Sunday Walk - Undulating Somerset: Bruton Circular via Stourhead (2nd attempt after an earlier lockdown-cancellation) [New Walk]

Length: 22.7 km (14.1 mi) [Longer Walks possible, see below]

Ascent/Descent: 456m

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours, Toughness: 7 out of 10 

Take the 08.51 Penzance train from Paddington (Reading 09.15), change at Westbury onto the Weymouth train (10.03/10.27), arriving Bruton 10.47.

From Ealing B’way there is the 08.37 to Reading with a tight connection (09.12/09.15) or the earlier 08.11 train, but it’s probably best to go via Paddington (08.23-08.31).

Return trains:

17.18 – change Bath Spa (18.03/18.13), arrives Paddington 19.38;

19.12 – change Westbury (19.33/19.54), arrives Paddington 21.09;

21.19 – change Westbury (21.41/21.58), arrives Paddington 23.37.

Buy a Bruton (Somerset) return. Cheap Advance Tickets are not yet on sale though. Off Peak Returns are £57.60 at full price…

Note: Bruton is outside the Network Southeast, so Network Railcard users should buy a discounted Reading Return with the Railcard, and a separate Reading – Bruton Day Return.

This excursion is centred on the small remote Somerset town of Bruton, with its honey-coloured stone-built cottages, a large dovecote on a mound overlooking the townscape and a fine selection of tea options. It leads along the vigorous River Brue and through bucolic pastures up to the wooded range forming the boundary between Wiltshire and Somerset, with the dominant local landmark Alfred’s Tower, a folly, on top of it. From there you drop down through enchanting woods to the heart of the Stourhead Estate at the source of the River Stour, with its breath-taking 18^th century landscaped garden with lakeside walks, grottoes and classical temples (National Trust, ticketed entry, although large parts of the garden and most notable buildings are visible from the walk route).
After lunch at the estate pub or an NT restaurant you circle back past the large Palladian mansion with views, then through a U-shaped grassy valley (by the source of the river Stour) and up through hanging woods to continue high above the Brue Valley with fine far views across the South Somerset landscape.
Towards the end the route passes the renowned art gallery Hauser & Wirth Somerset with its fascinating bar and restaurant and an optional loop routes up to Bruton’s dovecote and through town.
The Don McCullin – The Stillness of Life  exhibition at Hauser has been extended due to Covid and is still open…

Walk Options:

An out-and-back  to the Bronze Age Bell Barrow site Jack’s Castle adds 550m.
A loop through the wooded Park Hill via its Iron Age hillfort site adds 900m.
A mid-afternoon loop through Walk Farm Hay Meadows, currently map-led, adds 1.6 km.
A loop at the end up to Bruton’s dovecote and through town past most tea places adds 1.5 km.

Lunch: The Spread Eagle Inn (11.0 km/6.8 mi, food to 19.00) or The Stourhead Estate Restaurant  (11.4 km/7.1 mi, food to 16.00), both on the Stourhead Estate.

Tea: Plenty options, including a Hauser & Wirth-managed pub just off route, 4.5 km from the end. See the webpage or the pdf for details.

For  walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.342