Kepwick and Cowesby from Over Silton
5.5 miles Fine but very cold
We parked in Over Silton at the roadside opposite the Old School House, having approached the village from the A19.
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| Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills |
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| The Old School House |
Tom Scott Burns notes that the name Silton probably derives from Sal as in Upsal, which means Hall, and Ton, which is old Anglian for place or town.
We followed the road out of Over Silton passing the Manor House, which TSB tells us was once owned by the gallant gentleman Sir George Orby Wombwell, baronet, who served with the 17th Lancers and took part in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on 25th October 1854. His horse was shot from under him and he was taken prisoner but escaped on a Russian horse to rejoin his brigade and charge again, without sword or pistol! He died in 1913 aged 81.
We soon turned into a field at a gate. There is a way-mark on the telegraph pole here but we found that like much of today's route, whilst shown on the OS map, it is little walked and tracks across fields are difficult to see.
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| The Manor House at Over Silton |
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| The Wombwell coat of arms at the Manor House |
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| George Orby Wombwell |
We walked through fields and crossed Penny Beck, soon reaching Greystone Farm. We passed by the attractive and tidily kept buildings to see a small open barn full of rosettes and prize certificates for the farm's Suffolk sheep.
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| Leave the road at the gate |
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| Crossing Penny Beck |
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| Greystone Farm |
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| Rosettes for the prize winning Silton Flock |
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| Suffolk Sheep |
The route continues along field paths until reaching Nether Silton where we crossed the road near to the village green and rejoined the path which led us to Hall Farm.
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| Weather vane at Nether Silton |
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| Magnificent lime tree on the village green |
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| Silton Hall |
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| We saw large flocks of starlings today |
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| Hall farm with huge new shed |
We continued beyond Hall Farm to walk through fields frozen as hard as iron, until we reached the footbridge over Sorrow Beck.
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| What's that tractor doing? |
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| We keep well back |
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It's not real!
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| Nothing for it but to paddle across |
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| Footbridge over Sorrow Beck |
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| Plenty of water in Sorrow Beck |
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| Bridge over the old railway line |
After crossing the beck we walked through fields to reach a stone footbridge that is built over what used to be a 3.5 mile narrow gauge railway. Constructed in 1833 this railway brought limestone mined near Kepwick to kilns near to the Yarm and Thirsk turnpike road. We crossed another field and joined Peasland Lane which we followed for a mile into Cowesby.
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| Howe Hill to the left and Pen Hill in the distance |
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| Peasland Lane and the Cowesby's church appear through the trees |
The first building one comes to on entering Cowesby is St Michael and All Angels Church. We were pleased to find the door was unlocked and we spent a few moments exploring the old building before settling down for a coffee and scone.
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| St Michael's front |
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| St Michael's rear view |
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| Interior suffering from damp and mildew |
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| Coffee and scones |
Although the present church dates from only 1846 it replaced one of the oldest churches in the district, which stood on a Saxon site. It is now suffering badly with damp. The tower has an unusual pyramid roof which houses a ring of six bells, their ropes dangling near the altar.
Coffee over we walked through Cowesby and past Home Farm, then followed a path bearing left along the western shoulder of Pen Hill. This path then leads down towards Kepwick.
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| Houses in Cowesby |
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| Corner Cottage, Cowesby |
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| Approaching Home Farm |
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| Climbing Pen Hill |
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| Looking down on Cowesby from Pen Hill |
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| Looking towards the Pennines in the distance |
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| Howe Hill from Atlay Bank as we descend to Kepwick. The obelisk is amongst those trees. |
Tom Scott Burns in his Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills mentions that a marble obelisk can be seen on Howe Hill as one descends Atlay Bank. John Henry Boyer Warner erected Kepwick Hall and constructed two reservoirs upon the moors above to service the estate and village. The obelisk is a memorial to him but is now invisible to all, unless you climb Howe Hill and fight through the trees and vegetation to get to its base. We think this is a great shame and can't understand why the villagers don't clear the rough growth from around the memorial.
The obelisk is tricky to get to but we have spoken to the farmer and he had no objection to us crossing his field to reach Howe Hill.
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| Climbing Howe Hill |
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| The memorial is surrounded by new sapling growth |
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| "We are not born for ourselves alone" |
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| 'A nature his of sweet felicity, a pioneer of thought throughout the globe, his soul a garb of grand simplicity, that feelings true of wondrous depth did robe. Such men denote the capability, of nature's glorious power in her prime, show us the path of possibility, that leads beyond the measured scope of time' |
We returned to the road and before continuing with our walk looked at the privately owned chapel as you enter Kepwick. Unfortunately if was locked. It has an interesting history.
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| Kepwick Chapel |
Originally this building was a mission room but was rebuilt as a chapel by the Warner family of Kepwick Hall, whose only son was shot down during WWI whilst serving with the RFC against Baron Richthofen's flying circus.
Interestingly Warner's late sister formed the basis of one of James Herriot's characters, Mrs Pumphries, who owned the pekingese Tricky Woo.
We left Kepwick at a footpath sign to re-enter fields which took us first to the disused railway and then to Bridge Beck which we crossed on a new bridge. A hundred yards later we reached and crossed Sorrow Beck.
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| Leaving Kepwick |
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| .. and crossing fields. Clive spots Silton's old Manor House in the distance |
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| The old railway bed |
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| New wood at Bridge Beck |
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| The old bridge |
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| Clive canters towards the jumps |
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| A tricky approach to the stile |
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| The Old Manor House at Nether Silton |
In pathless fields way-marks are few and far between, but keep straight ahead to the outskirts of Nether Silton and the old Manor Stone which is in the middle of a field next to the 16th century manor house. The stone is cryptically inscribed with letters whose meaning I've set out below the photograph. This inscription was the idea of a Squire Hicks to mark the spot where the medieval manor house once stood.
It's become something of a ritual that Clive takes my photo at this spot, showing how the passage of time erodes both the Manor Stone and myself.
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| The Old Manor Stone |
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| Two monoliths, aged and weather beaten but still standing |
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Here The Grand Old Manor House Stood The Black Beams Were Oak, The Great Walls Were Good The Walls At The East Wing Are Hidden Here A Thatched Cottage Like A Barn Was Erected
Year AD 1765 A Wide Porch Spans A Yard And Alcove |
A few steps further took us to the church of All Saints in Nether Silton and we popped inside for a look around.
We left the church and immediately turned off the road at a white gate opposite, just near to the post box, leading to a narrow passage that takes us between houses to open fields.
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| Through the white gate. |
Once in the fields we were now returning to Over Silton and walking parallel to Greystone Farm and its Suffolk sheep.
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| Female sparrowhawk near our path |
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| St Mary's, Over Silton |
After crossing the tarmac of Kirk Ings Lane we passed St Mary's Church, which stands isolated in the middle of a field but decided to leave exploring it for a future walk.
We crossed the field to Over Silton and the end of our walk.
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| Peacocks roam freely in Over Silton |
This is a short walk but interesting and ideal for a winter's day.
