Circle the crumbling castle of Wardour. Climb up the hill, though the neighbouring woodland, hiding ruins of an 18th century landscape garden. Dive under the haunted tunnel and follow the medieval park pale through the trees, passing a mini Silbury Hill on the way. Drop down to the River Nadder, after crossing the railway, to cut through the fields of East Hatch. Enter back into the ancient estate, past the old school and forgotten convent, to reach the largest Georgian House in Wiltshire. Walk past its impressive façade, with a rare chapel in its western wing, and down to the lakes of Wardour. Skim the woodland, which has lost both a summerhouse and ice house and hides an entrance arch that welcomes no one, to return to the castle ruins.
Distance: 4.5miles/7km (see map at bottom of page for the route)
Time: 2-3 hours
Ability: Easy.
Max height: 675ft
Min height: 330ft
Total climb: 410ft
Terrain: Tracks, paths, fields and roads.
Start Point: Wardour Castle – free parking and picnic area. Payment required to enter castle grounds. Car park is still open even if the castle is closed. (Postcode: SP3 6RJ, Grid Reference: ST938264, What Three Words: research.observers.reason).
Map: OS Explorer 118 Shaftesbury and Cranborne Chase
How to get there: Travel north from Shaftesbury on the A350 for about 3 miles then turn right towards Semley. Weave through the village and continue in the same direction for a further 2 miles. On meeting a T-junction turn left then right to pass Wardour primary school on the right. Take the next right following the signs along the narrow lanes up to Wardour Old Castle. Take a sharp right hand turn onto the Castle’s private road to follow it through the woodland to find the parking outside the castle walls.
Dogs: On leads where livestock is present and in accordance with any notices on the walk and The Countryside Code.
Refreshments: None on route but nearby are The Forester in Donhead St Andrew, The Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe and The Bennett Arms in Semley.
Neighbouring Walks: Motcombe, Melbury Abbas, Compton Abbas and Win Green.
Walk
The landscape of Wardour was in the ownership of the Norman St Martin family from Wareham until Sir Laurence St Martin died without an heir in 1385. The same year the land was bought by John Lovell, 5th Baron Lovell (c.1342–1408) for £1000. Lovell was an experienced solider having fought in France in the 1360s and Prussia in the 1370s. When Richard II became king in 1377 Lovell entered into royal service, eventually becoming part of the king’s inner circle. He married Maud Holland, a relative of the King, which brought him even more prestige and wealth, but he wanted his own castle to match his status. Wardour Castle was then built in the 1390s, after permission was granted by King Richard II, at the top of a low ridge surrounded by a deep ditch and a drawbridge. The hexagonal shape surrounding a courtyard, five storeys high, was inspired by castles on the continent and was therefore unique in Britain. The architect William Wynford, who was a celebrated mason, had previously worked on Windsor Castle.
In 1399, Richard II was deposed by his Lancastrian cousin, who claimed the throne as Henry IV. Lovell’s status was at risk but he managed to secure his position within the new king’s court until his death in 1408. The family supported the Lancastrian cause during the War of the Roses resulting in the castle being confiscated in 1488. After being passed down through several owners it was bought by Sir Thomas Arundell, in 1544, who also owned a number of other estates in Cornwall, Wiltshire and Dorset, including Chideock Castle. However, they were a strict Catholic family and Thomas was executed in 1547 with the castle being confiscated for the second time 5 years later.
In 1570 the castle was bought back by his son, Sir Matthew Arundell (1535–98), who had worked his way up through the Elizabethan court. He spent a huge amount of money embellishing the windows, doors, walls and fireplaces, aswell as a medieval deer park, with the work being completed in 1578, sealed with a coat of arms above the door to the new entrance tower. His grandson Thomas Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Wardour, was a strict Royalist during the Civil War which ultimately led to the castle’s demise. In a tale of female fortitude, echoed at Corfe Castle and Chideock Castle, Thomas was away at the time of the attack leaving his wife Lady Blanche Arundell, aged 61, to keep the Parliamentarians at bay. Alongside 25 men, and a collection of maids to re-load the guns, she defended the castle to the best of her ability. After 5 intense days Lady Arundell surrendered and the castle came under the control of Colonel Edmund Ludlow. By this time Lord Arundell had perished in battle and so it was down to Henry, 3rd Lord Arundell, to gain back control. After many unsuccessful efforts to extract the Parliamentarians he decided to lay gunpowder at the castle’s base, threatening to blow it up. Ludlow refused and while he was asleep in his bed it was accidently set alight (or Henry blew it up himself); Ludlow waking unharmed but without a bedroom wall. On 18th March 1644 the Parliamentarians surrendered returning the now crumbling ruin to Henry.
It wasn’t until 1760 that the 8th Lord Arundell, Henry, embarked on building the New Wardour Castle, merging the old castle into the garden design created by collaboration between Richard Woods, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and architect James Paine. After the ditch wad filled and the ground level altered the Banqueting House was added in 1773 and a grotto in 1792, using stones from the castle ruins. Little else has changed apart from the management, now run by English Heritage. The castle famously featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.
Take the path from the car park that disappears up the hill, into the woods and behind the castle. The woods, known as The Hanging, hide more of the Wardour’s landscape design including The Haunted Tunnel, while views back through the trees frame the crumbling castle from which the tunnel was built.
Emerge from the woods onto a track cutting straight across a field, with views looking south over Ansty Down to Whitesheet Hill, towering at a height of 242m (794ft). On entering Twelve Acre Coppice, cut through the rising earthworks of the Park Pale. The 18th century Wardour Park was bordered by this park pale, allowing deer to enter but not leave. Originally dating back to the 16th century embellishments carried out by Matthew Arundell, the park was reinstated into the 18th century landscape. Circling the castle, the eastern edge was defined by Twelve Acres Copse to then edge High Wood and the Grove to the north. The western boundary was bordered by the River Nadder before meeting an entrance at Park Gate Farm in the south west corner. The south eastern boundary stretched down to the current A30 where another entrance stat at Horwood Bottom.
Turn sharply left to skim the outer edge of the rising bank and ditch, following it northwards through the woods. After climbing up a small rise a modern, stepped earthwork appears between the trees on the left. The miniature version of a Mesoamerican pyramid, or a chunky Silbury Hill, sits in the neighbouring farmhouse garden. Its stepped design is one theory on how Silbury was constructed. Continue straight ahead to drop down the steep slope carved into the hill of High Wood, leaving the earthworks behind.
When the path splits bear to the right to join Nightingale Lane with a hexagonal house on the corner. It has a similar appearance to a turnpike toll house but the route of the turnpike followed the A30 (Salisbury to Sherborne road) and therefore it could not have fulfilled this purpose. Instead it is more likely to have been a lodge to the park and castle, with the rear of the property modernised for the 21st century.
Continue straight ahead staying on the narrow country lane for just under a mile. It weaves its way between the wide open fields with views north to Fonthill Abbey and east to the Iron Age Hillfort of Castle Ditches. On meeting Hazeldon Lane, turn right curving with the wall of the Old Manor, wrongly attributed as Farm on the OS map. The 16th century building is topped with a heavy thatch split in half by a large gable, beautifully pieced together by varied sized stones.
Turn left passing the 19th century guidepost and drop down under the canopy of trees to meet the Sherborne to London railway at Tisbury Gates. Cross the stone bridge over the River Nadder as it makes its way to the River Avon, Salisbury and the sea at Christchurch. Bend to the left and climb out the valley to the little hamlet of East Hatch.
Ignore the road on the right as the views to the left look back towards the peak of The Grove and High Wood. At the next corner, take the gate on the left into the field. Bear right and head straight down to the bottom corner where you meet the railway for the second time. Cross over and turn right following the River Nadder upstream to find a footbridge. Once over the water walk straight up to the road with the school drive and stone bus shelter opposite. Turn left and take the next footpath on the right along the edge of the school grounds.
As the Arundell family were so staunchly Catholic, the vast majority of their servants and estate workers also followed the religion. The family were therefore generous benefactors of the school and other buildings, clearly wanting to make sure that education was taught to the correct religious beliefs. The school moved to its present site in 1838 and still remains a Roman Catholic school. Once past the main buildings stay on the east to follow path, way marked for The Wessex Ridgeway, to pass the old Convent. Together, with the priests and nuns, the Arundells played a key role in leading the locals in the practice of the Catholic faith.
Continue up the hill to meet Nightingale Lane for the second time. Turn left onto the road then right to meet the stone gate piers to New Wardour Castle, although it is not a castle at all, but a symmetrical neoclassical country house. Follow the drive for about 300 metres, passing the Old Dairy (1794) and Wardour Court (built in the 1990s on the site of old school buildings) to the right, to arrive at the ‘castle’.
The Arundell family slowly recovered power through the English Commonwealth and the Glorious Revolution, until the eighth Baron, Henry Arundell, raised enough funds to finance what became the largest new Georgian house in Wiltshire. The building began in 1769 and was completed in 1776, designed by James Paine who also designed Chatsworth in Derbyshire famous for ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (2005) and ‘The Crown’ (2016). The designs included a rare rotunda staircase and many painted ceilings and ornate fireplaces.
Between 1770 and 1776 the law forbade the construction of Catholic churches and chapels as separate buildings, so Henry built a chapel, known as All Saints Chapel, within his new mansion, taking up most of the west wing. It was the first Catholic chapel built to serve the needs of the local community to meet these restrictions. It was enlarged in 1789 and includes shallow dome over the altar in gold and white with the Dove of the Holy Spirit at its centre. However, the family were interred in a private vault beneath the altar in St John the Baptist Church in Tisbury. Today it is under the ownership of the Wardour Chapel Trust, funded entirely through voluntary donations. It is open to the public twice a week and is still in regular use as an important part of the parish of Tisbury and Wardour.
The house stayed in the same family until 1944 when John Arundell, 16th and last Baron Arundell of Wardour, died and the property was acquired by the Society of Jesus. In 1955 it was licensed it to the Leonard Cheshire Foundation to use it as a home for rehabilitating prisoners, but closed only two years later in 1957. In 1961 New Wardour Castle became the home of Cranborne Chase School, adding a number of ancillary buildings in the grounds, but, it was also closed in 1990. In 1992 the estate was sold for development and the main building was split into 10 apartments with the central block, including the staircase, becoming the principal apartment. In 2010 the apartment was purchased by Jasper Conran, who described the staircase as “possibly the best staircase in England, if not the world”, but he sold it for £4 million in 2020 and moved to Bettiscombe in West Dorset.
Walk directly in front of the building and follow the drive around to the left to then divert off to the right, through either a farm gate or over a stile, towards Ark Farm. Skim The Grove on the left which was once full of pheasants for the hunters, rides for the carriages, a gothic pavilion and a summerhouse (but dismantled and moved). On its south eastern edge sits an old ice house which collapsed in the 1990s.
On meeting another track, turn right to pass Ark Farm on the left. Gently climb up the hill to enter the woods of The Hanging for the second time. Take a little detour to the right along the old southern drive from Horwood Bottom to the New Castle. Just around the bend is an early 19th century stone arch, adorned with the coat of arms of the Arundell family. It would have welcomed guests arriving from the south, the route taking in many of the additional designs and viewpoints implemented over time. The drive is no longer used and so it stands alone in the forest, greeting only the most curious of walkers. The footprint of the lodge that once accompanied the arch is now little more than foundations poking up amongst the trees.
Retrace your steps, with views straight to the castle and back to the new house, to pass the footpath on which you arrived. Continue along the edge of the Hanging, with the lakes down on the left. Follow the track that slowly turns into a road down the hill, squeezing between the Banqueting hall and the fishing lakes, to join the old wall to Wardour Castle. Stay on the same little lane to return to the car park and your vehicle.
