Compton Martin to Burrington
Introduction
A climb up to the top of The Mendips, with good views over to Wales if the weather is clear.
Distance: 7.3 kms
Transport: There is a very limited bus route servicing Compton Martin and the villages in the Chew Valley. You will need to pre-plan the day of the week and the timing carefully.
Parking: Parking for one or two cars is possible on the roadside by the village pond. Larger number of cars may find parking options at the Village Hall, on east side of the village. www.comptonmartinvillagehall.co.uk or The Ring O' Bells public house. Tel: 01761 221284, email:
Historical Background
A Compton Martin
Compton Martin lies at the foot of the Mendip Hills and is worth a visit before climbing out of the Chew Valley. The church is sited opposite the village duck pond which once powered a paper mill and is the source of the River Yeo. In the 1770's, a whipping post was erected by the pond for punishment of minor offences such as absence from church and vagrancy. The village has been connected to a diversity of people. Saint Wulfric was born in the village in 1080 but spent much of his life living a hermit style life in south Somerset. Contrasting with this, there was a surprise performance at the Ring O' Bells pub in 2010 by Kylie Minogue, followed in 2013 by Coldplay. A little more historical information about Compton Martin can be found in the description of Stage Five, Clutton to Compton Martin.
B The Top of The Mendips
Evidence of lead mining can be seen everywhere and there are also over 400 Bronze Age burial mounds. These were often used as parish boundary markers because they were about the only landmarks. The land on the top was enclosed into fields about 200 years ago and roads were built. Some of these, now lanes, are used on the route of the Limestone Link between Hazel Manor and Blagdon. Eventually, people moved up from the villages onto their new land and built their farms. All but a few of the present day farm buildings on the top of Mendip date from that time.
C Ochre Mine/Cliff Quarry
Early on in the route above Compton Martin is a disused ochre mine, a site of special geological and biological interest. Situated on the eastern end of Compton Woods, the site has a network of tunnels as well as open castings. Red Ochre is an iron oxide mineral which was used in paint making. The area is now a hiberation site of the Greater Horseshoe Bats. The mine is thought to have been worked between 1910 and 1960 as a small, possibly two man, business. For more information: www.mcra.org.uk/registry/sitedetails.php?id=90
Map of Stage 6
Download route:
Route Description
Getting to the Start: With the village pond on your left walk 80m to Rectory Lane on the right. Walk 300m up Rectory lane, passing most of the houses on the lane and to an earthy field gate entrance on you right (just by a slight right hand bend on a steep section of the hill)
The route starts here.
[1]The entrance to the field is tucked off the road. Go through the MKG and walk with the wooden fence on your right and then on into the open field. Continue straight ahead until the path drops down a bank on the right and through a MKG in the corner. Walk along the right edge of the field to reach a cottage and through a WKG onto The Coombe. [500 m]
[1a] At the top of The Coombe, it is possible to stroll up and through the old Ochre Mine (see section C of Historical Background), then rejoin the Limestone Link path a short distance into stage [2] below. To do so, walk up the road, wheel right and take the first path on the right.
[2] If you decide not to visit the mine, continue along the Limestone Link via the gap with the handrail to the left of the bungalow. Climb up the dirt path, over a stile and continue uphill and through a high wooden gate. [650 m]
[3] Emerge from the wood into a field and climb by the ash tree towards the stone wall. On reaching the stone wall turn left, keeping the stone wall on your right and walk along the edge of the field to the MPG on the corner of the farm building. Follow the gravel road keeping the farmhouse on your right. At the end of the gravel road, turn left and walk along the driveway, under an avenue of trees and through two sets of controlled wooden gates that may be open but if closed use the WPG on the side. [1120 m]
See Note at end of route description
[4] Just past the second set of gates turn right, over a wooden stile and onto a grass track. Walk the length of the track, ignoring any Yeo Valley Way wooden signs. At the end of the track go over the st on the right. [930 m]
[5] Walk the bridle path around two sides of the field ignoring the stile at the left hand corner. Meet a wooden bridle gate. Continue ahead, past Ubley Hill Farm to meet the tarmac lane. [800 m]
[6] Cross the lane and go through the WKG into a field. Follow the hedge on the right to a WKG in the corner of the field and walk through. Continue along the track and after a right hand turn, drop down hill to Leaze Farm where the tarmac road commences. Turn left and walk along the tarmac road to the end of Leaze Lane. [1620 m]
[7] Turn right down the road to a T junction with the road joining on the left. [630 m].
[8] Between the junction on the left is the dead end Luvers Lane. Walk the lane to the end of the tarmac surface. [460 m].
[9] Pass through the MPG. Follow the hedge on the left, ignoring the MKG on the left and walk through three pasture areas to an old style MKG. You are now on Burrington Ham, a site of Special Scientific Interest and common land on the Mendip Hills. Here turn left on the bridlepath through BG and along the stony track to the car park. [590 m]
Note: The route from paragraphs [4] to [6] is a permissive path. if you are unlucky to find the route closed a detour is possible. Continue along the road and onto the highway. Walk ahead and past Home Farm and Hazel Warren Farm. Meet the busier B3134 road and turn right. Walk along roadside to the next turning on the right. Walk the lane (Ubley Drove) until the road becomes a rough surface with footpath waymarkers left, right and ahead. Take the WKG on the right to rejoin the route as at paragraph [6]. [3Kms]