Kimble and the Ridgeway Path
Grid
reference: SP 825 058 (Great Kimble); SP 848 068 (Coombe
Hill); SP 826 065 (All Saints Church, Little Kimble).
Location:
Start at Great Kimble parking in the layby on the A4010 between Princes
Risborough and Aylesbury. Coombe Hill is about 5 km along the footpath network,
passing Beacon Hill on the way (see under 'Ellesborough')
Interest
summary: stunning scenery over Chalk hills, scarp and vale scenery with
Chalk grassland vegetation and woodland.
Cross-section
from Aylesbury to Coombe Hill showing the rocks beneath the surface that create
the scarp and vale landscape. Note how the
Upper Icknield Way
is on Chalk and hence is better drained in winter than the lower path which is
sited on clay.
There are many points on this walk where the path lays across or close to dry
valleys (see the photograph below). These features dissect the landscape and
form the beautiful rounded hills and valleys of the Chilterns. However, they are
a relatively young feature – forming from around half a million years ago
during the cold phases of the ice age.
Dry valley on the Ridgeway Path near
Kimble
Where the Ridgeway crosses the
Icknield Way
(close to Pulpit Hill) the deeply worn groove of the ancient footpath is very
obvious. Here, thousands of years of wear and tear have left their mark as a
deep depression, a result of people, animals and carts, of which many were
dragging logs from the well-wooded slopes to villages laying at the edge of the
escarpment in the vale.
The flora is typically chalk downland and is maintained by grazing. However,
there is a sudden and distinct change at the top of Coombe Hill where the area of
broom, heather and gorse are evidence for a more acidic soil. This is a good
example of how biology can help geologists determine geological boundaries.
Where these acid-loving plants suddenly appear, is the area that is underlain by
Clay-with-flints. Clay-with-flints is not always acid in character, it can
sometimes be neutral or slightly alkaline.
All
Saints Church, Little Kimble
This XIII century church (below) is just off
the A4010, with its gate in the
Ellesborough Road
(walked to from the parking described above). It contains some wonderful
medieval paintings and tiles. It also contains a Norman font, no doubt re-used
from the earlier Norman site upon which this church was built. The wall around
the church is built from local sarsen stone (the sandy Denner Hill type), topped
by flint blocks. The flint was probably obtained from local pits dug into the
Clay-with-flints, as there is an abundant source on the hill tops all around
this site. A nice decorative touch is the large ammonite laid into the wall near
the gate (below).
All Saints Church,
Little Kimble built incorporating some of the local stone: sarsen, flint, Chalk
Rock and local
Portland
Limestone (browner and shelly), with corner blocks composed of
Portland
Limestone from
Dorset
(newer repairs and a paler rock to the local variety). The Chalk Rock has a
local name of ‘Rag’ and this freestone no doubt was extracted from the
nearby site of Aston Clinton Ragpits (a BBOWT nature reserve at SP 888 108).
Coombe
Hill monument - what is the rock?
(contact
us if you can identify it!)