Wass to Cockerdale and Byland Abbey

7.5 miles                   Cool and dry

We approached Wass from the A19 Thirsk turn off, via Coxwold, and parked in the village hall car park near to the tiny Church of St Thomas, the P in the map below.

 

 

Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills

St Thomas's Church, Wass

Looks like an old Railway Clock

Compact and neat

We walked the few yards from the village hall to St Thomas' Church to take a look inside.  The church was unlocked so we entered and found it to be clean and tidy with a capacity of about 40.  Tom Scott Burns doesn't mention the building but it once served as the village school and appears to have been built using stone from nearby Byland Abbey.

TSB does tell us, however, that Wass comes from the Middle English wathes, meaning fords, the village having two such crossings.

We walked back down to the crossroads and turned right at the  Stapylton Arms. 

 

 

Neat box hedge in Wass

The Stapylton Arms

We walked away from the pub along a road that soon loses its tarmac and becomes little more than a track.  As we reached Snever Scar we  we took the right fork where the path branches at Abbey Bank Noddle, instead of heading left to Snever Scar.  (see dotted line in map above)  We feel this is a nicer path as Snever Scar has been heavily wooded with saplings since TSB's day.  We rejoined the original path just before our turn through the wood to the observatory.

Leaving Wass

Leave the tarmac at the gate

.... and follow the faint path behind Blind Side Gill

Walking to the observatory

Reaching the Observatory we saw the rails on top had been damaged and the roof appeared to have gone, allowing weather to ingress.  The door was also damaged but access had not been gained through it.  Without repair it will quickly deteriorate.

The plaque above the door says: "Here hills and waving groves a scene display, And part admit and part exclude the day, See rich industry smiling on the plains, And peace and plenty yell VICTORIA reigns!, Happy the MAN who to these shades retires, Whom nature charms and whom the muse inspires, Who wandering thoughtful in this silent wood, Attends the duties of the wise and good, To observe a mean, be to himself a friend, To follow NATURE and regard his end"

We retraced our steps through the wood to the gate where we turned left into fields. The Camp Holes mentioned on the map above are clearly visible among the more recently arrived trees.

According to TSB these fields were the scene of the Battle of Bylands in 1322, when King Edward II was defeated by Sir Robert de Brus of Scotland.  The King only escaped by 'the very pity of Christ' leaving behind in his flight the royal treasure and the crown jewels.  This would be a great field to search with a metal detector!

 

The site of The Battle of Bylands 1322

Cam Farm in the distance

Our little walked path led us to Cam Farm and then Cam House.  Here we had to keep a lookout for way markers, before reaching Cockerdale Wood.

 

Way marks take us to the front of Cam House

Cam House

Approaching Cockerdale

Looking down into Cockerdale

We start the descent

 

After Cam House we passed through a gate into Cockerdale wood where, at a wooden sign, we turned left onto a steep and tricky descent through the trees, eventually emerging on a field before Cockerdale Farm.

Nice green path

Turn off at the wooden sign

... and follow the path steeply downhill

It gets tricky in places

We look down on Cockerdale House

Passing by Cockerdale House

Just past Cockerdale House last year we saw a herd of deer and we wondered if we would be lucky again.  The answer was yes, as we looked down onto sheep fields we saw first two, then more deer, entering the field from the trees.

 

First two deer appeared

 

We stood and watched them move slowly out of the trees and across the field, a lovely sight, and then set off walking once more.

 

A nearby spring means this is always a wet spot

Looking back at Cockerdale

 

We climbed steadily towards a metalled path at Mode Hill.  Here we turned right to climb briskly to a small chapel at Scotch Corner.  TSB tells how this was built by the sculptor, John Bunting just after WWII, with stone from an old farmhouse and that it is dedicated to three pupils who had been killed the war.

Climbing Mode Hill

The chapel at Scotch Corner

John Joseph Bunting sculptor and artist of Ryedale built this chapel 1957 + died 19 November 2002 aged 75

Sadly we have yet to find the chapel unlocked and after a cursory look round we retraced our steps down Mode Hill, now finding the going much easier downhill, and we carried on to see an interesting Buddhist Stupa in the field to our right, with a cross in front of it.

 

Memorials to two members of the same family

 

The stupa was dated 2007 and the cross 2021, both dedicated to different male members of the same family, who appear to have followed different religious paths.

Leaving the stupa we set off downhill, soon joining a tarmac road where we paused at a memorial bench for coffee.

 

Walking towards Oldstead

 

Time for coffee and scones

Setting off once more we turned off the road and just before Oldstead Hall we noticed that a couple of trees had fallen and been cleared since our last visit.  Amongst the debris of the clearance we spotted a couple of gravestones, previously hidden from view.  By the names and dates they appear to be memorials to much loved dogs.

 

We spot the gravestones at situated at 7 o'clock

 

Pompey, 1930 -1940

Scally   1926-1939

We followed the road and turned onto a footpath going steeply uphill, just before the hall.

 

Approaching Oldstead Hall

Oldstead Hall

Path to rear of Olstead Hall

The path leads across fields behind the hall, Oldstead village to our right and eventually joins the Oldstead to Byland road.  Reaching the tarmac we turned right and followed the road to turn left into the entrance to Oldstead Grange Farm.

 

Turning into Oldstead Grange Farm

Oldstead Grange Farm

Cam Heads, note the old mill wheel in the wall

 Passing by the farm and then Cam Heads we came to a field containing free range pigs who rushed over to see us.

 

The pigs spot us and rush over

"Any grub mate?"

"Put it in here!"

Leaving the farms we crossed a series of linking field tracks to reach the ruins of Byland Abbey.  It is still apparent what an imposing building this must have been in its day. The last field before the abbey contained a large herd of cows and calves and there was no way of avoiding them but they were obviously very used to people.

 

Hawthorn starting to lose its blossom

The last field before the abbey

TSB tells us that the abbey, in itself 330 feet long, was fringed by chapels and columns, only traces of which remain. When the abbey was dismantled in 1540 after the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII it housed 25 monks as well as the Abbot.  An interesting webpage about the monastery, showing a reconstruction of how it looked in its heyday, is here!

We walked past the Abbey ruins, admiring a Spitfire weather vane at the house opposite, and continued to Abbey House before crossing fields to return us to Wass.

 

Weather vane at Byland Abbey

Duck and ducklings weather vane at Abbey House

Across fields to Wass

This is an interesting walk with lots to see in its 7 miles and is recommended, especially for a fine summer's day.  We drove the short distance to Coxwold where we sat in the sun at the Fauconberg Arms to discuss a most enjoyable day.