A 3-mile easy walk: some fieldpaths, a quiet road and farm track. It starts near the church. Click map below to enlarge. Click here for an aerial view. Click here for a downloadable PDF guide of this page. (There is a GPX route option here for phone/tablet download. But only follow this link after watching this GPX help video). Friendly warning: all files relating to walks are published here on good faith but on the understanding that users must be responsible for their own safety and wellbeing..
Start: Take footpath off road, opposite Tudor house 900m
1: From houses at end of field, take path to left 990m
2: Take left path bend towards farm 140m
3: Take path to left of farm buildings, through gate 1.3Km
4: Take footpath leftwards just beyond gate 500m
5: Follow footpath back to road 350m
The pictures below are in the order things were seen on this walk. Clicking on any one will enlarge it (and the slideshow)
The walk
If you travel here by car there should be some parking space outside of the church in Corsley. The first part of the walk (i.e., ‘start’ to point ‘1’) runs along the edge of two fields. It’s not clear which side of the hedging carries the official footpath. We took the left and then changed over to the right half way up. The route south shown at point ‘1’ was blocked and rather overgrown. However, the suggestion is to follow the path leftwards at this point and join up with the single track road to point ‘2’. There is very little traffic – just a few vehicles going to farm and glamping site. At point ‘2’ the GPS advises to walk through the middle of the farm. That might be possible but the easiest (and proper) thing is to follow the cut shown with dots on the map above – it runs on the edge of the farm buildings. The route up to ‘4’ is an easy track and the route 4 > 5 is a pleasant shaded sunken path.
Corsley
The church – where you start – is Victorian (1833). It is likely to be closed although the inside is judged by Pevsner to be “bleak”. Broad nave, no aisles and no chancel. The tower at the west end was intended to have a spire. There is a Commonwealth War Graveyard attached. This video walks you around the church and the graves.
More interesting is the Manor Farm next door. Built by John Thynne during 1563-6, who lived there after a fire at Longleat house (which he also built). For the time and place it is unusual for being mainly a brick-constructed house. Once a year there is an “Elizabethan Evening” which seems to involve outdoor Shakespeare theatre
Find out more about Corsley, in the words of the local community here.