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Harvington Mill is at our feet, and the spire of the village church is
visible beyond; further up the stream, some distance beyond the
hanging wood, is Cleeve Mill, one of the prettiest spots on the river.
The village of Cleeve Prior lies behind the bank, and there may be
seen, besides the picturesque cottages and church, the old Manor, now
a farmhouse, with a quaint avenue of box, elaborately clipped, leading
to the front door. Over the fields on the further bank are the
Salfords, and among the trees the curved gables of a fine old Jacobean
mansion may be distinguished. The next place of interest on the stream
is Bidford with its many arched bridge of mediæval date.
If we follow the downward course of the Avon we find ourselves making
a circuit of the town; for a considerable distance the Bell Tower does
not leave us but seems to follow our boat, and ever and anon it
reappears over the meadows and among the trees on our right hand.
Hampton Church stands on rising ground, among the trees, on our left,
and soon we are at Hampton Ferry. If we prefer the walk we can take a
footpath by the bridge or the Bell Tower, and follow the winding
stream to this point. According to the old chronicles a church was
built at Hampton, in the reign of Canute, by Leofric and Godiva, so
well known in the regions of romance, and they gave land here to the
Abbey. The church we see was built and rebuilt by the Monastery, but
whether on the ancient site we know not. It is a small but beautiful
example of perpendicular architecture, and with the dark spreading yew
tree, the remains of the old cross, and the delicately weathered
tombstones, it makes a picture upon which the eye dwells with calm
satisfaction.
The hill above the ferry is Clark's Hill, and the bank we are told was
terraced by the monks of old as a vineyard. Whether tradition is true
to facts we cannot surely say; a field beyond the ridge still bears
the name of the vineyard, and this may have been the actual site. The
ascent of the steep bank is rewarded on a clear day by the splendid
panorama which lies around. From the terrace walk we look down upon
the town, noticing with regret the predominating hues of brick and
slate which mark the modern suburbs; but the old tower, the churches,
and the gatehouse, despoiled but yet dignified, unconsciously hold
the eye. The old wall of the Abbey precincts ended here at the river,
and beside it runs Boat Lane, which would bring us out on the Green.
Looking down the stream, over the railway bridges, we see Green Hill,
with the Abbey Manor and its grounds the most prominent feature. At
some little distance to the right of the house is a grassy comb, and
at the upper end is the spring to which legend points as the spot
where Simon de Montfort was slain, and which still bears the name
Battlewell.
Stretched around us are the Cotswolds, and if we take a path, or lane,
leading over the hill westward we may, from the brow, behold Malvern's
rugged length and the isolated mass of Bredon. Further northward, if
the atmosphere be clear, we should distinguish the most striking
height of the Abberly range, a peak which on one side would almost
seem to overhang, and, away beyond, the Clee heights looking down on
the beautiful and historic town of Ludlow.
Returning to our boat, we glide beneath the Abbey Manor, with its
wooded slopes, and presently we reach Chadbury Lock and Mill. On a
fair and warm day we may rest here in perfect content, listening to
the rush of the weir, watching the swallows flit and skim over the
calm water and break the glassy surface into circling ripples; or
gazing with silent pleasure down the stream as it continues its
peaceful course by wood and meadow.
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New, Edmund H. - Evesham