From the (54) Bus Stop Walk Series 1 – Walk 4 Fivehead
An ancient church, country lanes, droves and the R Isle
Easy walking but droves may be muddy
Distance 11.5 Km/ 7.1 miles
Total ascent/descent 58 m
- From the bus stop, walk east (towards Langport) for 100m (110yds) and turn R (GR352233) down Butchers Hill. After 400m (440yds), at junction by Baptist Church, turn L (SP Isle Brewers). At T-junction just beyond Old Post Office, continue ahead (SP Swell) and after a sharp L bend continue for 300m to reach track on R (SP Swell Drove ½ mile). At Swell Drove T-junction, turn R and after 500m (550yds) emerge at a road.
- (GR356222) Go L (SP Isle Brewers) and after 1Km (⅔ mile) pass the Isle Brewers sign and cross bridge over the river Isle. Cross a second bridge, enter the village and just before the village green with willow trees and Millennium stone, turn R and follow road for 350m
- (GR365209) Where the road bears sharp R, go ahead on waymarked path over bridge. Go through the metal gate and immediately through the gap on the R, then go L and pass through the field with the hedge on the L. Go through the metal gate at the end of the field and follow the next field boundary on the L for 50m, then across the bridge and stile on the L. Cross another stile and keeping hedge on L, locate a stile on L to cross a small field to enclosed track to emerge at a road opposite a church. After visiting All Saints’ Church1, turn L along road and pass the elegant Bartlett’s Farm2.
- (GR366212) Turn R along the road opposite the house called “Brambly Hedge”. After 400m (440yds) where the road bends R, go L through gate then R keeping stream on R. Just before the copse, go L through metal gate and follow path round edge of copse to reach the river Isle at a waymarked stile. Cross a small bridge by a weir and continue with river on L. Continue ahead at waymarked gate and after the next bend, cross the river at the metal Bully Moor bridge and continue ahead with rhyne on L to reach a track after 200m (220yds).
- (GR375228) Turn L along grassy track between hedges for 200m, Just before metal gate turn R and follow the track for 800m (½ mile) to emerge at a road. Go straight ahead (not L) to the fine Swell Court Farm3 and take the concrete track on the R (SP Ancient Church) and follow to reach the tiny St Catherine’s Church4. After visiting, retrace your steps back to the road turn L and continue round the right hand bend.
- (GR369234) Follow for 1km through the hamlet of Swell to a fork and go L and follow for a further 1km passing Western Farm to reach Fivehead5 and the Baptist Church. Continue ahead past the St Martin’s Anglican Church with its squat tower and turn R past the Old Vicarage and the Crown Inn. Follow the road ignoring the L turn and proceed up Ganges Hill to reach the main road where the bus stops are 50m (55yds) to the FOR A SHORTER WALK
Distance 4.2 Km/2.6 miles. At 2, turn R and follow the road for 800m (½ mile) to a T-junction in Fivehead. Turn L to reach the Baptist Church and continue ahead to reach the Anglican Church in 6.
1 All Saints Church, Isle Brewers, has an unusual octagonal tower with a tiled spire on top. Built in “High Victorian” Early English style by C E Giles 1861
2 Bartletts Farm is a 300-acre working dairy farm owned by the Prince of Wales and forms part of the Duchy of Cornwall
3 Swell Court Farmhouse is a mid15th century Manor House and is Grade I listed
4 St Catherine’s Church has no tower or spire and looks like a chapel belonging to the farmhouse There is a Norman south doorway (hidden in the porch) It is Grade I listed.
4 The name of the village of Fivehead comes from a Domesday manor which measured five hides (about 600 acres/240 hectares).
For car travellers, there is a large lay-by 250m (300yds) on the left hand side down Butchers Hill.
Refreshments:
Crown Inn, Ganges Hill
Stable community cafe, Butchers Hill