In the Doghouse at Purse Caundle

Over hill and valley from a village dominated by a fine manor house.

Distance 5 miles (8km)

Minimum time 2hrs

Ascent/gradient 427ft (130m)

Level of difficulty Medium

Paths Muddy field paths, farm tracks, country roads, wet bridleway (wellies recommended), 13 stiles

Landscape Little green hills and valleys with scattered settlements

Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 129 Yeovil & Sherborne

Start/finish ST 695175

Dog friendliness Some road walking

Parking Limited space by war memorial, Purse Caundle

Public toilets None on route

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Directions
Background
Information

1 Park by the church where there is a memorial bench in honour of four local men who were killed in the First World War. Walk up the village street to admire the manor house. Return, pass the phone box and turn left through a gate. Go straight up the edge of the field, cross a stile and turn right to continue on this line, up through a gateway and across another field. After a second gateway bear right up the field. Cross a stile in the corner and turn right. Soon cross a stile and pass a lake to your left. Cross the stile at the far side and bear right along the field edge.

2 Cross a stile at the corner and go on down the edge of the field. The path curves down and up to a gate. Go through this gate and swing left, up a bridleway. This narrows and is shared with a stream. Go through a gate and keep straight on up the hill. Go through a gate in the top corner and follow the muddy track. This becomes a hedged lane, which you follow for ½ mile (800m) to pass Manor Farm. Continue through a gate.

3 Turn left at the fingerpost over a stile. Bear left down the field to cross three stiles and a footbridge in the middle of the hedge. Head diagonally left down the next field. Cross a pair of stiles and a footbridge in the corner and immediately turn right over a stile and a footbridge. Walk straight ahead up the field edge.

4 At the top turn right, then bear right along the bottom of a young plantation. Go through a gateway and turn left up the edge of a field. Follow the path round behind Frith Farm Cottages, down to a gate. Turn left on the road and walk up it for ½ mile (800m), beside the stone wall of Stalbridge Park.

5 At a crossroads turn left, towards Frith Farm. Soon bear right, following markers. The path then bends left, through a gate to a covered reservoir. Pass this and turn right, through a gate. Descend some steps and bear left down the edge of the field, with views to the manor. Continue straight on through a gap.

6 At the bottom bear left into woodland (but not through the gate). Walk down this ridge, then cross the ditch on the left and continue down the edge of the field. Go through a gateway and retrace your route to the church.

On the north Dorset border, Purse Caundle is reached via a narrow road from the busy A30, and too easily bypassed by folk in a hurry to reach Sherborne. It is an ordinary little village with an extraordinarily fine manor house. On the village lane you are almost too close to admire it properly - you get a better overall view of its extent from the hillside opposite, towards the end of this walk.

The present manor dates from the early 15th century. It is said to be haunted by various spirits of its rich past. For example, if you're passing this way on Midsummer Eve, you may hear the ghostly howling of a pack of hounds. They are giving tongue on the scent, no doubt, of a ghostly stag. The explanation is simple enough. In the 13th century the lodge house here was a dogs' home. More accurately, it was a haven where royal hunting dogs, wounded in the chase in the deer forests of Blackmoor, could be brought for rest and recovery under the personal care of the steward, John Godwyne.

For this important service Godwyne was granted the manor of Purse Caundle. Such whimsical royal patronage was not untypical in Dorset. On a similar basis, the manor of Winfrith was granted to the man who held the King's washbasin on His Royal Highness's birthday, and that of Kingston Russell to a widow who was responsible for putting the King's chess pieces back in the box when His Majesty had finished playing. The manor, presumably minus the dogs, was eventually sold on for the handsome price of 100 silver marks to a Richard Long, who started building the present structure around 1429.

Another ghost apparently lived in an old well and made his presence known by chasing ladies upstairs. When that all got too much, the well was filled in and the staircase dismantled. Robbed of his fun, the ghost was seen no more.

From the outside, in daylight, the manor house looks mellow enough today, guarded by a big stone boar on the driveway. The slim oriel window overlooking the road conceals the Great Chamber and there's a splendid beamed roof in the Great Hall. It has changed hands many times through the centuries, most notably during the Civil War, when William Hanham, whose carved initials proclaim him responsible for much of the later building of the house, unfortunately picked the losing side and lost everything to the Commonwealth. The manor is still privately owned, but is occasionally opened to the public - see it if you can.

What to look for

The massive encircling wall of Stalbridge Park, silvered with lichen, creates an eager expectation of a glimpse of a great house. It's an anticipation fed by the massive gateway beside the road to the north of Stalbridge. You'll peer in vain, however, for the mansion was demolished in 1822 and never replaced.

While you're there

Drop into Stalbridge for a selection of pleasant-looking pubs and to admire the 15th-century village cross, which holds up the traffic on the long, narrow high street. Tall and slim and golden, its features are well worn by time. The cross head is a modern replica - the original fell off in 1950.

Where to eat and drink

Purse Caundle has a larger neighbour to the south, Stourton Caundle, with picturesque stone houses, a little schoolhouse with a belfry and a grey stone church tucked to one side. The village pub is a free house called the Trooper, particularly recommended for its beer. It advertises its presence with antique bits of gaily painted farm machinery outside.