The Tolkien Trail (1)

1

Starting from the war memorial in the centre of the village, walk along Warren Fold. Just beyond the last of the houses, go over a stile and follow the wall on your left, pass through a gateway and turn sharp right. Walk across the field, passing a lone tree, to reach the hedge/fence on the other side.

2

Don't go through the gate, but turn right and follow the fence, heading towards the red brick cricket pavilion. Go through a kissing gate in the corner and continue to follow the field boundary. After passing through another kissing gate, follow the path downhill and over the stream. Climb uphill keeping Fox Fall Wood on your left.

3

As the gradient levels, bear right across the narrow paddock to follow the iron fence to the far corner. Go through the gate in the corner and turn right, passing the Observatory for the College. Follow the tarmac track downhill towards Hall Barn Farm.

Stonyhurst College

The earliest building at Stonyhurst was probably built in the 13th century, and added to during the 14th and 15th centuries. Around 1590, Richard Shireburn embarked on the creation of a new Elizabethan house, which wasn’t completed for a further 250 years. Oliver Cromwell, who famously spent the night here on his way to the battle of Preston in 1648, called Stonyhurst "the best half house" he had seen. The Shireburns were devout Catholics and remained loyal to the king in the Civil War. Sir Nicholas Shireburn, who died in 1717, was the last of the family to live at Stonyhurst. In 1754, Stonyhurst passed to the Weld family of Dorset, who never occupied the house and it was allowed to fall into a state of decay. In 1794, the Welds placed Stonyhurst at the disposal of the Jesuit English College at Liège, who were forced to flee from the advancing French Revolutionary army. Stonyhurst began its new life as a boarding school. By the1850s, a church had been built and the front quadrangle completed. During the 1880s, the South Front was greatly extended. Stonyhurst had become one of the foremost public schools in the country. As well as its links to J.R.R Tolkien, other literary figures associated with the college include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (a former pupil), the poet Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins (a former member of staff) and contemporary novelist Patrick McGrath. The College is open to visitors for tours and events.

The Observatories

The first observatory at Stonyhurst was begun in 1838 and completed in 1845. In 1868, this observatory – known as the Dome Observatory – was completed. It houses a larger telescope than the original building and is still in use by the students.

4 - Hall Barn Farm

Turn left before the gate and go through a wooden gate, following the line of the farm buildings. You will shortly emerge on to a track. There is a magnificent view of Stonyhurst College and the Pavilions to your left. Keep straight ahead, following the hedge. To your left is St. Mary’s Hall, formerly a seminary. Across the playing fields to your right is the distinctive profile of Pendle Hill, with - a little to its left - Clitheroe Castle. HALL BARN FARM The Barn which stands alongside the path, is at least in part probably late medieval. Until as late as the 1820s, a number of 14th and 15th century buildings survived at Stonyhurst. It is possible that the barn dates from the same period, as the roof is supported on 5 massive oak cruck frames.

St. Mary's Hall

5 - Woodfields and New Lodge

When you reach Woodfields, cross the road, bearing slightly to the left and turn down the lane between the houses. The lane soon becomes a rough track and reaches a fork. Bear right and go over the wooden stile, then follow the edge of the field alongside Over Hacking Wood. Near the corner, turn left over a stile, then right to descend a stepped path. WOODFIELDS AND NEW LODGE The houses around Woodfields are owned by Stonyhurst College and provide accommodation for staff. J.R.R. Tolkien stayed at nearby New Lodge when he visited his son John at St. Mary’s Hall. At that time, it was a seminary for the English College evacuated from Rome.

6 - Over Hacking Wood

Cross the bridge over the stream and follow the path which forks to the right towards the River Hodder. Just before reaching the river, turn right, across the stone bridge, and climb steadily uphill. Passing Hodder Place on your right, the path now descends towards the river. Herons can be seen along this stretch of river. Go through the stile at the bottom of the hill to emerge from the woodland on to a wide, surfaced track. You will now follow the river as it curves gently round to the right.

Hodder Place

This impressive building dates back to 1780, when it was the home of a cotton mill-owner. All traces of the mill, on the river bank below the house, have now disappeared. The building was greatly extended by the Jesuits in the nineteenth century when it was used as a Novitiate and then as a preparatory school until its closure in 1971.

7 - Cromwell’s Bridge

Where the track meets the main road at Lower Hodder Bridge, cross over, pausing to admire Cromwell’s Bridge just a little downstream. Turn right along the footway and follow the road uphill. Opposite the junction, go left through a kissing gate and bear slightly left across the field to another stile/gate in the fence opposite. Go over the stile and walk straight uphill, crossing through another kissing gate before the brow. Bear slightly right across the field, passing through a kissing gate and heading towards the hedge to the left of the buildings. CROMWELL'S BRIDGE Also known as Devil’s Bridge, the packhorse bridge across the Hodder was built by Sir Richard Shireburn in 1562, replacing a wooden bridge dating from at least 1331. Legend says that it was used by Oliver Cromwell during his march from Skipton to intercept the Royalists at the Battle of Preston in 1648.

8

Go through the kissing gate and turn left along the tarmac track, which drops steadily downhill. Where the track levels, go straight ahead, passing a pond on your right, through the gate and into Winckley Hall Farmyard. Turn right, go through the yard, then turn left, (keeping farmhouse on your right) passing a brick wall on the left to reach a gate. Turn immediately right along a track, with the River Hodder again on your left.

Winckley Hall Farmyard

In the 12th century, Winckley was part of the estates of the Knights Hospitaller. By the early 13th century it had been granted to John de Winkley. John supported Thomas Earl of Lancaster in his revolt against Edward II in 1318. Although Thomas was executed for treason, John Winkley was pardoned.

9

Here the Hodder joins the River Ribble, follow the track to the gate, go through and pass a stile by a bench on your left, a great viewpoint of the rivers. Continue to follow the track alongside the Ribble and after about 1km, the Ribble is joined from the left by the River Calder, with Hacking Hall on the opposite bank.

Hacking Hall

The de Hacking family occupied this site from at least 1200, until it passed by marriage to the Shuttleworth family in the 14th century. The present house was built in 1607 by Sir Thomas Walmsley of Dunkenhalgh, the noted circuit judge, who had married the heiress Anne Shuttleworth. Just upstream of the hall was the ferry service, which operated until the 1950s. The ferryman’s hut and the ferry itself are on display at Clitheroe Castle Museum.

10

Continue to follow the bank of the Ribble until the path narrows near a stone building in front of you. Go through a gate and bear left to continue along a track passing Jumbles Farm on your right. Follow the track around to the left to pick up the line of the river again. Where the track turns right, keep straight on alongside the Ribble.

11

Continue alongside the river and you will see a graceful three-arched aqueduct ahead. When you reach the aqueduct, go over the stile to its right, bearing slightly right across the field and through two gates and into the edge of a wood. Cross the wooden bridge and climb the stepped path and at the top continue along a fenced off path within the edge of the wood.

The Aqueduct

The graceful stone aqueduct was constructed in the 1880s by the Blackburn Corporation. It originally carried water from Whitewell via an underground pipeline.

12 - Raid Deep Wood

Cross two bridges and another stile, then turn slightly to the left. You should now be walking uphill along a low ridge with streams on either side. After about 200m, cross the stream on the right and turn left to continue uphill, following the line of the field boundary on the left. At the top of the field, go over a stone stile in the left corner and pass through the car park of the Shireburn Arms Hotel. Cross the road to return to the start of the walk.