Visitors walking in the parkland in summer at Dyrham Park, South Gloucestershire | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Bath & Bristol

Journey of Discovery trail

Please check with Visitor Reception for any recent route changes on arrival. Enjoy a ramble through the past on this family-friendly trail through Dyrham's parkland. This is a landscape that's steeped in history and each waypoint of this walk reveals a different clue from days gone by. For younger walkers, there are carved wooden animals to spot along the way, before the walk finishes at Old Lodge.

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Total steps: 9

Start point

Visitor reception, Dyrham Park SN14 8HY. Grid ref: ST749758

Step 1

After walking through visitor reception, follow the main path a short distance to the tree stump carved with a compass. The compass is based on those pictured on William Blathwayt's maps. Follow the arrow pointing in the direction of Journey of Discovery trail, turning left into the entrance of the first lime tree avenue.

Step 2

Enter the lime tree avenue and follow its path. After walking about 350 metres, bear right alongside the fence. Ahead are views of the Severn valley and Welsh hills; behind you and to your right are the remnants of the ancient ridge and furrow landscape of Dyrham.

Ridge and furrow

Noticeable rows of humps in the ground show that this area was once ploughed, resulting in a ridge and furrow landscape. Although it is now part of the larger deer park, the area was once known as 'upper field', cultivated since Anglo-Saxon times. A wide plough would have been pulled by oxen. Continual ploughing in the same direction gradually increased the height of the ridge and the depth of the furrow. As they are still visible today, we know that the ground hasn't been cultivated in recent history – modern ploughing is much deeper and eradicates evidence of ridge and furrow.

Step 3

Carry on walking downhill, keeping to the path alongside the fence for about 450 metres. Continue on as the fence changes to become a dry-stone wall. To your left is Dyrham’s environmentally friendly central heating plant.

Dry-stone walls

This is a typical Cotswold dry-stone wall. The stone would have been quarried from the local area. In fact, there's evidence of a small quarry at the bottom of the hill, to the right of this path. With the stone readily available, and labour cheap, dry-stone walling was commonly used throughout the Cotswolds from as early as 2000 BC through to the present day. The wall to your left was built, possibly in the 17th century, to contain livestock in the park. Dry-stone walls support a vast array of wildlife, lichens and mosses.

Step 4

At the bottom of the hill, follow the curve of the path around to the right for another 450 metres, walk through hollow ways to the cattle grid on to the driveway in front of the house.

Hollow ways

Hollow ways are ancient tracks, worn away by centuries of use. These sunken lanes cut a route below the general level of the surrounding land, often by several metres, formed by the passage of people, vehicles and animals. These substantial earthworks around you represent the old course of Sands Hill, a road that now runs around the outside of the park. This route would have led to the old manor house and village, perhaps forming one of several parallel courses of the road. A map created in 1689 shows that these hollow ways fell within the park before 1689.

Step 5

At this point, you can either go through the gate by the cattle grid to visit the house and West Garden, or have some well-earned refreshments from the kiosk or tea-room. If you'd like to continue you on, cross the driveway and pick up the grassy path leading to the valley to your right.

A lost water garden

The Johannes Kip engraving of Dyrham Park (1710) at its peak, has East at the top, and shows water cascading down the hill from the Statue of Neptune, alongside elaborate gardens in front of the east front of the house and Greenhouse. These gardens were difficult to maintain, and reverted to parkland in the later 1700s. Today, the water from the many springs across the park is channeled into an underground culvert, flowing beneath the Greenhouse and house to feed the lakes in the West Garden.

Step 6

With the house behind you and the driveway on your right, head diagonally across the grass, walking between the hill on your left and Neptune Hill to your right.

Routes to Dyrham Park

Roads in the local area were still little more than tracks when William Blathwayt built the house around 1700; access for visitors would have been from Sands Lane and then through the west entrance. The main road from London to Bath was improved in the early 1700s when Queen Anne popularised the benefits of the spa town. Turnpikes were introduced in the area in the mid 1700s, ensuring that roads such as the Bath–Stroud road (now the A46) were passable in most weather conditions. In the Victorian era visitors arrived at the east front of the house via the new driveway that was built around 1800.

A statue of Neptune on a grassy hill with a blue sky background, Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire — Neptune's Hill, Dyrham Park | © National Trust Images / Sarah Fox

Step 7

Follow the path as it curves round between the two hills, and head towards the stone buildings that come into view. Note that the final part of this track still shows traces of its medieval origins.

Step 8

At the top of the hill turn left towards Old Lodge.

Step 9

You've reached your destination. You should now see Old Lodge on your left. Stop here for refreshments from the café or ice cream kiosk, or carry on exploring the parkland.

End point

Old Lodge, Dyrham Park. Grid ref: ST749758

Trail map

Route map for the Journey of Discovery walk at Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire — Journey of Discovery walking trail map | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey

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Dyrham, near Bath, South Gloucestershire, SN14 8HY

01179372501

dyrhampark@nationaltrust.org.uk

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Total steps: 9

Total steps: 9

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Trail map