We stumbled on this bizarre Grade II listed monument on our Clarendon Way walk – we had never heard of it and would probably never have visited it had we not been walking the Clarendon Way. Which would have been a shame as it is one of those bizarre, quintessentially and ridiculously English places.
The monument is in memory of a horse, given the somewhat unusual name ‘Beware Chalk Pit’ – it’s owner, Paulet St John, whilst fox hunting on the horse had fallen into a deep chalk pit in 1733; astonishingly neither was injured. A year later St John won the Hunters’ Plate race at Winchester on the same horse having renamed it after their ‘escape’ from the 25 foot pit. In between his riding exploits, St John found time to be an MP and Mayor of Winchester. In 1772 he was awarded a baronetcy, becoming the 3rd Earl of Bolingbroke. There are two plaques on the monument – one inside and one outside above one of the ‘fake’ porches, stating that the monument was actually rebuilt in 1870 by Sir William Heathcote after the original monument was found to be ‘somewhat dilapidated’ in 1863. It was again restored in 1950, 2014 and most recently in 2024.
Even if you’re not doing the Clarendon Way, I would definitely recommend a visit to this Hampshire folly Farley Mount Country Park is perfect for a ramble too. In West Wood within the park, a 4th century Roman villa was discovered in 1895, excavated between 1965-72. An almost complete mosaic floor was found that is now in Winchester’s City Museum. The ground plans of the villa were used to build a replica at Butser Ancient Farm. A Roman road running from West Wood to Pitt Down once linked Old Sarum (Salisbury) with Venta Belgarum (Winchester). There seems to be invisible strands linking everything together.
