15. Stonyhurst, Lancashire.

Details:- This was a Sunday afternoon stroll, all mellowed out after a good lunch. The walk started at Stonyhurst College and took me down to the River Ribble, along the river bank of both the Ribble and its tributary the Hodder, past Cromwell's bridge, and back up to the college. Distance:- 7 miles; Going:- it drizzled, but was easy to walk. Progress:- Walked 168 - to go 332.

Photographs hyperlink

Stonyhurst College.

The approach down the mile long Avenue is impressive. This huge collection of interconnecting buildings are Grade 1 listed as of architectural/historic interest. Only 2% of listed buildings are Grade 1, so this then is one of Lancashire's finest.

From The Air....

showing something more of the size and scale. St Peters church at bottom right hand corner can accommodate 600 or so pupils at mass on a Sunday morning.

The Upper Corridor.

In the 1970's many of the college's Durer engravings were hung on these walls. After some eight or so Rembrandts were stolen in the early 1980's the Society of Jesus was forced to be a little more circumspect with its possessions!

Cromwell's Bridge.

No longer in use, Cromwell's Bridge once carried a packhorse trail over the River Hodder, about a mile from its confluence with the Ribble. It earned its name after Oliver Cromwell's parliamentary army crossed the bridge on their way from Gisburn to where they fought the King's men in the Battle of Preston. There is in the refectory at the college a long table with an inscription under it to the effect of: 'Cromwell slept 'Ere'. What provenance there is for this is a little unclear.

The River Hodder....

....drains much of the Forest of Bowland, and the upper reaches also feed the large Stocks Reservoir which supplies much of Lancashire with its water. The School still owns much of the farming land around the lower reaches, together with the fishing rights. In this river I once managed to tickle a young trout out from under his stone - but that was many years ago!