Bentley Circular

Published by Morley Ramblers on

25 January 2025. What beautiful weather we had for our 9 mile walk. After the rain and wind of previous days, we were lucky to have blue skies, winter sun and a light breeze. It was cold but not freezing.

Nine of us set off from Bentley (Hampshire) station about 10am. Initially we went through a nature reserve, which was muddy, but we navigated it safely.

After passing a few holiday chalets at the back of a farm, we had an uphill section with beautiful views when we stopped to catch our breath and look back.

Then followed a long walk across the top of a massive exposed field with fine views of the surrounding rolling countryside.

Shortly afterwards, we reached the pretty village of Binsted and visited The Church of the Holy Cross. The nave and most of the chancel date from 1140 AD with round arches, known as Norman or Romanesque, in the chancel.

The north and south transepts each side of the nave were added between 1180 and 1195. The arches in the nave were just a little pointed, showing the transition towards the pointed Gothic style arches of the 13th to 16th Centuries. A small oval of brown and yellow stained glass from 1578, in the lancet window near the font, combined the arms of two old Hampshire families.

Binsted Church

We saw the banner of Field Marshal Montgomery, the 1st Viscount of Alamein, hanging in the church and his gravestone in the churchyard.

We continued across fields, through a little wood and past some attractive oast houses. A walk down a narrow country lane led to a lovely stone bridge over the River Wey with a beautiful view of the river and trees along its banks.

After a short section uphill, we crossed the busy A31 and arrived at what would have been our lunch pub. Fortunately, we had advance warning of the pub’s temporary closure and so we all had picnic lunches. We took advantage of the adjoining service station for hot drinks and the toilet. 

After lunch we went through the village of Upper Froyle where we saw religious statues on the front walls of the older houses. The statues were placed there by the last active Lord of the Manor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was an Anglo-Catholic who spent the winter months in Venice, from where he brought back religious statues and ecclesiastical garments.

The saints of Upper Froyle

We passed the front entrance of a large impressive house, which was originally ‘The Manor House’; then it became the Treloar School for physical disabilities for 60 years until 2011, and now it’s a conference/events centre,

We visited the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Upper Froyle. The church’s most unusual feature is the display of ‘hatchments’ on the walls of the nave. A hatchment is a large wooden plaque showing a coat of arms. From late Tudor times util the late 19th Century, after a person entitled to bear arms had died, it was the custom to display a hatchment outside their house. Once the period of mourning was over, the hatchment would be moved to the local church. Very few churches still have hatchments on their walls.

Some of the ‘hatchments’ in Upper Froyle church.

We crossed a number of fields on St Swithun’s Way, an old pilgrims’ route. We then passed the Georgian south front of a very grand house called Coldrey and went through a wood with ponds on each side of us.

Walking towards the entrance of a cluster of buildings called Pax Hill, we saw an installation of a bicycle painted white and draped in plants. Pax Hill was the home from 1918 to 1939 of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement, and his wife Olave, first leader of the world Girl Guide movement. Later, Pax Hill became a centre for Girl Guides from the Commonwealth, then a boys’ boarding school and now it’s a care home for elderly people.

We turned along a path through a wood and across fields before a short section through the Jenkyn Place vineyard, which had previously grown hops. We had already been reminded of the past hop growing in this area by a number of oast houses, originally for drying hops, now converted into homes.

We then increased our speed to ensure we caught the 3.51pm train from Bentley back to Waterloo, which we achieved with a few minutes to spare.

Terry (with many thanks to Christine M and Sigrid for the photos)

Categories: Walks