Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope MoncrieffMoncrieff, A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope)
History
Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope Moncrieff
Moncrieff, A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope)
Surrey (England) -- Description and travel
A short mile on from Shere is Gomshall, whose "Black Horse" stands close
to the station for both villages, as for the more distant charms of
Abinger and Holmbury St. Mary. From the Tillingbourne, here harnessed to
industry, also giving a subject to art in an often-painted mill, the
Pilgrims' Way now mounted on to the Downs, looking across to the park of
Wotton and the sloping woodlands of Leith Hill. I have usually left the
reader to imagine for himself the views from these heights; but here I
may quote the description by that expert Mr. Baddeley, which figures in
more than one guide-book.
Take the lane going off from the mill (near the _Black Horse_) up
the hill. When the lane expands take path on left through the wood
to a field with path going right up its steep incline. At top of
field, before again entering the woods, a superb view eastward is
obtained. Through a gap in the hills, between Box Hill and
Deepdene, we look far away over the Weald of Kent. The crowning
height of Leith Hill with its tower lies south-east, then the eye
ranges over the valley between the Chalk and Greensand ranges to
Holmbury and Ewhurst Mill. The South Downs appear in the blue
distance to the left of the Hambledon Hills, and the irregular
crest of Hindhead west of them. The whole is framed by the woods on
either side of the field in which we stand. Entering the wood at
top of this field, the path soon rejoins the cart-track from the
lane that we left, and we reach the open meadows on the hill-top.
Here the woods shut out any view. Proceeding westward along two
meadows, at some farm buildings we take a path leading left into
the woods over Shere, and in a few yards after entering these,
obtain a view south and west that is even more beautiful than the
one just described. From no point does the Vale of Chilworth appear
to such advantage. Albury Park and the village of Shere are
immediately below us, and far away we trace the vale past Chilworth
to Shalford. Ewhurst Mill is again prominent due south, and the
sweep round to Hindhead, already described, is continued to the
Hog's Back, seen stretching westward like a long green gable roof.
The prominent feature is St. Martha's Hill, with its chapel
standing out as a lonely beacon in the distance. Charter House is
seen to the south-west, the Devil's Jumps being to the right of it,
and the hills of Hants beyond.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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