Ninesprings

Walk

Yeovil’s deep, rich and intriguing history has been swallowed by modern development. Slightly tainted in recent times, it has undeservedly gained the nickname Yeovile. It sits on the banks of the River Yeo, the source of which is on the Dorset Border, its flow travelling through Sherborne and along the southern boundary of Yeovil before disappearing into the Somerset Levels where it can cause significant flooding. The combination of the high hills to both the north and south, and the fertile valley attracted habitation from a very early period. Ancient burial sites have been discovered alongside a number of scattered finds including a Bronze Age golden torc (neck ring) which was found in Henford, the centre of town. The northern Iron Age Hillforts of Ham Hill and South Cadbury marked the division between the Durotrigian tribe of Dorset and the Dumnonii tribe of the south west, an area that may have seen ancient conflict. The valley created a convenient river crossing between the two Dumnonii hillforts. The Romans arrived with force creating a fort at Lindinis (Ilchester) to the north and connecting the site to their large town of Durnovaria (Dorchester) in the south with a prominent Roman road. Roman villas have been discovered, with more believed to be present, along the road’s path with a site in Westlands thought to be a small Roman town.

During the Saxon period the settlement was called Gilfe, deriving from the original name of the river ‘Gifl’, a Celtic word translating to forked river, and was under the ownership of King Alfred the Great. It is thought that the Saxon development grew from the Roman ruins, but with Ilchester remaining the larger development. By the time of the Domesday Book it had become a thriving market town. Sadly, it experienced a major fire in 1499 resulting in many of the earlier wooded, thatched buildings being destroyed, but the town continued to grow. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the estate was given to John Horsey of Clifton Maybank but in the 17th century it was hit by a series of unfortunate events including civil war, plague and further fires. By the 19th century it had finally recovered, diversifying into cloth, tanning and glove making. Communications improved with the introduction of the railway in 1853. The population soared during the early 20th century and during the Second World War it became a base for aircraft and defence manufacturing, but this made it a target for German bombing. It is now best known for Leonardo Helicopters, one of the world’s largest helicopter manufacturers, and the famous Fleet Air Arm Museum at nearby RNAS Yeovilton, both having grown from the town’s war efforts. It is also known for its underdog football team Yeovil Town.

Yeovil Country Park is a 127 acre (51/4 ha) green space to the south of the town consisting of a number of areas including Penn Hill, Ninesprings, Summerhouse Hill, Wyndham Hill, Riverside and Sunningdale. The peaceful, wildlife friendly zone creates a complete contrast to the neighbouring busy town.

From the car park head past the visitor centre and just before the bridge, turn right heading into the woods. Cross over a secondary bridge and then take the next left onto a gravel path to keep low with the water into Ninesprings. Stay on the same path gently climbing the hill and venturing into the mystical landscape.

Ninesprings is a 20 acre (8.1 ha) ornamental park, gaining its name from the number of springs that then flow to join the river Yeo. A network of paths and water ways weave around magical grottos, through enchanting woodland, down cascading waterfalls and into peaceful pools.  These elaborate features were installed by the Aldon Estate for the Batten family in the early 19th century, but would have been much more open. The trees have since grown much thicker, towering above the steep valley sides, concealing the elements below, making this area even more of a hidden gem.

Keep to the same path passing the first bridge to a succession of waterfalls to meet the second bridge on the left. Cross over and weave your way around to another waterfall. Splash through the stream on the left and turn right through a stone archway. Follow the path to the next stone bridge, passing the site of the old thatched cottage orné, which suffered neglect during the Second World War and fell into ruin resulting in it being demolished in 1973. When the park was open to visitors it had served as the tea room but now all that remains are its foundations, topped with a carved wooden bench. Walk between the pool and grotto and up the hill while the valley on the right slowly narrows.

After the top spring, turn left and follow the path aback to the tea house remains. Climb down the steps and turn right, retracing your steps through the archway. Continue straight ahead to a gate and turn sharply right into the Aldon Estate. The estate is quite strict and to wander freely requires a permit, so make sure you stick to the footpaths. Bear around to the right to join a track and past the top spring of Ninesprings to enter into an open field. Follow the more trodden route around to the right, passing Aldon above. The name Aldon derives from the Old English ‘aewell’, meaning a spring, and ‘dun’ meaning a hill translating simply to spring on a hill. The large country house which stands today was built out of local Ham stone on the site of an older farmhouse in 1829 for John Batten (1775-1854). The house stayed within the same family until it was sold by William Henry Batten (1926-2013) in 1966. He moved to Ryme Intrinseca, where his son, David Henry Cary Batten (b. 1952), still farms. The house became a language school until 2006, when it was sold to developers and divided into nine apartments and a collection of houses.

Curve to the left and as you approach the top veer off to the right to a stile in the trees. Join the drive to Aldon and turn left, following it all the way to the A37 where the Aldon ‘cottage ornée’ lodge stands, built around out 1840 its thatch roof has been replaced with slate. Turn left on the road, sticking to the pavement and passing views back down to Ninesprings.

The A37, leaving Yeovil, follows the route of the old Roman road to Dorchester. Lindinis (Ilchester) was an important settlement for the Romans and was at the centre of trade and movement in Wessex. The road from Ilchester to Dorchester can still easily be traced in the landscape today, cutting through the heart of Yeovil and used by modern traffic.  It enters the town along Larkhill Road in the north but the route has since been lost under the airfield and industry. However, it reappears at the Dorchester Road. Either the Durotrigian and Dumnonii tribes could have united under a common enemy or both watched in awe as the Romans entered their world.

Take the next left hand turn onto Two Tower Lane to pass the 40 acre (16.2ha) Yeovil Showground on the right. Stay on the same road for approximately three quarter of a mile, skimming the northern edge of Barwick Park. Barwick Park is famed for its four follies – Jack the Treacle Eater, The Rose Tower or Cone, The Fish Tower and The Obelisk or Needle. Their origin is disputed. Either they were built in the 1760s by John Newman, who owned Barwick estate or they were commissioned by John’s son in law, George Messiter, in the 1820s. It is claimed that John Newman wanted to mark the edge of his estate’s north, south, west and east compass points, while George Messiter wanted to provide work for estate labourers during an agricultural depression. Portrait commissions in 1768 by Thomas Beach of the both John Newman and his wife Grace feature The Obelisk and Jack the Treacle Eater, disproving the Messiter theory for some. Either way all the landmarks fulfil the criteria of a folly by having no purpose and being simply decorative, they even collectively ranked in Britain’s top 10 follies in 2009 on BBC’s Countryfile. In the early 1990s they were bought by South Somerset District Council for a nominal £5. However, despite this public ownership not all are accessible.

On reaching a pair of footpaths either side of the road, continue ahead for a further 60 metres or so to find the Fish Tower. Marking the northern edge of the estate The Fish Tower was originally a pair, hence the name Two Tower Lane, but one was demolished or had collapsed by 1880. It used to be topped with a weather vane in the shape of a fish which gave the tower its name but it disappeared in the 1950s. The tower stands at a height of 15 metres (50ft) and is constructed from the local Ham stone carved with decorative markings.

Return to the footpaths and turn left into an open field, slowly dropping down the hill. On the far right, at the edge of the Yeovil Showground, is The Rose Tower (sometimes known as The Cone or Messiter’s Cone). Marking the estates western edge, it has no access, unless visiting the car boot sale that occurs every Sunday. Once again made of Ham stone, its cylindrical cone, standing at 22 metres high (72ft), is filled with pigeon holes with three arches at its base.

Head straight down the field through the next boundary and veer off to the left to meet the drive of Barwick House. Barwick House was either substantially remodelled or mainly rebuilt in 1840, sticking to an earlier 17th century design and using the local golden ham stone. Prior to the dissolution it was in the ownership of Syon Abbey, which sat on the banks of the River Thames in London, demolished in the 16th century. It passed through a number of hands to reach John Newman who had family connections in neighbouring Newton Surmaville . In 1775, possibly inspiring the Batten family to the north, Newman not only constructed the follies but also introduced pleasure grounds including a serpentine lake, a grotto, an arch and a gothic lodge. In 1799 the estate was passed to George Messiter (1776-1843) through marriage to John’s daughter, Lucy. Their son, Thomas Messiter (1805-1874), a barrister, after his inheritance in 1834, dramatically updated the house and added an orangery. After acting as an American army base in the Second World War, the house was used as a boarding school. The estate suffered with priorities to educate rather than conserve and the gardens, the orangery, the follies and the grotto all fell into disrepair. The school went bankrupt in 1987 and it was sold to a private owner in 1990. The parkland and house have since been rejuvenated. Substantial repairs have been carried out to the orangery, follies and grotto and the house has since been converted into individual apartments.

The fourth folly, known as The Obelisk (or The Needle), is out of view. It stands on the hills to the south, but is inaccessible, surrounded by trees on a bend of the A37, sometimes visible from the road when the trees are not in full leaf. At 15m (49ft) high, it marks the southern edge of Barwick estate but is starting to show its age as it very gently leans to one side.

Turn left on the drive to curve around the front of the house and past the serpentine lake and grotto. Head straight down to the stone pillars on village road in Barwick, with Jack the Treacle Eater visible on the tip of the ridge to the left. The linear village of Barwick is spread along a quarter mile of country road with the 13th century Church of Saint Mary Magdalene at the far western end. Turn left to Treacle Farm and take the footpath on the left opposite the farm’s entrance.

Stay on the same narrow path gently climbing the hill to find Jack the Treacle Eater. The folly marks the eastern edge of Barwick estate, built from rubble over a central arch and topped with a crenelated turret containing a small room accessible through a door. At its peak is a statue of Mercury, the Roman messenger for the Gods or Hermes, the equivalent Greek god. The story claims that the Messiter family had a messenger boy called Jack who had a habit of eating treacle to give him energy for the run to London. He would stay in the little room above the arch ready for any communications to be sent. However, the treacle would give him a terrible thirst and so in the dead of night, when the town clock struck midnight, he would climb down and take a drink from the pond at Treacle Farm. The poet Charles Causley (1917-2003), published an anthology of poems in 1987 with Jack as the main character.

Here comes Jack the Treacle Eater,
Never swifter, never sweeter,
With a peck of messages,
Some long, some shorter,
From my Lord and Master’s quarter
(Built like a minaret)
Somewhere in Somerset.
Jack, how do you make such speed
From banks of Tone to banks of Tweed –
And all the way back?
‘I train on treacle,’ says Jack.

Continue up along the little holloway to arrive back at Two Towers Lane and cross straight over, climbing the steps to a gate on the opposite side. Bear slightly right in the field to a small gate in the trees an out a track. Ignore the footpath ahead and turn left to follow the top of Newton Copse. Keep to the track past raised earthworks of the reservoir to the top of Summer House Hill. The reservoir was built in 1897 to supply the ever growing town of Yeovil below. As the town grew it became inefficient and was replaced in 1955 with the Sutton Bingham reservoir.

Curve around the barns to the gate at the trees to pass the old Summer House and out to views over Yeovil.  Summerhouse Hill (also known as Newton Hill) is the highest point in Yeovil at 107.6m (353ft) providing views across the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor and the Bristol Channel. Down in the valley to the east is Newton Surmaville which was bought by the Harbin family in the early 1600s, who then proceeded to build a new manor. In 1741, after inheriting the estate, Swayne Harbin added this summerhouse (also known as the Round House) on Newton Hill.  Local legend claims that it was one of three towers, the others at Montacute to the North West (built by the Phelips family in 1760), and Chilton Cantelo to the north east, (built by the Goodford family). Their purpose was to notify each other that they were welcome to ‘gallop over for a convivial evening’. There is no trace of a tower at Chilton Cantelo and its location difficult to determine on the floodplains of the River Yeo, but the tower at Montacute still stands, now managed by the National Trust. At some point in its history the Summer House became a dwelling and had two wings added either side of the tower.

Cross over the field to the gate in the next boundary and drop steeply down a sandy path and through an open field. At the bottom, near the entrance to Newton Surmaville, turn left over the little River Yeo tributary to the multiplex cinema. Turn left to then merge onto the path of the old railway line. In 1853 the railway was opened between Taunton and Yeovil, terminating at the small station of Hendford. In 1856 this small section was introduced to connect Hendford Station to the Penn Mill Station, but Hendford was eventually trumped in 1861 by the larger Yeovil town station.  During the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, the town station and connection to Taunton, were lost but Yeovil managed to retain its southern station, Yeovil Junction, on the Salisbury to Exeter line and Penn Mill, on the London to Dorchester line. Little remains of the stations today but a small brick wall that was once part of the platform of Hendford can still be seen in the B&M carpark.

Continue along the dismantled rail to pass the overgrown site of Yeovil’s Ski centre. It was built in 1987 as an alpine village, set in 5.5 acres (2.2ha). It grew into a popular spot hosting gigs, attracting underage drinkers and ran into difficulties and was closed in 2007. It became a playground for vandals and the ski lodge was finally demolished in February 2017 but the odd ski run still scars the hillside. 

Stay on the old railway to pass the Ninesprings playground and the lakes to return to the visitor centre, the car park and your vehicle.