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Maud Heath`s column is one of my favourite follies, although to be truly accurate it is really a memorial.
Perched on the ridge of Wick Hill looking out over the countryside to the northwest of Calne sits a very patient Maud Heath, walking stick in right hand and her shopping basket ready by her side.









The column is approximately sixty foot high by my estimate, and consists of the lower square base of six foot height, with another taller square section again, on top of this the main column starts which is octagonal in shape.


Who Was Maud Heath ?
It was erected by the Marquis of Lansdowne and the local vicar, William Bowles, in 1838 to record the fact that a Maud Heath, a wealthy widow, had left a sum of money in her will to enable a 4½ mile causeway to be built over an area of low lying wet ground. Part of the causeway still clearly being seen at Kellaways, where it consists of a raised section of pathway on sixty brick arches running alongside the road.
Her death had occurred in 1474 however, and two memorials each end of the causeway had already been erected to record this event. Perhaps it was just a suitable excuse to build something entertaining, and at the same time give a platform for the local vicar and poet (an eccentric character friendly with Wordsworth and Coleridge) to pen his verse.
Photo: It Is Not Recorded Who Maud`s Hairdresser Was.


Erected At the joint expense by Henry Marquess of Lansdowne Lord of the Manor and Wm L Bowles, vicar of The Parish of Bremhill Trustee`s 1838

"Thou who dost pause on this aerial height,
Where Maud Heath`s pathway winds in shade or light,
Christian wayfarer in a world of strife
Be still, and ponder on the path of life."


It would be interesting to see what William Bowles would think of the world 160 years after he penned the words " a world of strife".
Five years after this was erected the Marquis went on to build a much larger affair Cherhill Obelisk  .

A Committee of Trustees still manage an investment fund for the maintenance of the causeway, 526 years after Maud left her gift.


Visiting:-
Access to the monument is fairly easy as a bridle path runs right along side. There is also a stone seat to sit and admire the excellent view.

Co-Ords: 397300 173860 / ST 973738  

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