Return to the High Street and go right to a junction by the Fox and Badger. Turn left towards Combe Hay, climbing for 200yds (183m) before leaving sharp left along a short track. Over a stile on the right in front of gates, pass beside stables to a gate and head diagonally across paddocks to a kissing gate. Maintain your slanting ascent across the hillside, eventually leaving through a kissing gate onto a hedged track halfway along the top edge of the third field.
Walk left for 0.5 mile (800m) and then fork left, eventually descending to a gate. Turn left before it onto a narrower path that drops to a farm. Follow its track out to a lane and go right. At the bottom by Double Hill Farm, leave through a pair of gates on the left. Cross the farmyard to a gate at the rear of barns and walk from field to field beside a brook. Over a crossing track, continue at the bottom of two more fields before turning up a grass tack that leads to a lane.
Follow the lane left down the hill, crossing a former railway bridge and later, beyond a junction, a bridge over Wellow Brook. Climb steeply away to a sharp bend, there going left on a track to Manor Farm.
Walk past the farm and through a gate to continue on a field track. After passing through a second gate, bear left to climb by the left hedge. Towards the top, at a sign to Stony Littleton Long Barrow, leave over a stile on the left and head away by the right hedge. After 200yds (193m), cross a stile on the right and climb to a second stile leading into the barrow enclosure. The entrance to the chamber is around to the right.
Return over the enclosure stile, but now turn left, walking alongside the barrow and on across a field to a gate. Turn left in front of it and follow a field track across the open hill for 0.25 mile (400m). Passing through a gate, the track becomes enclosed and gradually falls to meet a narrow lane. Go left and then left again as it joins another lane, dropping to a ford and footbridge across Wellow Brook. The ongoing lane climbs back into the village. At the top, the church is a short distance to the right while the Fox and Badger and car park lie to the left.
Observant walkers will notice that a railway once ran through Wellow, but less obvious is the earlier canal. A branch of the Somerset Coal Canal, opened at the turn of the 19th century, it was intended to link Radstock's coal mines with Bath but never fully completed. To avoid the expensive... construction of a flight of locks, the branch was instead connected to the main waterway at Midford by a short tramway. However, double transhipment proved an economic drag and within a few years the whole section was replaced with a tramway. Branch railway In the 1870s, that in turn was superseded by a railway linking Bath to the Somerset and Dorset Railway at Creech. The original S&D line ran between Burnham-on-Sea and Poole, hoping to attract goods traffic between the Bristol and English channels. While that business failed to develop, the link to Bath created the first direct route from the Midlands and Northern Britain to the south coast and was an immediate success. Summer weekends were particularly busy with holidaymakers flocking to the seaside. With around 30 local stations, steep gradients across the Mendip Hills requiring additional engines and long stretches of single line operation, it was no express service. But the journey was always interesting and the S&D became affectionately known as the 'Slow and Dirty'. Wellow's station opened in 1874 complete with sidings and a goods yard, from which local produce such as corn and watercress was sent to market. The line closed in 1966, but the station buildings, warehouse and signal box survive. Wellow's church Before you leave Wellow, wander across to the church. It is a rare dedication in this country to St Julian the Hospitaller and, although the present building dates from only the 14th century, it may have origins in a Roman or Saxon foundation. Inside is a fine rood loft and screen, while to the left is the Hungerford Chapel, which contains memorials to the Hungerford family, of which Sir Thomas Hungerford was the first Speaker of Parliament in 1372. Particularly striking is the painted tomb to Dorothy Popham who died in 1614, the figures in the small niches below perhaps representing her children. On the wall behind are 15th-century paintings depicting Christ and the twelve apostles while above is a wooden ceiling, beautifully gilded and coloured. Neolithic burial chamber Passed during the latter part of the walk is the Stony Littleton Long Barrow, a Neolithic tomb built around 5,500 years ago and contemporary with Egypt's pyramids. Almost 100ft long (30m), the earth mound, buttressed by a restored drystone wall, covers a long passage off which are three pairs of chambers with another at the end. It was discovered in 1760 by a farmer digging for road stone and an excavation at the beginning of the following century suggested that several bodies had been interred. Be sure to take a torch for exploring inside and look out for an ammonite fossil in the left-hand entrance stone.
Somerset remains rural and unspoiled, and ever popular areas to visit are the limestone and red sandstone Mendip Hills rising to over 1,000 feet, and by complete contrast, to the south and southwest, the flat landscape of the Somerset Levels. Another popular spot, the Quantocks, once the haunt of poets Coleridge and Wordsworth, are noted for their gentle slopes, heather-covered moorland expanses and red deer.
Return to the High Street and go right to a junction by the Fox and Badger. Turn left towards Combe Hay, climbing for 200yds (183m) before leaving sharp left along a short track. Over a stile on the right in front of gates, pass beside stables to a gate and head diagonally across paddocks to a kissing gate. Maintain your slanting ascent across the hillside, eventually leaving through a kissing gate onto a hedged track halfway along the top edge of the third field.
1 of 5
Walk left for 0.5 mile (800m) and then fork left, eventually descending to a gate. Turn left before it onto a narrower path that drops to a farm. Follow its track out to a lane and go right. At the bottom by Double Hill Farm, leave through a pair of gates on the left. Cross the farmyard to a gate at the rear of barns and walk from field to field beside a brook. Over a crossing track, continue at the bottom of two more fields before turning up a grass tack that leads to a lane.
2 of 5
Follow the lane left down the hill, crossing a former railway bridge and later, beyond a junction, a bridge over Wellow Brook. Climb steeply away to a sharp bend, there going left on a track to Manor Farm.
3 of 5
Walk past the farm and through a gate to continue on a field track. After passing through a second gate, bear left to climb by the left hedge. Towards the top, at a sign to Stony Littleton Long Barrow, leave over a stile on the left and head away by the right hedge. After 200yds (193m), cross a stile on the right and climb to a second stile leading into the barrow enclosure. The entrance to the chamber is around to the right.
4 of 5
Return over the enclosure stile, but now turn left, walking alongside the barrow and on across a field to a gate. Turn left in front of it and follow a field track across the open hill for 0.25 mile (400m). Passing through a gate, the track becomes enclosed and gradually falls to meet a narrow lane. Go left and then left again as it joins another lane, dropping to a ford and footbridge across Wellow Brook. The ongoing lane climbs back into the village. At the top, the church is a short distance to the right while the Fox and Badger and car park lie to the left.
Observant walkers will notice that a railway once ran through Wellow, but less obvious is the earlier canal. A branch of the Somerset Coal Canal, opened at the turn of the 19th century, it was intended to link Radstock's coal mines with Bath but never fully completed. To avoid the expensive... construction of a flight of locks, the branch was instead connected to the main waterway at Midford by a short tramway. However, double transhipment proved an economic drag and within a few years the whole section was replaced with a tramway. Branch railway In the 1870s, that in turn was superseded by a railway linking Bath to the Somerset and Dorset Railway at Creech. The original S&D line ran between Burnham-on-Sea and Poole, hoping to attract goods traffic between the Bristol and English channels. While that business failed to develop, the link to Bath created the first direct route from the Midlands and Northern Britain to the south coast and was an immediate success. Summer weekends were particularly busy with holidaymakers flocking to the seaside. With around 30 local stations, steep gradients across the Mendip Hills requiring additional engines and long stretches of single line operation, it was no express service. But the journey was always interesting and the S&D became affectionately known as the 'Slow and Dirty'. Wellow's station opened in 1874 complete with sidings and a goods yard, from which local produce such as corn and watercress was sent to market. The line closed in 1966, but the station buildings, warehouse and signal box survive. Wellow's church Before you leave Wellow, wander across to the church. It is a rare dedication in this country to St Julian the Hospitaller and, although the present building dates from only the 14th century, it may have origins in a Roman or Saxon foundation. Inside is a fine rood loft and screen, while to the left is the Hungerford Chapel, which contains memorials to the Hungerford family, of which Sir Thomas Hungerford was the first Speaker of Parliament in 1372. Particularly striking is the painted tomb to Dorothy Popham who died in 1614, the figures in the small niches below perhaps representing her children. On the wall behind are 15th-century paintings depicting Christ and the twelve apostles while above is a wooden ceiling, beautifully gilded and coloured. Neolithic burial chamber Passed during the latter part of the walk is the Stony Littleton Long Barrow, a Neolithic tomb built around 5,500 years ago and contemporary with Egypt's pyramids. Almost 100ft long (30m), the earth mound, buttressed by a restored drystone wall, covers a long passage off which are three pairs of chambers with another at the end. It was discovered in 1760 by a farmer digging for road stone and an excavation at the beginning of the following century suggested that several bodies had been interred. Be sure to take a torch for exploring inside and look out for an ammonite fossil in the left-hand entrance stone.
Somerset remains rural and unspoiled, and ever popular areas to visit are the limestone and red sandstone Mendip Hills rising to over 1,000 feet, and by complete contrast, to the south and southwest, the flat landscape of the Somerset Levels. Another popular spot, the Quantocks, once the haunt of poets Coleridge and Wordsworth, are noted for their gentle slopes, heather-covered moorland expanses and red deer.
