A brisk walk around the healthiest place in Gloucestershire – or so they say…
There’s a story that, once, a young man walked from Stroud to Painswick as part of a longer journey. The afternoon being well advanced and the situation of the village attractive, the young man resolved to stay the night. He was a poor man, and couldn’t afford to stay at any of the inns, and so he had to hope that someone in the village would put him up for the night for the payment of a few chores in the morning.
The odd thing was, there was no one about. The village seemed deserted! As he walked through the churchyard, full of oddly clipped yew trees, he began to feel a little unsettled. Then he saw an old man sitting on the churchyard wall. His first thought was one of relief. Then he saw the old man – and he was sure he’d never seen such an old man! – was weeping. The traveller asked him what was wrong, only to be told by the old man that he'd been beaten by his father. His father! A man that old had a father? Why, the man must be addled, thought the traveller with all the confidence of youth, and he offered to carry the old man home in return for a place to kip.
‘You can carry me,’ said the old man. ‘But as to staying, well, you’ll have to ask my father.’ The traveller carried him home, and to his astonishment there was an even older man up in an apple tree. ‘My father,’ supplied the first old man, and scuttled indoors. The traveller repeated his request, but the old man just shook his head. ‘You’ll have to ask my father,’ he wavered, pointing to the door.
Inside he found an old, old, old man in the kitchen, rolling out pastry in a ponderous fashion. Once more the traveller repeated his request, and to his relief the old man started to nod – but after a while the traveller realised he was just trying to speak. ‘Not for me to say,’ quavered the man. ‘You’ll have to ask my father – he’s in the parlour.’ And sure enough, in the parlour there sat, tiny and lost in a big armchair, an even older man. But when the traveller repeated his request, the old man raised a shaking finger and pointed to the mantelpiece. His voice was the barest thread, but the traveller heard the words, ‘my father.’ His heart sank. Over to the mantelpiece he went, to a fine wooden box, and there, inside, was a tiny wizened old man, who looked up at him with eyes so full of desolation that the traveller didn’t ask his question, but turned and fled out the door, and didn’t stop going until he was well out of Painswick. The traveller, you see, was a godly man, with a hope of heaven, and he felt suddenly sure that if he stayed Painswick he might never leave and might never die!
Today’s walk takes us around Painswick, a place where the air was said to be so pure and healthy that the residents never grew ill or died. It starts by the Rugby Club just outside the village on the A46. Walk past the tennis courts, then take a right turn through a gate onto the Cotswold Way and follow it uphill towards the village. You’ll head along a leafy snicket, and, on emerging, turn right through another, and cross a patch of green onto Edge Road, where, just round the corner you’ll see Hambutt’s House, where textile designers Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher lived and worked from 1930, two of several Arts and Crafts makers who settled in the village in the 20th century. Turn right at Hambutt’s Barn and continue past the school, taking the track to your left around the edge of the school grounds.
Ahead you can see Painswick House and a summerhouse in the grounds. It was built by Charles Hyett in the 1730s to escape Gloucester’s smog and to take advantage of that pure air. Sadly, it was too late for Hyett – he died only a few years later in in 1738. Take the path to the left, through the first of a series of gates as you hug the edge of the grounds until you come to a stream. The gate there takes you up a steep sheep field, with wonderful views from the top as you turn right onto a track. Follow the road back to Painswick. After turning right at a T-junction, there’s a short stretch on the main road past the entrance to the Rococo Gardens, the grounds of Painswick House.
Cross the road, and take Gyde Road. Ahead you’ll see a large house to the left, and solid little cottages to the right, both efforts to ensure the good health and wellbeing of those in Painswick. Gyde House was built as a children’s home with copious grounds for the children to play in. The money was bequeathed by Edwin Gyde, the home built by Arts and Crafts architect Percy Morley Horder, opening in 1919. The same fund also commissioned Sidney Barnsley, another Arts and Crafts man, to build the almhouses on your right for long-term Painswick residents over 60 – was this where our young traveller came?
At the end of the almhouses, turn right and head down a snicket that brings you out on Gloucester Road. Head downhill, crossing the main road with care, then continue down Bisley Street past the Little Fleece, where a former owner haunts the cellar searching for treasure he’s mislaid – our first hint that its not all healthful in Painswick! Turn right at the Painswick Centre, and head along St. Mary’s Street, noting the former public baths on the corner of Tibbiwell Street, another healthy improvement from the Gyde family, also built by Sidney Barnsley. Descend Tibbiwell Lane, noting the well itself a little over halfway down, said to be good for curing ailments of the eyes. Follow the road to just past the mill buildings, then stroll along the Painswick Stream by taking the track immediately to the right.
After several gates, the track doubles back on itself downhill. On your right is the lovely Mill Pool. Head up past it, then turn left on King’s Mill Lane and follow it until you can turn right up the hill on Stamage’s Lane. Part way up the hill is Cedar House, once the home of Isobel Seddon, who was responsible for more healthy living in Painswick, funding the Painswick Institute and the recreation ground – though it’s said that strange cries from far longer ago can be heard from site, once known as St. Mary’s Acre. A little further up you’ll see Stamage’s Cottage, once Rose Bank, the home and studio of two more Arts and Crafts artists, Charles March Gere and his sister Margaret, who left Birmingham to settle in the Cotswolds in 1902.
Finally, we head up past the car park to Painswick’s church, where the many tombs and gravestones give the lie to the threat of immortality in Painswick. The churchyard’s yews are said to be 99 in number. If a hundredth is planted the Devil will come and pull it up – and a good thing too, if the old rhyme is correct, ‘Painswick maidens shall be true till there grows the hundredth yew.’ If you can tear yourself away, it’s now time to leave healthy Painswick behind by heading down Edge Road and following the Cotswold Way back to the Rugby club once more – or might you be tempted to stay?
ESSENTIALS
Distance: 4.5 miles.
Duration: 2.5 hours.
Level: Mix of footpaths and urban walking. Some fairly steep climbs.
Parking: Painswick Rugby Club
Toilets and refreshments: Rococo Gardens (open Weds–Sun), the Painswick Centre
Transport links: Hourly bus from Stroud or Cheltenham (Stagecoach 66)
Map: OS Explorer 179: Gloucester, Cheltenham & Stroud
Further reading: Gloucestershire Folk Tales, by Anthony Nanson.
LINKS
Route: gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_5354176.html
Rococo Garden: rococogarden.org.uk
The Painswick Centre: painswickcentre.com
Kirsty Hartsiotis is based in Stroud and available for hire as a storyteller and speaker. Her books include Wiltshire Folk Tales, and Gloucestershire Ghost Tales and Gloucestershire Folk Tales for Children with Anthony Nanson. She is also the curator of decorative and fine art at a Gloucestershire museum.
