North Wraxall

The walk

This walk starts in the charming village of North Wraxall (‘Werochesalle’ in Domesday meaning “where buzzards fly”). Parking is straightforward near to the church.  Admire the collection of modest and grand 18th/19th century houses. Then, quiet lanes take you past a Roman site, into another small and attractive settlement (West Kington), returning to Wraxall through well farmed countryside. It’s a refreshing walk although if you stick to the lanes (but see field path alternative in blue dots above), you will find some of them quite narrow. However, there is very little traffic – nevertheless remain alert. 

The church and the Methuens

You will perhaps park near the 12th century St James Church, although the Norman doorway is probably the only remaining feature. Otherwise it is 13^th century with much development in the 17^th, including the addition of a large family vault by local landowner Paul Methuen. The Methuen family was mighty big in these parts: just consider the monument to one of them inside – “coldly beautiful” says Pevsner. It’s certainly prominent. The prolific Paul Cobb Methuen (1752 – 1816) was a politician (Great Bedwyn MP), the eldest son of Paul Methuen (many “Pauls” in that family) of Corsham Court. P. Cobb Methuen was a good sort – he endowed a local school to help poor children. He is buried in this church. See him in his own childhood here.

Romans here

Truckle Hill is an area to the right of where you start this walk. A Roman Villa stood there in the second century: quite large, 16 rooms and a cemetery. In recent years, digging at the site has revealed a ‘bath house’. Although this may have been a temple or Nymphaeum (what’s that? its “a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs”). Briefly – between points 2 and 3 on the map you will be walking on the route of the Fosse Way Roman road from Lincoln to Exeter (via Bath).

Dry stone walling

From the early part of this walk you may notice the extensive dry-stone walling [B]. Perhaps easy to overlook this – even though UNESCO has inscribed the craft on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity”. The walls around here are quite overgrown with hedgerow, although a chance to look at hidden structure exists in [D] (see a Waller take on something like this here). These days Wallers are in some demand, although, if you are interested, a national certification scheme is managed in the UK by the Dry Stone Walling Association: it covers four grades up to Master Craftsman. You could, for instance, take a two day course for £100 at their South West England Branch. Or teach yourself maybe?

West Kington and Latimer

Half way through this walk you reach the valley-nestling, quiet village of West Kington with the Broadmead Brook running through it (picture 06). The ‘river frame’ picture shows it as a source of the ByBrook. You might decide to part from the walk here, cross the brook, and visit the 13^th and 15^th century church of St Mary the Virgin. It has a circular churchyard (suggesting an ancient pagan site?). Its relevant to the next major point on the walk – the 16^th century farmhouse called Latimer Manor (2018 guide price £3m)

Hugh Latimer was the rector of West Kington from 1531 until 1535. He had been a Cambridge don but one with controversial enthusiasm about translating the Bible into English. In 1528 Latimer was given a warning by Cardinal Wolsey about this. However he won the approval of Henry VIII, mainly through his efforts to arrange the divorce of Catherine of Aragon (and replacement by Anne Boleyn). Indeed, this led to him being made Bishop of Worcester. However, later, he migrated to our West Kington where he continued to preach his subversive Anglican ideas. Unfortunately, Mary Tudor the devout Catholic queen was getting impatient with him. First he was briefly imprisoned in 1532. But later (1555) he was burnt at the stake in Oxford along with Ridley and Cranmer (together the “Oxford Martyrs”). How strange to link such drama to this quiet place [G].