Slippery Paths and Roseberry’s Summerhouse

A supposedly “gentler” path to the top of Roseberry Topping winds up the southern side from the Summerhouse Field. After last night’s heavy rain, the path has become a veritable death trap, with these walkers wisely prefering the rough grass for better footing. Ascending it is manageable, but descending? Practically suicidal. Avoiding the path might seem like a clever choice at first, but it only leads to greater chaos! Instead of preserving the landscape, the path becomes wider and more barren, stripped of its lush vegetation. The eroded soil piles up on the very steps and flagged sections that were designed to help us, transforming the path into a muddy challenge! Not that I am innocent of this crime—I, too, would avoid the path. The path was flagged and pitched in 1999, with the National Trust promising more restoration work at some point, perhaps later this year, or next.

Down below, the morning sun lights up the Summerhouse, standing proud on its man-made terrace. Some insist it is a “shooting box,” but apparently, the current consensus is that it is a folly or prospect house, meant to pretty up the landscape. Built in the 18th century, it was likely inspired by the grandiose terraces and temples Thomas Duncombe had constructed above Rievaulx Abbey in 1758. While the Summerhouse is a much more modest affair, the principle is the same: a terrace, a decorative building to show off, and a lovely view. We do not know who built it, but we do know the names of various 18th-century landowners, which is something, I suppose.¹“Roseberry Topping”. Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project. 2006

By the early 1800s, it might have been repurposed for soldiers guarding the beacon on Roseberry Topping, part of a chain of alarms against the French invasion that, mercifully, never materialised. Later, it may have served as a resting spot for visitors climbing Roseberry or the odd shooting party, until it inevitably fell to ruin. The shutters and doors vanished, the white paint peeled away, and the iron weather vane was damaged.

All of this is conjecture, of course. In truth, we know next to nothing about the Summerhouse. It seems content to keep its secrets for the foreseeable future.

• 1
  “Roseberry Topping”. Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project. 2006