Bramley – Blackheath – Farley Heath – Shamley Green - Bramley

From the car park at the old Bramley station (now a business centre) our route heads north on the Wey South Path/Downs Link which at this point occupy the bed of the old Guildford- Cranleigh railway, opened in 1865 and closed by Beeching in 1965. All that remains of the station is the post box in a pillar by the car park which was rescued from the old stationmaster's house.

This part of the route also coincides with the course of the old Wey – Arun canal. This opened in 1816 linking London to Portsmouth and the English Channel and closed in 1871. The Wey and Arun Canal Trust is a charity whose aim is to restore the canal and you will pass interpretation boards about their work.

Blackheath Common consists of dry lowland heath and woodland. Evidence of Bronze age and Roman activity has been found on the common. Most of the common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as it accommodates rare beetle, spider and moss species, sand lizards, adders, various birds eg nightjar, Dartford Warbler, woodlark, stonechat, tree pipit, redstart, woodcock and butterfly species eg silver studded blue, grayling, green hairstreak, white admiral

In 1864 Queen Victoria inspected her troops on Blackheath Common. This occasion was also a recruitment exercise for the voluntary militia. The event took the form of a mock battle using live ammunition! Apparently proceedings descended into chaos when the audience came between the two opposing sides. The several casualties included the local vicar who was fatally shot.

This area is very popular with walkers and horse riders so there are many unofficial paths which are not on the map.

From Blackheath Common the route heads south to Farley Heath where a very short detour takes you to the remains of a Romano-British Temple there. This was built before 100 AD and thought to accommodate both the occupying Romans and the local indigenous population as they worshipped their respective gods before it burnt down around 450AD. An excavation in Victorian times uncovered a green bronze ring, pottery, tiles and 1200 coins some of which are now housed in the British Museum. A more recent dig failed to add to this yield. Although the walls are now reduced to ground level the inner and outer walls are clearly visible.

To visit the site – on entering the car park at waymark 13 turn left and walk towards the nearest exit. Take the track on the left hand side just before the exit and it is a few metres on your left hand side. Although they have been reduced to almost ground level the outer and inner walls are clearly visible.

From here the route goes round a hillside giving some lovely views of the surrounding countryside once you leave the trees behind. It then drops down towards Shamley Green where it picks up the Greensand Way and goes cross country to the Wey South Path which gives an easy straight forward return to Bramley.

England - South England - Surrey - Surrey Hills

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Walk id: 8964

Walk grade

Moderate Walk

Length

8.7 Miles

Height gain

90 Metres

Duration

3 Hours 39 Mins

Average rating

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