A Hidden Selection of Wooden Erections

Just two wooden erections of note on this walk really: firstly, Britain's oldest working windmill, a post mill, built in the calamitous year of 1665 in Outwood; and secondly, the rare timber tower of the church in Burstow, which dates from the 16th Century, and would be more at home in Essex than in Surrey. Between these is a route as you'd expect in the Low Weald hidden from the M23: winding lanes and grassy footpaths crossing arable fields, small woodlands (called 'shaws'), and settlements with varying degrees of suburbanization. The starting point, Horley, is a substantial town, and Burstow is rather suburbanized, but Outwood is cottages scattered around heathland, and all immaculately preserved.

The sights:

Burstow: "Much of it is timidly suburbanized, but the group near the church keeps its big trees and seclusion" (Ian Nairn, The Buildings of England: Surrey). Burstow Lodge is a C15 hall house hidden by stucco and tile-hanging.

Burstow Church: St Bartholomew's most notable feature is the timber tower. Stone base, weatherboarded, lean-to roofs, pinnacles, shingled tower and spire, all separate from the body of the church. This is perpendicular gothic, C14, with some Norman windows. The first Astronomer Royal and the founder of The Royal Greenwich Observatory, Sir John Flamsteed, was rector of the church and is buried in the chancel with his wife. His other main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, Catalogus Britannicus, and a star atlas called Atlas Coelestis which greatly aided navigation. He also made the first recorded observations (in 1690) of the Solar System's seventh planet, Uranus, although he mistook it for a star, naming it 34 Tauri. (It was Sir William Herschel who rediscovered it (in 1781), published his findings and conjectured that it might be a planet, and it was German astronomer Johann Elert Bode who named it, in the C19.)

Smallfield Place:  A fine moated manor house of 1600, altered in 1660. Some demolition of the wrings in the C18. The moat is now reduced to two ponds.

Outwood Windmill:  Grade I-listed. Built in 1665 by Thomas Budgen. Britain's oldest working windmill. Brick roundhouse base with a tarred, weatherboarded top. "In regular use, a delightful sight - pre-industrial, demure and domestic, without the scale of the later mills" (Ian Nairn, The Buildings of England: Surrey). The builders of the mill are said to have watched the Great Fire of London glowing in the distance, some 25 miles (40 km) away. One of a pair after 1797, alongside a smock mill that had the tallest tower in the UK until its collapse in 1960. 

Outwood: Unpretentious cottages around heathland (it sits on a cap of hard limestone on top of the soft Wealden clay). St John the Baptist Church, 1869 by William Burges. Wasp Green Farmhouse is late C17 but with a C15 frame. We'll have a drink in this village after lunch in The Castle Inn. 

The route (please click the link to see it):

Leaving Horley by heading southeast along Victoria Road, Balcome Road and Haroldslea Drive, a footpath will take us to Peeks Brook Lane where we'll head south and cross the M23 on Church Lane. Church Road and footpaths, also heaidng east will bring us to Dowlands Lane and Chithurst Lane which we'll follow north to Wilmot's Lane to get to Outwood for lunch. After a wander across the Common, we'll follow the Tandridge Border Path south to the pub and beyond. On Rookery Hill, we'll head west and use a bridleway to cross the M23 on a footbridge. Footpaths will take us west to Hathersham Farm and Lane and further footpaths will bring us to Lake Lane, where heading south, then southeast through suburbia, will take us back to Horley along Smallfield Lane and Station Road.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them as it's not too long although there are a few roads to walk along and cross. A dog off the lead must be under control.

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(Picture credits: Outwood Mill: Photo © David Howard (cc-by-sa/2.0); Outwood Windmill: Photo © Jim Woodward-Nutt (cc-by-sa/2.0); Burstow church: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Chithurst Lane: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Wasp Well: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Outwood Windmill: Photo © James Insell (cc-by-sa/2.0); Prince of Wales Road: Photo © Oast House Archive (cc-by-sa/2.0); All pictures are copyrighted but are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0 and are here attributed to their copyright holders.)