(7.24km)
15 mins
Walking
Folkingham, Pickworth & Walcot Walk
Folkingham,Pickworth,Walcot
This walk is set around the villages of Folkingham, Pickworth and Walcot in the Kesteven uplands of Lincolnshire. The attractive local countryside is gently undulating and well wooded.
The large village of Folkingham was once a centre for justice and the location for the Quarter Sessions, the higher court that dispensed justice for the area. The Governor’s House, part of the original house of correction can still be seen today on Billingborough Road. The prison was built on the site of a Norman castle.
Folkingham Market Place is surrounded by attractive 17th and 18th century brick and stone houses and the Greyhound Inn, which still dominates the village, was once an important coaching inn for travellers using the Lincoln to London road. Between the pretty villages of Pickworth and Walcot the walk crosses an area of ridge and furrow pasture and runs close to a stream and as you approach Walcot it crosses the site of a medieval settlement.
Starting point: Market Place, Folkingham, NG34 0SE
Grid ref: TF 071 336.
Parking
Linked to Public Transport
Refreshments
Dog Friendly
Look out for old oak trees in the hedgerows. They were often used to mark boundaries. Oak trees can live for hundreds of years and there is a saying that an oak takes 300 years to grow, 300 years to live and 300 years to die. These trees are several hundred years old and as well as being an important feature in the local landscape they also provide a home for a wide variety of wildlife including birds, bats and insects.
The hedges are made up of a variety of shrub species including blackthorn, hawthorn and dogrose. The pink flowers of the dogrose brighten hedgerows in early summer and their red fruits, hips, add colour
in the autumn.
St Andrew’s church in Pickworth was built in the 14th century, with later alterations. It is noted for its medieval wall paintings.
Growing at intervals alongside the stream, between point 6 and 8, are a number of willow trees. These old, strangely shaped trees were probably once regularly pollarded. This form of management involved cutting off the branches at head height. New shoots would then grow out of reach of grazing animals and could be regularly cut and used for fencing, firewood and baskets.
- 1Leave the Market Place at the corner by the church and walk along West Street for approximately 500m.
- 2Turn right onto Walcot Lane.
- 3After approximately 200m take the public footpath on the left diagonally across the playing field to a gate in the fence. Continue on in the same direction by bearing diagonally right across the field, keeping to the right of the telegraph pole and heading for the two large oak trees in the hedgerow. At the hedge, turn left and follow the field edge to a bridge.
- 4Cross the bridge and walk straight ahead across the field, to a bridge. Cross the next field by bearing diagonally right to a bridge. Bear slightly left to cross the narrow field. Turn left and follow the hedge to the field corner.
- 5Cross the bridge, turn right for approximately 50m before turning left across the field to the hedge. Bear diagonally right across the next field, heading towards the left of the spire of Pickworth Church. As you reach the brow of the hill a stile will come into view beside the houses. Cross the stile and turn right to a road.
- 6To visit Pickworth village turn left. To continue the walk turn right along the road. After approximately 100m take the public footpath on the left. Cross the ditch and turn right along the hedge and ditch.
- 7At the next field bear slightly left to a bridge that will come into view. Cross the bridge and head for another bridge visible ahead. After this bridge turn right to a stile in the hedge. Walk straight across the next field keeping roughly parallel with the stream to a stile in the hedge. Continue in the same direction to a bridge. Cross the bridge and bear right to keep parallel with the stream to the corner of the field and bridge. Follow the stream to a road.
- 8Bear left to follow the road into Walcot village.
- 9At the village green take the road signed to Folkingham.
- 10After approximately 800m (½ mile) turn left onto a public footpath. Bear diagonally right across the field heading slightly to the left of the church tower, to a bridge in the hedge.
- 11Bear diagonally left to cross the next two fields and head to the right of the telegraph pole. At the field corner walk straight across the next field to a bridge that will come into view. Continue straight ahead past the houses to a road.
- 12At the field corner walk straight across the next field to a bridge that will come into view. Continue straight ahead past the houses to a road.
- 13Turn left to return to the Market Place.
This walk uses field paths and quiet roads. There are stiles and you are likely to encounter livestock.
