Route
Distance (kms) 16.1km
Minimum Time: 5hrs
'Ascent: 1,200ft
Difficulty Level: 3 - Hard
Paths: Pastures, leafy paths, grass tracks, dirt tracks, tarmac lanes, one steep, earthy bank, 13 stiles
Landscape: Rolling country, wooded and farmed, above River Teme
'Dog Friendliness: Mostly on lead, lots of game birds
Parking: Community centre and village hall car park, Leintwardine
Public Toilets: At start (not always open)
Description:
By the end of the 18th century, formal neatness in landscape architecture had fallen from favour; the new word on the lips of those who counted was âpicturesqueâ. This craving for a âlaissez-faireâ type of landscape had been of great benefit to Ross-on-Wye (see Walk 35), where the Wye Tour had become the must-do trip. Downton on the Rock was to benefit from Richard Payne Knight, under whose direction Downton Castle was built between 1772 and 1778. If you like regimented rows of trees, twee fountains, manicured lawns and symmetrical paths, then itâs not the castle for you. Richard Payne Knight. Richard Payne Knight knew exactly the sort of landscape he wanted for Downton Castle, having travelled extensively, particularly in Italy. He sought a rugged, wild view, like those seen in the landscape paintings of Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa, who had produced their best works in the mid-17th century. Poussin had worked at the Louvre in Paris as painter to the king, whereas Lorrain and Rosa had studied in Naples. None came from privileged backgrounds and all had struggled to gain recognition for their work. For some time after they had established themselves as artists, all three lived as near neighbours in a street in Rome called TrinitÃ  dÃ¨ Monti. It would be interesting to compare their works with those of the little-known English painter, Thomas Hearne, who painted several views of the Downton Estate. Incidentally, the British landscape painter, John Constable, was born in 1776, when Downton Castle was being built. It is said that, when aged about 20, sight of Hagar and the Angel, by Claude Lorrain. sparked Constableâs smouldering ambition to be an artist. As for the privately owned Downton Castleâs interior, it is wholly classical in style. Some alterations and additions were made in the 1860s.
Roman Leintwardine. The Romans built a fort beside the River Teme here, and stayed at Leintwardine until the late 4th century ad. Where an early church is found within a Roman earthwork, the inference is that usage of the site continued when the Romans left, as is the case with Leintwardine. The High Street lies on the line of the Roman Watling Street. Today Leintwardineâs population is well below half its late 19th-century figure of nearly 2,000.
What to look out for: At St Georgeâs Church, Burrington, are several iron slab tombstones, among which is that of âRichard Knight, MDCCXLVâ (1745). He was the grandfather of Richard Payne Knight, who had purchased the Downton Estate with money earned from his life as one of the Shropshire ironmasters.
Where to eat and drink: There are no refreshments on the way, but in Leintwardine fish and chips are available Tuesdays to Saturdays from the Fiddlers Elbow Fish Bar. Weekend walking groups can phone in advance and have their fish and chips lunch served to them at the Sun Inn, three doors away, washed down with a beer. Leintwardineâs Lion Hotel has a riverside beer garden.
Directions:
Begin downhill, very soon taking the first left, Church Street. Turn left. As you reach the primary school, turn right. Aim for a brick, brown-and-white house but, after a two-plank footbridge, go left to a tarmac road. Turn right. In 300yds (274m) turn left, to the A4113. Cross, turning immediately right up a lane. Ascend for a short mile (1.6km). Soon after a skew junction go forward, taking the left of two gates. Just beyond a corrugated shelter, take a stile on the right. Go three-quarters left, across two more fields, to replanted woodland. At the A4113 turn left but soon right, beside a wire fence. At the end follow the field edge round to the left for 40yds (37m). Go down an earthy bank (on your bottom?) in trees to pass stables on your right, then along a good dirt road, soon dead straight for 0.5 mile (800m) to Brakes Farm.
Go straight ahead (waymarker). Cross a minor road diagonally, then cross fields to a minor lane beside houses Nos 20 and 19. Turn left. Soon turn right, downhill. Turn right, along the river, just before a bridge over the River Teme. Skirt two unnamed houses. Up a bank, join a dirt road. Follow this to Castle Bridge. Ascend but within 110yds (100m) of leaving woodland go half right, across a field, rejoining the dirt road into forest for perhaps 60yds (55m). (If the footpath is not established, it would make sense to go round the road, not trample the crop.) Scramble up a bank (waymarker). Traverse the steep meadow to a gate in the top, among oaks. Keep this line to go down a wide meadow, locating a stile on the left into harvested trees.
Turn left and descend. When you reach open meadow, curve round a dry valley. At a left bend go through a gate on the right. Go left of a specimen oak to a hidden stile in the bottom corner. Cross over a footbridge and turn right. Cross meadow to a gate, and soon reach a minor road. Turn right. Descend easily through Burrington, to St Georgeâs Church. Behind the church, cross meadows to Burrington Bridge. Cross the River Teme. After 650yds (594m) take the right turn. When you reach Downton, head towards Old Downton Lodge, but then turn left. Beyond a wall take the rightmost gate (waymarker), along an old lane. Shortly move right to ascend a right-hand field-edge, soon following a beech-lined avenue to reach a junction with a dirt track.
Over a stile into an expansive field, swing left to descend, initially steeply. Past a small (possibly dry) pond veer left along a right-hand field-edge to a road. Turn right. Within 275yds (251m), at Wisteria Cottage, take a kissing gate. Cross three fields to soon emerge on Watling Street. Turn right to Church Street and back to the start.
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