A Walk Around Monkton Farleigh

Last Friday we had our monthly walk with my walking group. We met in the village of Monkton Farleigh which is situated just outside Bath between Bathford and Bradford on Avon. The route that my Sat Nav sent me was up a very steep road out of Bathford called Prospect Place. The trays of eggs that I had in the back of the car for everyone took a bit of a precarious slide as I ascended the hill!

It did not take us long on arrival in the village to spot that there was a village coffee morning happening in the village hall so we all rolled in for coffee and cake. I think we almost doubled their numbers but they were pleased to see us and made us very welcome. An extra table was soon put out for us and chairs found. One lady in particular was very attentive organising space for our walking gear and providing a lot of information about the surrounding area.

 Then it was off for the walk itself. We started down the main street passing some interesting houses some grander than others.

This gatehouse to the local Manor House has a particularly interesting chimney.

Our route took us past the village church.

We than walked out on a loop around the village where we passed an avenue of trees leading down from the Manor House towards South Wraxall. The avenue can be seen on the right of this picture.

We then looped back round to enter a woodland that is maintained as a nature reserve by the Avon Wildlife Trust. It was not long before we had a sight of a tower up ahead.

This is Browne's Folly and is built of bath stone. It dates from 1849 and was designated at a grade 2 listed building in 1988. It stands on the site of an old bath stone quarry. Thie oolitic limestone was used in the building of all the buildings in Bath. It is still a planning law today that all buildings should be faced with this pale cream stone. It is thought that the quarry owner Wade-Browne built the folly as an advert for his own stone plus to keep his workers busy during a quiet period.

It commands fantastic views over the River Avon and back towards Bath.

I will continue the rest of the walk tomorrow.