
WALK 8
PITNEY
A thatched windmill and a rare Gothic Revival church
Easy walking on country lanes and tracks
Distance 10.4 Km/ 6.4 miles
Total ascent/descent 153m
www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/18506736
Updated January 2024 Comments to [email protected]
1 From the bus-stop (GR454 277) go down the minor road SP Pitney. Pass two left turns and 60m after the second turn go L by Caves Farm and follow the stony, then grassy track for 330m. At the road, turn R. Continue 600m and just beyond a barn when another road is reached go L [1.5Km]
2 (GR445 290) Continue 250m to No Through Road sign and go ahead, passing Glebe Farm and Farm shop. After 660m where the tarmac ends at Pitney Wood House, continue ahead on track 500m through Bristol Gate to reach a small black shed. Continue a further 300m then go L through gate (SP Leazemoor Lane) and follow a broad grassy swathe between apple trees to reach another gate and emerge on a road [2.0Km]
3 (GR442 300) Turn R and after 20m turn L (SP Low Ham). After 200m at cross-roads continue ahead and ascend, steadily at first, then more steeply for 900m to reach Stembridge Tower Mill(1). Continue ahead for a further 550m with houses on the R, to crossroads just past playing field [1.7Km]
4 (GR428 306) Turn L into Long Street and descend into Low Ham. After 950m at junction by Yew Tree Farm go ahead a further 300m to a road on R [1.2Km]
.
5 (GR429 295) Cross the waymarked Bristol gate on the L and aim for the far corner of the field. Just before the corner, locate a sleeper bridge on the R, cross and turn L round the edge of the field to reach a gate on the L. Go down the very narrow path between two fences to reach a road. Turn R and follow 220m then go L along concrete track to “The Church in the Field”(2) turning R on narrower path to the W door. Continue ahead uphill, parallel to a high stone wall(3) to reach metal gate. Go through and turn L to follow wall then fence to a step ladder stile, then ahead to locate a gate to a road [1.6Km]
6 (GR436 283) Go L descending gently. Ignore L turn by playing field and ascend gently. Ignore R turn by house “The Rookery” but bear R beyond to pass Pitney(4) Church and Village Hall to crossroads [1.1Km]
7 (GR446 285) Continue ahead through village for 700m ignoring all L and R turns, noting on a wall on the right the AA distance marker London 128¼ miles. Follow the road as it bears R by two farmhouses and ascend gently up Hermitage Hill to reach the Somerton to Langport road. The bus-stop for Langport and Taunton is directly across the road and that for Somerton is a few metres to the R in front of the Halfway House [1.3Km].
FOR A SHORTER WALK Distance 6.0Km/3.5 miles
Follow 1 above then at the No Through Road sign, turn L and descend gently to reach the cross-roads in Pitney village. Here turn L and continue from 7 above.
For car travellers
Park carefully in the minor road leading down to Pitney, or in the small lay-by 200m east of the Pitney turn (by the postbox) or preferably (with permission) at the Halfway House.
Refreshments:
Pitney Farm Shop
Halfway House -which has won numerous awards including the prestigious CAMRA National Pub of the Year and the Daily Telegraph Pub of the Year
1 Stembridge Tower Mill is the last remaining thatched windmill in England. It was constructed in 1822 and last used commercially in 1910. It was left to the National Trust in 1969 and was refurbished in 2009. It is Grade II* listed
2 The “Church in the Field” in Low Ham was built 1623-1669 and a rare example of early Gothic Revival. It is (unusually) not dedicated to any Saint and is Grade 1 listed
3 Grade II listed boundary walling thought to be connected with the C17th Low Ham Manor House.
4 Several archaeological finds have been made at Pitney - the remains of a Roman villa uncovered in the C19th and a Saxon cast bronze brooch, based on a Viking design and now in the British Museum.
2 (GR445 290) Continue 250m to No Through Road sign and go ahead, passing Glebe Farm and Farm shop. After 660m where the tarmac ends at Pitney Wood House, continue ahead on track 500m through Bristol Gate to reach a small black shed. Continue a further 300m then go L through gate (SP Leazemoor Lane) and follow a broad grassy swathe between apple trees to reach another gate and emerge on a road [2.0Km]
3 (GR442 300) Turn R and after 20m turn L (SP Low Ham). After 200m at cross-roads continue ahead and ascend, steadily at first, then more steeply for 900m to reach Stembridge Tower Mill(1). Continue ahead for a further 550m with houses on the R, to crossroads just past playing field [1.7Km]
4 (GR428 306) Turn L into Long Street and descend into Low Ham. After 950m at junction by Yew Tree Farm go ahead a further 300m to a road on R [1.2Km]
.
5 (GR429 295) Cross the waymarked Bristol gate on the L and aim for the far corner of the field. Just before the corner, locate a sleeper bridge on the R, cross and turn L round the edge of the field to reach a gate on the L. Go down the very narrow path between two fences to reach a road. Turn R and follow 220m then go L along concrete track to “The Church in the Field”(2) turning R on narrower path to the W door. Continue ahead uphill, parallel to a high stone wall(3) to reach metal gate. Go through and turn L to follow wall then fence to a step ladder stile, then ahead to locate a gate to a road [1.6Km]
6 (GR436 283) Go L descending gently. Ignore L turn by playing field and ascend gently. Ignore R turn by house “The Rookery” but bear R beyond to pass Pitney(4) Church and Village Hall to crossroads [1.1Km]
7 (GR446 285) Continue ahead through village for 700m ignoring all L and R turns, noting on a wall on the right the AA distance marker London 128¼ miles. Follow the road as it bears R by two farmhouses and ascend gently up Hermitage Hill to reach the Somerton to Langport road. The bus-stop for Langport and Taunton is directly across the road and that for Somerton is a few metres to the R in front of the Halfway House [1.3Km].
FOR A SHORTER WALK Distance 6.0Km/3.5 miles
Follow 1 above then at the No Through Road sign, turn L and descend gently to reach the cross-roads in Pitney village. Here turn L and continue from 7 above.
For car travellers
Park carefully in the minor road leading down to Pitney, or in the small lay-by 200m east of the Pitney turn (by the postbox) or preferably (with permission) at the Halfway House.
Refreshments:
Pitney Farm Shop
Halfway House -which has won numerous awards including the prestigious CAMRA National Pub of the Year and the Daily Telegraph Pub of the Year
1 Stembridge Tower Mill is the last remaining thatched windmill in England. It was constructed in 1822 and last used commercially in 1910. It was left to the National Trust in 1969 and was refurbished in 2009. It is Grade II* listed
2 The “Church in the Field” in Low Ham was built 1623-1669 and a rare example of early Gothic Revival. It is (unusually) not dedicated to any Saint and is Grade 1 listed
3 Grade II listed boundary walling thought to be connected with the C17th Low Ham Manor House.
4 Several archaeological finds have been made at Pitney - the remains of a Roman villa uncovered in the C19th and a Saxon cast bronze brooch, based on a Viking design and now in the British Museum.