Shroton (Iwerne Courtney) to Iwerne Minster

We'd walked one of our Cranborne Circles this morning, then we'd met up with our little grandson, with his father (our son-in-law) and his other grandmother at Cranborne Manor Gardens. Both activities had been thoroughly enjoyable and the weather this evening was pleasant, so after Richard had made his daily phone call to his 97-year old mother,  we headed out again.  We had been curious to visit Iwerne Manor, the next village to the north of Shroton (Iwerne Courtney) where we were staying, and when we'd driven through Iwerne Manor we'd not spotted anywhere obvious to park. So walking there was the most sensible option. Fortunately the White Hart Way links the two villages by way of an easy,  pleasant walk and well-signposted route, partly alongside the River Iwerne. 

Our route out of Shroton was down "The Cor" then, before the cul-de-sac at the end, we went  through a gate on our left, into a field. We followed around behind the houses of the cul-de-sac and then down to the river. There is actually a footbridge over the river here;  we could see that crossing it now would take us in the wrong direction, but had we crossed it on the return leg (which we didn't) I think we'd have ended up on the footpath which emerges onto Frog Lane between our cottage and the A350.  For now we were going the other way! We crossed a field and caught up with a dog walker who asked if the dog she had see bolting was ours. We didn't see either the dog or its owner, but I do hope the two were reunited. 

We soon reached Oyles Mill, now a most attractive house or houses, but even before we'd seen the name, it was clear that it was once a water mill. A passageway took us onto a modern cul-de-sac and so onto the A350 (which has a pavement here) on the outskirts of Iwerne Minster. We continued north, passing the point where the route of the White Hart Link turns off the main road to the left to head down to a trout farm and around the back of Clayesmore School. Meanwhile, after passing The Talbot, we turned right towards the centre of the village. 

The Talbot and surrounding buildings have the look of a 19th Century Estate Village, and  it turns out that they were indeed built by the owner of the estate, one James Ismay whose father Thomas Henry Ismay had founded the White Star Shipping line, of Titanic fame. However, the buildings were actually built in the  early 20th Century,  influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. James Ismay had bought the estate in 1908 and on his death in 1930, the Manor House was bought by Clayesmore School.  We walked up to the Church, passing some very attractive buildings clearly dating back to medieval times. All that remained to be done was to retrace our steps back to Shroton.