Felsham: "The Walmsley Meadows"

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On a contemporary OS map, it can be seen how the "Walmsley Meadows" footpath provides a useful link between the Gedding Right of Way which runs from Wentis Farm towards Grange Farm, and the RoW from Bury Road which runs along the southern border of Felsham house and which provides access to Bradfield Woods.


Image produced from the Ordnance Survey http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap


Photo of gate at western end of the "Walmsley Meadows" on Bury Road.

If this path was included on the Definitive Map [i.e. it became a Right of Way], then it would not only improve non-road access for Gedding people to Bradfield Woods and Felsham Upper Green, it would also provide a useful circular recreational route for people in Felsham. Additionally, the road between Felsham and Gedding does not have a continuous 30 m.p.h. speed restriction and also has difficult bends for walkers to negotiate. This footpath would provide a safer route from Gedding to Felsham.


Photo of kissing gate at eastern end of the "Walmsley Meadows"

The tithe map for Felsham [1838] names two pasture fields near the boundary of Felsham and Gedding called Street Meadow and Cane's Meadow. One of the tributaries of the Rattlesden River runs along the southern edge of these meadows.



Google Earth image of the "Walmsley Meadows" showing how a hedge has been removed and the two original meadows made into one:



You can just see where the original hedge was situated.

The OS map of 1902-03 [2nd ed.] clearly marks the route of a footpath [F.P.] across these meadows. [Beginning and end of footpath is shown by red arrows]. Unfortunately, this footpath was not included in the Definitive Map for Felsham drawn up in the 1950s.


The OS map of 1902-03 [2nd ed.] Reproduced by kind permission of Suffolk Record Office [Bury St Edmunds]


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Extending the footpath network in Felsham, Suffolk

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Image produced from the Ordnance Survey http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap


Felsham has just over seven miles of public footpaths which provide good links to many parts of the parish and to neighbouring villages. However, there is evidence that a number of footpaths that existed in about 1900 are "lost". These are footpaths that are clearly shown on earlier maps but which, for one reason or another, were not included in the definitive rights of way maps drawn up by the parish council and the county council in the 1950s and 1960s.

The map below highlights in green some of the footpaths that existed in 1900 and which were probably well-used up to the 1950s, but which are not designated Rights of Way:


The OS map of 1902-03 [2nd ed.] Reproduced by kind permission of Suffolk Record Office [Bury St Edmunds]

The historical background to the drafting of the Definitive maps can be found in:
Marion Shoard : « THIS LAND IS OUR LAND – the struggle for Britain’s Countryside », Paladin, 1987 pp 237 - 332