss-gate tucked into hedge on right and turn left. Continue up field parallel to deeply sunken road (Hollow Lane) with field dropping steeply away to the right. Through metal kiss-gate beneath trees. Approaching Batemoor Farm buildings ignore track to right.

See again St Michael’s Tower half-mile away to the right. Enter long narrow fenced enclosure to kiss-gate at end, and turn left onto Hollow Lane and cross onto track with high hedges and signposted ‘Footpath to Witcombe Valley’.

4 Note Park Lane forking to left. This leads to Odcombe – one mile – where the vicarage was home to Tom Coryate who walked 1,975 miles from Venice in 1608.

At the end of a hedged track to Witcombe Valley, through gate to information panel with deep green valley opening down on right. Descend wide grass track half right down to valley floor.

Down on valley floor, the lost village of Witcombe was still populated in 1566, with 20 tenants holding 10 acres of land leased from Montacute Priory. The Plague probably caused the demise of the village.

From the fenced village pond, take a wide grass track up the opposite side of the valley with knobbly post on left of the path half-way up.

5 At the top, behind enormous gorse bush, pass through a gate into wood and turn right. Almost immediately up steps on left opposite stone pillar with carved Celtic warrior.

Continue ahead along tree-lined sunken path for almost a mile, first walking west then turning northwards, ignoring minor trails to right or left. Pass signpost ‘Little Norton 1/2 mile’ on left. In places path becomes less sunken, allowing fine high views over Somerset landscape. Eventually cross Norton car park and continue ahead on embankment path, which drops down onto road. Turn to left and walk along road – with care – towards green Ham Hill Park sign ahead.

Pass ‘View-point car park’ with magnificent views to the west.

6 Before reaching the first green Ham Hill sign, leave the road to take thin grass track on right and see roof of Prince of Wales pub. Enter park area by dropping down by new toilet building. Join park road to walk right, and which curves round to left, and pub car park.

Walk devised by Ken Ward who in the 1970s co-wrote the first guidebook to the whole of the 630-mile South West coast Path, and has recently published a novel telling of an attempt by three men to walk 300 miles from Cheltenham to Land’s End. Six Feet to Land’s End is available from http://www.footpathtouring.co.uk (£8.99 incl. Postage).

High on Ham

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