Coombe Bissett, Great Yews and Homington
- Elaine Perkins
- Jun 1
- 6 min read
It will not surprise you that one of my most favourite things in life is being out walking and immersing myself in the Wiltshire countryside. But there are days when the walks, although lovely, have issues, and then there are ones that turn out even better than expected. The latter was the case for our recent visit to Coombe Bissett, The Great Yews and Homington on one of the recent hot late spring days.
With the prospect of a hot sunny day, we started early so as to avoid the heat of the midday sun. Arriving at the Coombe Bissett Down Nature Reserve, we parked our car and scouted the area for our initial quarry, the county flower, aka the burnt tip orchid. It was a little early, but as someone had reported seeing them up on Salisbury Plain, I thought it was worth checking out. Sadly, there were no signs at all, so we didn’t linger but moved on southwards towards our next destination, taking in the wonderful views as we walked.
We certainly picked a glorious day for our visit. Perhaps if I were a landscape photographer, I would probably not have been happy with the cloudless azure sky that the far-reaching vistas blended into, but the weather conditions were perfect for walking with the slight breeze and the early morning sun still low enough that there was the prospect of some shade from the hedges and trees that lined the byways.
As we walked, the evidence of modern human inhabitation fell away and became restricted to the telegraph poles and isolated farm buildings. These lonesome structures alongside the open vistas reminded me of the prairies of the United States, and I thought of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest’s crop duster scene. I always marvelled that, despite his ordeal of running through a maize field, falling to the ground, being covered in a chemical spray and surviving an exploding petrol tanker, the amazing Mr. Grant had survived with only the slightest of dust on his suit and did not have a hair out of place. Alas, this is something that cannot ever be said for me, as even when walking in the mildest of conditions, I appear as though I have done it by going through a hedge backwards! Fortunately for us, there were no crop dusters along the way, and the only airplanes we noticed were the airliners taking their passengers to Heathrow or beyond. For once, I felt a little sorry for, rather than envious of, those so high in the sky, sad that they would not be as lucky as me enjoying this moment in the wonderful Wiltshire countryside. As we continued, my heart sang alongside the sounds of the many birds. We listened to a cacophony of warblers, buntings, finches and larks interspersed with the calls of the pheasant and buzzard. It truly was lovely.
However, it wasn’t long before we reached the area of the Great Yews, and a certain darkness seemed to exude from the location. Undeterred, we moved towards the ancient trees and the gloom. Some say that the yews date back to the 13th century, how true that is, I am not certain, but as we skirted the perimeter of the woodland, there were some that could be very old. Their wide and contorted forms appearing both dark and menacing and yet, in the sunlight, seemingly glowing from within. There was definitely an air of mystery and perhaps even magic about them.
You can no longer enter the woodland without permission, but in days gone by, the owner permitted others to enter this area, and a late, dear friend of mine, a sympathiser of those who believed in fairies, would visit and she thought it was marvelous and one of her favourite locations. However, she never divulged any additional information and as I looked into the dense thicket, I could imagine her dancing around those trees and I wondered why I didn’t ask her to tell me more.
Having spent a little time sensing the atmosphere and taking photos of the yews from the footpath, we retraced our steps and soon after leaving the wooded area we took the byway off to the right to head down to Homington. Once again, were enjoying the partial shade of the tall hedges whilst also loving the views as they appeared in gaps along the way. Along this route there are two areas of open access and yet, as we at Hidden Wiltshire have mentioned before as one of our pet gripes, the area to the left on Homington Down has no right of way that leads to it. However, the area to the right that is closer to the road would be easily accessible if the gate wasn’t padlocked. Never mind, we weren’t really in the mood to explore further, so we continued on to the tiny village of Homington. Here we found a lovely seat under a bronze beech tree and rested for a few minutes before continuing on past the wonderful red bricked houses of the village, all of which suggested centuries of habitation.
We soon reached the church a sweet building dating from the 14th century. Inside the church was bright and I loved the simple nature of its stained glass window. We read the memorials to the Wyndham family and Professor Sir Ian McGregor who was known for his work on malaria. It is always so fascinating to learn about those who have lived in the villages.
After visiting the church, we continued on through the settlement, admiring the cottages and, in particular, one with a curious gate that possessed two statues of Anubis seated on the gate posts. These dark dogs seemed incongruous with the immaculate and pretty garden beyond. I wondered if an egyptologist lived within, or perhaps it was a hint of something darker. I thought of the darkness of the Great Yews, and of the many stories of Egyptian mummies coming to life within the manors of the English Countryside. Could an ancient enemy of Dr Who lurk within? However, I was soon distracted from these thoughts as the morning was far too lovely to dwell on such nonsense. So, finding the partially obscured footpath on our right, we continued on north of the village and crossing the River Ebble we found ourselves in marshy pastures, quite a contrast to the downland we had been walking earlier. Here we deviated slightly from the OS map, and rather than skirting the edge of the field, we took the well trodden desire path diagonally across the pastureland to a footbridge. This was the first of three as we continued north until we turned left onto a clear path that ran along a coombe. This dry valley or coombe must give the first part of Coombe Bissett its name.
Although the location has been inhabited since neolithic times the village had been known as Coombe since the Saxon period. The Bissett came about when Manasser Bisset was granted the manor by William the Conqueror. As I walked along the valley, off to my left a tumulus was clearly visible on a hillside, reminding me of the continuum of life in these parts.
Finally, we reached the village of Coombe Bissett, and we spent a few moments watching some lambs and the river flow under the pack horse bridge.
We were a little tired, but our adventure wasn’t over because as we wondered over to the church we were invited in to the residents coffee morning there. We spent a delightful time enjoying a welcome coffee and biscuit. We agreed that they were lucky to live in such a lovely village and we listened to tales of visiting the spooky darkness of the Great Yews and needing to use WhatThreeWords to ensure that they could make their way out of the thicket before it claimed them for good!
Sadly, all good things come to an end, and after taking a quick look around the church we said our goodbyes to the villagers and made our way back to the car. But not before purchasing an ice cream at the local stores, and taking in one final view of the beautiful Coombe Bissett Down.
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