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| River Fowey from Respryn Bridge |
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| Restormel Manor |
On reaching a pedestrian gate on the other side.
Respryn Bridge is a five-arched mediaeval bridge constructed
of granite and rubble . The central pointed arch dates from the 15th century;
the other arches are more recent. Before this, there was a 13th Century bridge
on the site. The place name indicates a ford was here before the bridge, on an
ancient trackway between Bodmin and Looe. A chapel was also documented as being
located by the river in the 12th Century.
I went through the gate and followed the path along the
river until I reached a footbridge.
The River Fowey rises close to Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor
and is fed by 7 tributaries along its 25 mile course, many of which also start
on Bodmin Moor. The upper reaches run through 2 Sites of Special Scientific
Interest and the Fowey valley is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty. It is also used as conduit for the public water system to feed water
from the Siblyback and Colliford reservoirs on Bodmin Moor down to Restormel
where it enters the water mains. The increased demand for water from summer
visitors has the effect of buffering the river levels in the dryer months from
the reservoirs. The river has populations of Sea Trout and Salmon as well as
Brown Trout which make it popular with fly fishermen.
I crossed the footbridge over the river and turned left to
reach the path.
The path went along
the river until it eventually forked away to the right and slightly uphill
until it reached a red pedestrian gate.
The Lanhydrock estate originally belonged to the Augustinian
priory of St Petroc at Bodmin, but the Dissolution of the Monasteries during
Tudor times saw it pass into private hands. It was bought in 1620 by wealthy
merchant Sir Richard Robartes, who began building the house in 1630 but died
only 4 years later. The building was finally completed in 1651 by his son and
the estate remained in the Robartes Family until the 20th Century.
The Robartes family declined significantly during the First
World War, losing the heir who was killed during the Battle of Loos in France
whilst trying to rescue a colleague from no-man's land. The estate passed to
his younger brother, Francis, who became 7th Viscount Clifden. In the Second
World War, the house was used to accommodate evacuees. After the war, in 1953,
the house and approximately 400 acres of parkland were given to the National
Trust by the ageing Viscount. On the death of his younger brother Arthur, the
barony and viscountcy of Clifden and barony of Robartes became extinct. Only
one descendant of the family survives, living in a cottage on the estate.
I went through the gate and followed the path over a stone
bridge and turned immediately left through a red gate signposted "Footpath
to Restormel Castle".
The Great Wood has been designated as an Important Plant
Area by the organisation Plantlife for its ancient woodland and lichens. Trees
include beech, oak, sycamore, ash, sweet chestnut, holly and a number of Scots
Pine. Since the clearance of an invasive Rhododendron species from Great Wood,
fantastic displays of bluebells can be seen in the spring. Lanhydrock is also
home to kingfishers, dormice and 12 species of bat.
Running along the very wet
path until I reached another gate. I went through the gate and followed the fence to the gate
opposite (again through another very wet field). Going through this gate I followed the track until I reached
the main gate of the water works.
From the water works entrance, I followed the lane ahead
until I reached a fork at a sharp bend with a no-through road sign. I went through the pedestrian gate on the left of the gate
ahead and followed the lane until I
reached some National Trust buildings clearly owned by The National Trust.
To my right slightly, the hill behind the one ahead I could
see the location of a Roman Fort.
In
2007, the remains of a small Roman fort (known as a fortlet) was discovered
upon a promontory overlooking the River Fowey near Restormel. It's likely this
was a satellite of the slightly larger fort at Nanstallon, and the two were
strategically positioned to cover the Camel and Fowey river trade. Their
position also allowed them to cover the main land route, which ran past these
two points on the upland ridge along the Cornish peninsula. It's thought that
this might have originally been an Iron-Age fort which was then repurposed by
the Romans. Finds of pottery suggest it was occupied continuously for most of
the Romano-British era (from mid-first to early-fourth centuries). It has been
postulated that although it might have started as a military encampment, it may
have evolved into a defended settlement towards the end of this period.
Running between the buildings and right again to exit via a
gate at the entrance to Restormel Castle.
Restormel Castle is one of the four chief Norman castles in
Cornwall and is notable for its perfectly circular design; the 13th century
circular shell-keep still encloses the principal rooms of the castle. The mound
on which it is built is the site of an earlier castle, probably originally
built after the Norman conquest of England in around 1100 as a motte and bailey
castle. The castle is strategically positioned, overlooking the primary
crossing point over the River Fowey and was located in the middle of a large
deer park. The castle had an early form of pressurised tap water, piped into
the buildings from a natural spring.
From the Restormel Castle entrance, I continued ahead on the
lane to a public footpath sign on the left.
At the footpath sign, I turned turn left into the drive of
Restormel Manor and followed the drive to a gate with a public footpath sign on
the left. I ran through the gate and turned right and followed the
drive until I reached a gate onto a
bridge over the river.
Restormel Manor and the adjoining woods are owned by the
Duchy.
For many centuries, it was traditional for landowning
families to create trusts from the land and assets so future generations could
live off the income, but were unable to dispose of the assets so these would be
available for future generations. The Duchy estate is an example of this and
was created in 1337 by Edward III to provide his son (and future Princes of
Wales) with an income. Consequently, unlike other Royals, the Prince of Wales
and his family are not paid for by the taxpayer via the Civil List; instead
their living costs and all their charitable activities (such as The Prince's
Trust) are funded by income from the Duchy estate.
Only 13% of the Duchy land is in Cornwall; the rest is
dotted over 23 other counties including in London, but most is in the South
West of England, with nearly half on Dartmoor
I crossed the bridge and followed the track to a railway
bridge. On crossing the railway I followed the track until I reached
a gate and the junction of several tracks.Passing through the gate ahead I followed the track up the
steep hill through a number of hairpin bends until I reached a gate. Passing through the gate I continued to the lane and turned
left on the lane and followed it uphill until I reached a junction.
As you approach the junction, there are lovely views across
the valley to Restormel Castle.
At the junction, I turned left and stayed on the lane and
followed it until it eventually ended at a junction. At the top of the lane I
realised my RunKeeper app had for some reason stopped working and had not
recorded for a mile or so and therefore had to restart it. The next 1 1/2 miles
were downhill on the tarmac lane before arriving at the final junction where I
turned left and followed the lane over Respryn Bridge to complete the circuit.
The cottage with the large wayside cross planted in the
middle of the front garden is appropriately named Cross Cottage. There are said to be 360 wayside crosses in Cornwall. In the
medieval period, stone crosses were sometimes placed by the road or path. There
have been various reasons for erecting these: markers placed along routes used
by Christian pilgrims, or as a shrine in reverence, perhaps to a saint who has
some connection to the locality. Others mark burial sites, a disaster, a
miracle, or some other event that should be remembered. In some cases, they
were erected to mark meeting places for Christian worship and later churches
were built adjacent to the cross, resulting in the cross being within the
churchyard or close by.
