Sprig Muslin is set on the borders of three counties ... Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire. The border with Bedfordshire (it is Bedford where Sir Gareth is taking Amanda when Hildebrand holds them up) is not far away. Whether this was the case in the period when the novel is set, I don't know.

The country around here is quite interesting. To the north east lies fen country - the flat levels that can be richly rewarding in agricultural terms. There is mention in the novel that Brancaster Park is in the fens:

"The Earl of Brancaster's family seat was situated not man miles from Chatteris, in the heart of the fens. The mansion was as undistinguished as the surrounding countryside ..." Chapter 2

Georgette Heyer does not seem to have liked fen country much; in A Civil Contract, Jenny's gloomy first impressions are described, and it is strongly implied that one would have to be a Deverill and born there really to love it - although Jenny adapts well to Lincolnshire. Actually, it seems to me that it is a little excessive to describe Chatteris as being in the "heart of the fens"; it is more on the fringes.

The countryside that Amanda and Sir Gareth travel through is not described in detail, and this is a great shame. It centres around the area I have covered in the map below, but this can only give a very slight impression.

This is actually an area of little steep hills and deep valleys ... "folded" country if you like. Some villages are built on the high open plains that intersect the folds ... but in this part of the country, they will tell you, the winds blow straight from Siberia (there being no mountains in between to interrupt the flow!). This means that many of the villages have been built in the depths of the folds for protection. But the time you move as far east as Great Staughton, this is less true, as the countryside begins to flatten out, but this area still shares features with the very rolling area to the west.

This was the place where the steeplechase form of horse racing began. Originally, it was literally "steeple chasing". Horses and riders would set off from one village and ride as hard and fast as they could to the next village ... initially perceived only by its steeple rising above the horizon. Then they would head for the next village ... and the next ...

The church steeples in this area are very well worth chasing. It is a great area for medieval wool churches; local farmers, growing wealthy on the profits of trading fleeces with the nearby Netherlands, wanted to show their respect to God by creating magnificent churches in their villages. A trade grew up, with master masons moving from one village to another ... creating a church, and then, with their apprentices and journeymen, moving on to the next.

The result is a distinct and unique style of churches. Rather than towers, most of the churches have steeples, but not the usual long graceful steeples that are associated with great cathedrals like Salisbury. Instead, these are quite stocky stone steeples, often with windows set into their length. In all but shape, they are clearly church towers.

St. Dennis, Colmworth - in Sprig Muslin, Barnabas Vinehall lives near Colmworth

If you are interested in finding out more about the history of these villages - particularly the churches, there are some interesting local history sites - particularly for the Bedford area, where an excellent site is maintained by the Bedfordshire FHS. Indeed, it was from there that I took the picture of Colmworth church.

These are some sites you might like to start with:
Bedfordshire FHS
Huntingdonshire FHS
Cambridgeshire FHS.

Another interesting feature of this area is the number of airfields that are located here. This is partly a hang-over from the Second World War, when the flat plains made a good launching site for aircraft - both British and US - involved with attacks on Germany. After the end of the War, many of these were abandoned, but several lived on as USAF bases, many with nuclear weapons sited there - including nearby bases such as Alconbury, Lakenheath and Mildenhall.

My interest in this part of the country dates back to the mid to late 1980s. Art that time, I was very involved with CND - the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It was a key time in the Cold War; its final flourish perhaps. Ground-launched nuclear weapons were being sited in Germany, Italy and Britain. The most famous site here was Greenham Common - but a second site was planned and, indeed, eventually constructed - at Molesworth - ringed in purple on the map below. By the time I was involved with protests and demonstrations here, I had already read Sprig Muslin and the names of local villages were familiar to me. As you can see from the map, a good many of the places mentioned (ringed in red on the map) were close on my route from Bedford to Molesworth! I never had time to visit them then, but I always promised myself that I would come back and see them sometime. Last term gave me the opportunity.

An interesting (well, for me) footnote - the Cold War is now over, and the USAF bases have gone from places such as Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Upper Heyford - and even Greenham Common ... large areas of which, I understand, have reverted to being common land. I had lost touch with the people I knew in the Molesworth area, and assumed that, as the last USAF base to be developed in Britain, it would be among the first to close. Therefore, when I decided to drive around the old base as a part of my trip, and see if I could identify any of it, I received a complete shock. It is still a vast military complex - apparently still a key base for NATO in Europe. It's been a long time, but I still regretted the open meadows where I camped with friends, in the days before the fence was put up. Still, at least the nuclear missiles have gone.

When I decided to undertake the trip, I decided to focus on the main areas that were close together in the novel and see if I could discover the places the character visited - and even travel on the same roads. Below I have marked the key journeys, although the area of Bancaster Park and Brigstock (where Mr. Theale dines after losing Amanda and having to suffer the indignity of walking nearly a mile to the nearest inn after the perch on his carriages breaks) are off the map. I didn't have time to visit them, although one day I will - and stop at Caxton, where Sir Gareth first meets Amanda. I therefore set off from Oxford with the intention of exploring the area between Bythorn - the village where Amanda escapes Mr. Theale - and Little Staughton where Sir Gareth recuperates after being shot, and where the novel concludes.

I was particularly interested in visiting a few of the inns or (in more modern parlance, the pubs or public houses mentioned in the novel. There are a number of these; the principal ones mentioned appear to be:
the Rose and Crown in Caxton;
the George and the Fountain in Huntingdon;
an anonymous posting house in Brampton;
the Red Lion in Bythorn;
the White Hart and the George in Thrapston;
the Brigstock Arms in Brigstock;
the White Lion in Kimbolton
and last, and most importantly, the Bull Inn in Lower Staughton.

I was also hoping the exploration could resolve a couple of problems I had. Firstly, if you look at the map, you will see that the main Bedford to Kimbolton Road runs through Keysoe, Brook End and Pertenhall - Little Staughton is some way off this. If Sir Gareth and Amanda were following the modern day route, there would be no point were Little Staughton was the nearest village. Secondly, after ten years my memories were hazy, but I did remember at the time being surprised by something in Kimbolton, and thinking it did not fit with the novel. I needed to look again at this.

Go to the page Exploring the area to see some photos of the places I visited.

Home Page| Exploring the area | Did it fit together?