Claypit Wood, Farnham Great Park

page written by Peter Tipton Nov 2006

Claypit Wood lies in the centre of the former Great Park of the Bishop of Winchester, to the west of Farnham Castle, and north-west of the town. If you take sheet 145 of the Ordnance Survey Explorer Map series (1:25,000 scale) and lay a ruler on it with Claypit Wood at one end and Farnborough Hill school at the other, then you will notice names such as Claycart Bottom, Claycart Stream and Claycart Hill in the vicinity of Rushmoor Arena, in the managed access area owned by the Ministry of Defence. On this line there is a bridge across the Basingstoke Canal which Arthur Lunn names as Claycart Bridge.

Michael Young of the Sandhurst Historical Society, a longtime amateur archaeologist, tells me that he once investigated the line taken by your ruler as a supposed Roman Road which forked from the A30 at the Jolly Farmer between Bagshot and Camberley. Close to this line, near the route taken by the claycarts are two ancient monuments: the inevitable Caesar's Camp and, overlooking Claycart Stream in Claycart Bottom is the intriguingly named Bat's Hogsty. Michael says this latter is supposed to be of Roman origin.

It therefore seems most probable that claycarts were loaded at Claypit Wood with the special white clay used to make the Tudor Grene drinking potts purchased by the Inns of Court, and that the claycarts trundled by the most direct route to the Elizabethan potteries at Farnborough Hill, discovered after the tree blew down in 1967. If this route proves to be an old Roman road then we can speculate that claycarts used this route for a very long time indeed.

On Sunday 19 Nov 2006 Caroline and Reg Powell, Elizabeth and myself walked from Bentley Church to Castle Street in Farnham taking the recently opened long distance path called St Swithun's Way using the guide published by Hampshire County Council. This long distance path from Winchester to Farnham connects with the South Downs Way from Farnham to Canterbury and follows the route likely to have been taken by pilgrims from the older shrine of St Swithun to the later shrine of St Thomas a Becket. The short section we walked (roughly half the 13 mile section between Alton and Farnham) passes close to four castles: the Bishop's Castle near Bentley, Barley Pound Ring and Baileys (Crondall Castle), Powderham Castle and Farnham Castle. We left St Swinthun's Way to look at Barley Pound and Powderham. The walk guide tells us about these castles and also mentions the Roman potteries at Crock Farm to the west of Bentley and the kiln in Bentley itself.

Claypit Wood is show on the pictoral map in the guide but the considerable post-mediaeval pottery industry it supported is not mentioned. Even though the Bishop's Great Park was disparked 400 years ago, it still feels like a park, reminiscent of Windsor Great Park. St Swithun's Way passes the northern edge of Claypit Wood and it is possible to look over the barbed wire at the old clay pits. At the eastern end of the bridleway, passed the claypits, a dead straight bridleway runs NNW on a line to connect with the track passing through Claycart Bottom. Buildings stand where this track meets St Swithun's Way. One can speculate that it was here that the large lumbering claycarts were loaded for their journey to Farnborough and Cove. Perhaps smaller carts were used by the clay diggers to bring the clay to this possible clay yard. However all this is pure speculation on which archaeology might help throw some light.

How long these woods have provided clay is another mystery which archaeology might help solve. We know there were Roman potteries nearby - giving a possible earliest date. The latest date is probably very recent. Michael Young tells me that his father, when he ran the family building business, purchased a load of tiles from the brick and tile works when it was closing down. He reckons the location was on or close to the St Swithun's Way in Farnham Great Park.

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