Clophill House

Ampthill Park

Ampthill Park is at the top of the Greensand Ridge and provides panoramic views over the Marston Vale. It's thought that this has been parkland since the 15th century when a castle was built on the land by Sir John Cornwall, later Lord Fanhope, from ransoms after the Battle of Agincourt.

Ampthill was a favourite place of King Henry VIII, who loved to hunt deer in the nearby woodlands. Henry tried to create a palace at Amptill, buying up many of the surrounding manors - including Clophill - to create a huge estate known as the Honour of Ampthill.

Queen Katherine of Aragon stayed at Ampthill Castle for 3 years while her divorce from King Henry VIII was under discussion at Dunstable Priory from 1531-1533. It is said that she taught lacemaking to the locals which later became a significant part of the Bedfordshire economy until displaced by machinery and Flemish immigrants. Her stay there is commemorated at Ampthill Cross built in the park in 1770 by Lord Ossery with an inscription by Horace Walpole on its base, commemorating 'the mornful refuge of an injured Queen'.

Ampthill Park House was re-built between 1687-1689 under contract from the lease-holding Ossory family, by John Grumbold, the Cambridge mason and architect. It was altered between 1704-1707 under the direction of John Lumley and again by Robert Chambers between 1786-1772. The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown. The house was home to Richard Nicolls in the 17th century. Nicolls took over New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed it New York after his patron the Duke of York. Ampthill Park House is privately owned but the park is open to the public.

A fine collection of veteran trees remains here, providing an important habitat for a wide variety of beetles and other insects, and the wetland areas are also particularly interesting. The views over Bedfordshire are spectacular and the steep hill is said to have inspired John Bunyan in his book 'Pilgrim's Progress' in 1678 as the 'Hill of Difficulty'.

Cainhoe Castle

The huge size of Cainhoe Castle earthworks is apparent only by climbing the 11M height of the steep motte. 60M wide at base and 10M wide across its flattened top, it is nonetheless perfectly hidden from the A507 by the trees surrounding it, onto which one can look down from the top, but offers superb views over the Flit floodplain to Clophill and the Greensand Ridge. It is reached by a path from High Street in Clophill (opposite the turning into Townshott) crossing the two branches of the Flit over modern footbridges and then skirting fields around the Clophill Lakes where Fullers Earth has been extracted more recently.

Links:
Wikipedia Entry
Earthtransition Clophill Echoes article
Nature England Map
English Heritage Aerial View

Chicksands Wood
(& Rowney Warren Wood)

Chicksands wood is part of the old grounds of Chicksands Priory and was created by the Osbornes as a plantation of pedunculate oak and ash over older mediaeval monastic works. It includes a long avenue, made by the Osbornes for horse riding. This features various obelisks as monuments to Lord Halifax and to Henry Osborne. There is also the remains of a military railway from WW2 when the forest was used for storing ammunition.

It is maintained by the Forestry Commission who offer regular activities there, such as the Beautiful Butterflies discovery tour. The entrance is at Appley Corner near Haynes, off the A6001. It can also be reached on foot from Clophill for more serious walkers.

Map

Rowney Warren Wood

Chicksands Wood also connects to Rowney Warren Wood which runs along the west side of the A600. This is also part of the Chicksands estate and is managed by the Forestry Commission. It has been developed with mountain biking trails.

Wikipedia Entry

Clophill Warren Wood

Warren Wood is directly south of Clophill and straddles the A6. It is part of the original Clophill Warren that was part of Cainhoe manor and where the harvesting of rabbits provided a livelihood for a warrener for centuries.

The wood is now a quiet spot for walkers and has a wide avenue running through it that formed the old route that Clophill workers would have followed to the Wrest Park estate at Silsoe, half a mile to the south, where many of them worked.

Its entrance is over a stile at the end of Causeway after crossing the A507.

The Chilterns Gateway Centre and Dunstable Downs
(& Whipsnade Tree Cathedral)

Whipsnade Road, Kensworth, Dunstable, Beds Tel: 01582 500920

Dunstable Downs is open chalk downland with extensive but decreasing scrub and pockets of oak woodland. Vistitor numbers are estimated at 750,000 per annum and therefore there is much pressure on the sensative SSSI grassland. The park covers 65 hectares and offers comanding views of Aylesbury Vale and the Ciltern Hills and opportunities for a wide variety of recreational activities. Excellent for kites. It is owned by the National Trust but admission is free.

Open all year except Christmas. Mar-Oct 10.00-17.00, Nov-Mar 10.00-16.00.

National Trust

Whipsnade Tree Cathedral

Whipsnade Tree Cathedral is a huge garden in a village of Whipsnade. It is planted in the approximate form of a cathedral, with grass avenues for nave, chancel, transepts, chapels and cloisters and "walls" of different species of trees.

It was created by a Mr Edmond K. Blyth as an act of "Faith, hope and reconciliation" in memory of his friends who had died in World War 1. Planting began in 1932 and continued in stages. The first service was held in 1952. It is owned by the National Trust but admission is free.

Links:
National Trust
Photo Gallery
Wikipedia Entry

Greensand Ridge

The Greensand Ridge is a huge ridge of sandstone formed 125 million years ago and running 40 miles north-east from Leigton Buzzard in Buckinghamshire to Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire. In 1986 a walk was opened running along the line of the ridge and has become Bedfordshire's most popular walk. Most of the stone buildings in the area are made of this soft sandstone with its high iron concentrations giving them a brown to greenish tint and often heavily weathered textures. The ridge and walk pass right through Clophill which is exactly half way along its length.

Links:
Greensand Ridge Walk
Leaflet
Clophill section
Letsgo
Greensand Trust
Walking on the web
Excerpt from "Walking in Bedfordshire" link

Maulden Wood

Maulden Wood is an attractive mix of semi-natural broadleaf woodland, acidic grassland and conifer plantations. The entrance is off the lay-by on the A6 just north of Clophill with paths leading visitors on a tour through the wood. The forest is managed by the Greensand trust with the Forestry Commission who arrange regular activities such as the spider safari.

Forestry Commission
Wikipedia Entry
Breathing Spaces
Letsgo

Marston Vale

The Marston Vale Millennium Country Park opened (not surprisingly) in 2000 and boasts wetlands, lakes, lagoons and woodland. The park forms an important element in the community forest of Marston Vale, which covers some 61 square miles between Ampthill, Milton Keynes and Bedford. The Forest Centre provides an interesting insight into the progress made to date and into future plans for this exciting community project. Whilst at the centre, be sure to take in the fabulous views over Stewartby Lake and the park's wetland areas.

Links:
Marston Vale
Letsgo

RSPB Sandy

The RSPB headquarters is at Sandy. The Lodge nature reserve opened in 1961. The woodland, heath and acid grassland here cover 180 hectares, and are being restored to form the largest stretch of heathland in Bedfordshire.

This attractive nature reserve can be explored along 7.5 km of trails to visit the beautifully managed gardens or watch woodland birds from the hide. New trails are being opened to reach the Iron Age hill fort on Galley Hill. You can see a wide range of woodland species throughout the year, and spotted flycatchers and hobbies during the summer.

The shop has an excellent range of binoculars and telescopes, books, bird food and gifts. Guided walks can also be booked here. There is a picnic area, and snacks are available at the shop. The hide, gardens and toilets are wheelchair accessible.

Links:

Photo Gallery
What-to-do.org