15387/4A BISHOPS Cannings farmer is to create a new bridleway to allow access to ancient monuments on his land, including a Bronze Age settlement that was discovered less than 30 years ago.

Bob Frearson, who has farmed at Bourton Manor Farm since 1975, has praised the Countryside Stewardship Scheme for giving him an opportunity to do the kind of conservation work on his land he would otherwise not be able to carry out.

He said: "I was aware when we first moved here that there were ancient monuments on the land. The tumuli, or ancient burial mounds, are obvious enough and we have always been able to work around them.

"But the Bronze Age settlement was only discovered by an aerial survey in 1976 and the museum investigated it the following year. It is not visible from the ground, so who knows what damage may have been done by ploughing over the years."

Under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, under which farmers can bid for funds to undertake conservation work on their land, Mr Frearson can now "grass in" the tumuli as well as leaving much wider margins at the boundaries of fields as habitat for wildlife.

Mr Frearson said: "I find it quite humbling that I am continuing something that someone started all those centuries ago. Our methods may have changed but we are still trying to grow food to support the community like our ancestors were.

"In the past we have been encouraged to grow as much as we could. Now at long last they are saying, 'no more of this. We will now help you to protect the environment and give you payment to take those areas out of cultivation'."

But the scheme does not throw money at farmers. Each individual has to apply for funding Mr Frearson described it as like applying for Lottery money and the criteria are very exacting. Mr Frearson's plan to put in an extra bridleway to access the ancient monuments at the western edge of his 496 hectares probably clinched it as far as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was concerned.

The path will lead from the A361 Beckhampton road at the Wansdyke, the ancient boundary ditch that runs for many miles through Wessex, up to the group of barrows that Mr Frearson is now protecting with grass strips. It will connect with two existing bridleways on the land and is likely to be open later this summer.

The Frearsons are always pleased to allow access to their land for responsible ramblers and hikers. Last year on St George's Day, April 23, a guided walk over the land raised a considerable amount of money for the Friends of Bishops Cannings Church.

For Mrs Frearson, the great importance of the changes at Bourton Manor Farm is that more schoolchildren will have access to their heritage.