The church building dates from the 12th Century and the carved doorway is from the original building. In the 15th century, the church was remodelled in the Perpendicular Gothic style and the tower was added. The church was restored in the 19th century but retained, from the early 16th Century, carved benches and a font made of granite with an octagonal bowl.
The church is dedicated to St James the Great which may date from the Middle Ages when Kilkhampton was briefly in the hands of the Priory of St James in Bristol. Another theory for the dedication is that Kilkhampton was on a pilgrim route to Compostela in Spain, where the relics of St James were thought to lie.
Kilkhampton is located on an ancient ridgeway which connected a monastic grange at Alder Combe, Launcells church and the abbey at Hartland; the route was then incorporated by the Romans into their road building. The settlement is mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Chilchetone" which is thought to be from a Saxon name of Kilkton. It has been postulated that this name itself derives from the Cornish word kylgh meaning "circle". Due to its roadside position, it was a market town and the Lower Square is still sometimes known as "The Bull Ring".
The land inside the gate is known as Kilkhampton Common.
Kilkhampton Common is owned and managed by the Westland Countryside Stewards - a small environmental charity formed in Kilkhampton. The chairman of the trustees purchased the site from a local farmer and gifted it to the charity with a view to restoring its ecology and also providing access to the public. As well as their restoration and management of the common, the Stewards are involved in the reintroduction of water voles to the area and contribute to both Westcountry and national wildlife projects.
The woodland along the stream is predominantly a mixture of broadleaf trees such as ash, hazel and sessile oak. This kind of habitat is a priority habitat for conservation, supporting a rich wildlife including birds such as grey wagtails and dippers.
If you're walking here in early spring, there is a lot of wild garlic. However, before you get your carrier bags out: this is a wildlife reserve so leaving the plants in pristine condition for others to enjoy is good manners; it is also popular with dog walkers, which may result in "territory marked" leaves; there is a huge patch of wild garlic away from the path in Stowe woods later on in the walk, which is the recommended spot for harvesting.
The pond has the potential to support breeding populations of frogs, toads and newts.
Biologically, there is no such thing as "toads": there are just many species of frog, some of which were given the name "toad" if they were a bit drier- or wartier- looking. However, the 2 species of frog known as the "Common Frog" and "Common Toad" are those you are most likely to encounter in Cornwall, so for discerning fairytale princesses, here's how to tell them apart:
A number of plants in this area are indicators that the woodland here is ancient. These include wood sorrel with delicate white flowers in spring as well as the unmistakable bluebells.
In early spring, common dog violets flower on the bank. The "dog" in their common name indicates that they are not the perfumed variety of violet. Nevertheless they support a population of butterflies including the pearl-bordered fritillary.
There are actually two different species of dog violet although they can interbreed to form hybrids. The common dog violet prefers shade whilst the heath dog violet prefers sunny spots and historically this is what kept them apart as separate species, although they are both relatively tolerant of a wide range of conditions. Human activity, particularly felling of woodland, has resulted in them ending up in each others' "territory" and they can sometimes even be seen growing side-by-side. The easiest way to tell them apart is from the shape of the leaves which are heart-shaped in the common dog violet but upside-down teardrop-shaped in the case of the heath dog violet.
Birds are technically considered reptiles and the only surviving group of dinosaurs as they are the descendants of the group known as theropods (that Tyrannosaurus rex belonged to). The oldest bird fossils are about 150 million years old and looked like small, feathered dinosaurs with sharp teeth.
Some of the Public Rights of Way originating from mediaeval times appear as sunken paths, also known as holloways from the Old English hola weg, a sunken road. There are different reasons for the lane being lower than the surrounding land. In some cases it was simply erosion caused by horses, carts and rainwater over hundreds of years. There are also examples where ditches formed between banks as a boundary between estates and then later adopted as a convenient location for travel or droving animals.
An elm tree has been planted on Kilkhampton Common as part of Great British Elm Experiment.
Dutch elm disease wiped out over 25 million elms in Britain but a small number of trees survived. Cuttings taken from mature trees that have survived Dutch elm disease for over 60 years (mostly wych and field elm) have been micro-propagated. The resulting saplings have been distributed to schools, community groups, local authorities and private landowners who have signed up to take part in The Great British Elm Experiment. It is hoped that a proportion of these trees may prove resistant to the disease. It's also likely that amongst the millions of small elms in the hedgerows, disease-resistant mutations will eventually occur.
Wildflowers along the tracks and lanes sustain a number of different bumblebee species.
Bumblebees were originally called "humble bees". From the 16th Century onward, both terms were in use but even during Victorian times, "humble bees" was the term that Charles Darwin and other naturalists used for them. After the Second World War, the humble version rapidly died out.
Trees need a lot of water. A large oak tree can absorb around 450 litres of water per day, most of which is released into the atmosphere as water vapour through transpiration. Trees therefore help to reduce flooding from heavy rain in low-lying river floodplains and also reduce erosion from runoff.
A flower is effectively an advert to insects that nectar is available and the reason that flowers are coloured and scented is so these adverts get noticed. The basic idea with most flowers is to lure the insect in with a bribe of nectar and then whilst they are there, unload pollen they are carrying from another flower, stick some pollen to them from this flower, and send them on their way.
The settlement of Burridge dates from mediaeval times. It was recorded in 1296 as Berigge which is from the Old English for "barley ridge". The settlement was once larger, extending down the valley a little. There is a well in the middle of the field behind the house and some buildings once stood close to this.
The word "farm" has the same origins as (e.g. law) "firm". Both words are related to the mediaeval Latin word firma meaning "fixed payment". Its original use in English was to do with contracts and leasing (which is why "to farm out" means "to subcontract"). In fact the word "farm" had no association with food production until the 19th Century. In the 16th Century it began to be applied to leasing of land and the association with farmland developed from this.
In June, foxgloves flower along the track.
As well as attracting insects, the brightly coloured foxglove flowers serve as a warning for animals that the plants contain toxins. All parts of the plant can cause a range of ill-effects in humans from nausea to heart and kidney problems which can be fatal.
Many flowers have patterns not visible to the human eye because they require ultraviolet wavelengths to distinguish them. Humans only have 3 colour receptors (red, green and blue) whereas many pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies have more receptors that span into the ultraviolet. They perceive colour quite differently from us and the ultraviolet patterns often point to the location of the nectar within the flower, much like a coloured arrow used to indicate where to open a food package.
An impressively purple blackberry, pear and ginger chutney can be made with blackberries stashed in the freezer. Simmer 500g blackberries, a few chilli flakes, 4 chopped pears and a finely-chopped 8cm piece of fresh ginger until the liquid reduces. Add 150ml distilled or white wine vinegar, and sugar to taste (amount will depend on tartness of the blackberries). Reduce a bit longer until the desired "gloopy" consistency is achieved and finally season with a little salt to taste to balance the sweetness.
Bramble roots are perennial but its shoots last just two years. In the first year, the shoots grow vigorously (up to 8cm in one day!). In the second year, the shoots mature and send out side-shoots with flowers.
The woodland ahead is known as Lee Wood.
The paths through Lee Wood and Stowe Woods, adjacent to the hamlet of Coombe, were laid in 1970 by the Forestry Commission as part of the Coombe Valley Nature Trail, when many of the conifer plantations were created. Coombe is a Cornish word for "valley", so "Coombe Valley" is another of the tautologies which have arisen from appending an English word to an already fully descriptive Cornish name.
About half-way to the bridge, a small path leads off the the left to an area overlooking the stream with some rope swings.
On top of the elevated area to the left, beneath the trees, is a circular earth embankment which is thought to be the remains of an Iron Age settlement. The elevated position and nearby stream were probably factors in selecting the location.
A short distance up the stream on the right is a large patch of wild garlic on the right-hand bank.
Wild garlic is best harvested in early spring before it flowers and the leaves start to die off. Unlike domestic garlic, the leaves are generally used rather than the bulb, which is very small. Note that there are some lilies that look very similar and are poisonous! If it doesn't smell strongly of garlic/onions, then it's not wild garlic and should be avoided. A schoolboy error is to rub the leaves between fingers where the smell lingers so a subsequent poisonous lily leaf could be misidentified.
Trees grow from a microscopically thin layer of cells that sits between the bark and the wood. On the outside it produces the inner bark (phloem) and on the inside it produces the outer section of wood (xylem).
Conifer needles contain a waxy coating to retain more water and their shape reduces wind resistance. Both of these help them to colonise exposed upland areas where (unfrozen) water is more scarce. The needles are also less prone to snow damage as snow slides off the young outer needles and only accumulates where needle growth is dense. Conifers do shed their needles but typically keep them for 2-3 years before doing so to economise on the energy needed to create new leaves.
The first trees evolved about 360 million years ago which were a bit like tree versions of mosses. Seeds hadn't evolved at this point and so they reproduced via spores. After the arrival of the seed came conifers which were the dominant form of trees for nearly 200 million years. The flower evolved around 100 million years ago and following this, broadleaf trees appeared and eventually out-competed conifers in many habitats.
The woodland contains quite a mixture of trees. The broadleaf species include beech and oak.
For such a widespread tree, the oak is surprisingly inefficient at reproducing naturally. It can take 50 years before the tree has its first crop of acorns and even then, the overwhelming majority of the acorns that it drops are eaten by animals or simply rot on the ground. Squirrels play an important part by burying acorns and occasionally forgetting a few which have a much better chance of growing than on the surface.
Young beech leaves can be used as a salad vegetable, which are described as being similar to a mild cabbage, though much softer in texture. Older leaves are a bit chewy, as you'd expect.
Beech trees can live up to 400 years but the normal range is 150-250 years. Beech trees respond well to pruning and the lifetime of the tree is extended when the tree is pollarded. This was once a common practice and involves cutting all the stems back to a height of about 6ft during the winter when the tree is dormant. The 6ft starting point kept the fresh new growth out of the range of grazing animals. When allowed to grow to full size, a beech tree can reach 80ft tall with a trunk diameter of around 3ft.
In late summer, purple betony flowers can be seen in the hedgerows. Sheltered from the winds, the plants grow quite a bit taller than on the coast.
Betony is a grassland herb, common on the coast, with pretty purple anthers that stick out from the plant. The name is derived from the ancient Celtic words bew (meaning head) and ton (meaning good) as it was used as a cure for headaches. From Roman times onward, it was believed to be a cure for a number of things (the Romans listed 47!) including drunkenness. Even as late as the 1800s, Richard E. Banks stated that you should "Eat betony or the powder thereof and you cannot be drunken that day" and John Gerard (1597) said that "It maketh a man to pisse well". Betony was also used to ward away evil spirits (hence it is planted in a number of churchyards) and also to make a dark yellow dye for wool.
Cornwall had a number of its own peculiar units of measurement:
The National Trust is the largest owner of farms in the UK. It has around 2,000 tenants and over 600,000 acres of land. It has been calculated that 43% of all the rainwater in England and Wales drains through National Trust land.
Buttercups produce a toxin called protoanemonin, which is at its highest concentration when flowering. It is thought that buttercups may be partly responsible for Equine Grass Sickness. Fortunately the toxin is quite unstable and drying of the plant in haymaking leads to polymerisation into non-toxic anemonin. Buttercups are also toxic to dogs, cats and humans. They have a bitter taste which puts dogs off eating the plants but pollen can collect on fur and be ingested, particularly by cats when they clean themselves. A man in France who drank a glass of juice made from buttercups suffered severe colic after four hours and was dead the next day!
During Victorian times and earlier, small amounts of land in Cornwall were measured by the goad - a unit of nine feet in length, derived from the name of the staff used to drive oxen.
An English acre was less generous (at 43,560 square feet) than a Cornish acre (51,840 square feet). Although both were defined as 160 smaller land units, the English equivalent to the Cornish goad was a perch but this was 5.5 yards (16.5 ft) rather than the two-goad length used in Cornwall of 6 yards (18 ft). It is thought that the reason the perch ended up as a non-round number of feet is that it was originally measured from 20 averaged-sized human feet in Saxon times when nutrition wasn't great.
The ramparts are the remains of Penstowe Castle, built to the Norman motte and bailey design.
A bailey was essentially a fortified settlement, typically on the top of an embankment and surrounded by wooden pallisades. If breached, the motte provided an even more fortified position for retreat and defence during a siege.
Just before you go through the gate, the path to the right leads onto the top of the Norman castle remains. There are good views from the top of the motte.
Penstowe castle was built to a motte and bailey design, positioned on a knoll and surrounded by steep slopes. Penstowe is unusual in that it has two baileys. The inner bailey contained a hall and other administrative buildings. No building remains have been found in the outer bailey so its function is a bit of a mystery. It's possible that it did once contain buildings but these were wooden and so no trace remains.
The motte would have been accessed by a drawbridge over the ditch to the bailey and topped with a tower (circular stone foundations have been found). Excavations of the motte in 1950 revealed 12th Century pottery so it's thought that the castle may have been built during the 12th Century civil war period known as The Anarchy and that it was destroyed during the reign of Henry II towards the end of the 12th Century.
The yew trees in British churchyards are some of the oldest yew trees found anywhere in the world and yews can live for thousands of years: the Forestry Commission described them as "the toughest, most indestructible and longest lived tree we have". It is therefore possible that some of the ancient yews are older than the adjacent church buildings as Christianity took over many sacred places from the previous religious traditions: in AD 601, Pope Gregory advised his followers not to destroy places of Pagan worship but to convert them into Christian Churches.
Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, around 300 million years ago in the "age of amphibians" before the dinosaurs. Fossils of early dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet across.
Dragonflies are named after the way they hunt, as both the larvae and adults are carnivorous predators. Mosquitoes form a large part of their diet both for adults and particularly for the larvae (nymphs). One dragonfly can eat tens of mosquitoes in a day and an average of over 100 per day has been recorded for the nymphs of some species. It is thought that this is an important factor in keeping the mosquito population under control. Dragonfly nymphs have a massive lower jaw to engulf their prey (a bit like an Angler Fish) and are also able to propel themselves by shooting a jet of water out of their anus.
Their two sets of wings beat out of phase, and the frequency, amplitude and the angles of each set of wings can be controlled. This allows dragonflies to hover in a completely stationary position for over a minute, perform extravagant aerobatic manoeuvres and even fly backwards.
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