(8.85km)
45 mins
Walking
Legbourne Walk One
Legbourne
A circular walk from Legbourne village through Legbourne Wood nature reserve and the surrounding countryside, on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.
Starting point
Village pump at the junction of Church Lane and Station Road
Louth
LN11 8LL
Grid reference: TF 367 843
Parking
Linked to Public Transport
Refreshments
Dog Friendly
Legbourne lies on the eastern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds in an area known as the Middle Marsh. These lovely walks make the most of the gently rolling wooded landscape of the area. On a clear day you will be rewarded with views of the coast.
The Lincolnshire Wolds is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Rolling chalk hills and areas of sandstone and clay underlie the attractive wolds landscape. Inhabited since prehistoric times the appearance of the countryside today has been influenced by past and present agricultural practices. A priory was founded in Legbourne around 1150 by Robert FitzGilbert for Cistercian nuns and dissolved by Henry VIII in the 16th century. All that remains of the priory now are earthworks. All Saints' church, in the middle of the village, was built in the late 14th century and restored in the mid 19th century.
The decorative village water pump was built in 1877 by Canon Overton, in memory of his mother, to provide water for his parishoners and for “wayfarers”. It was the village’s water supply until mains water arrived in 1953.
Legbourne Wood is one of the few remaining ancient woodlands in eastern Lincolnshire and is owned and managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. Ancient woods like this which have had continuous woodland cover since 1600 are rich in wildlife. Oak and ash trees dominate the canopy and there are over 60 different species of wildflower including primrose, bluebell, sweet woodruff, wood sorrel and wood anemone.
- 1From the village pump, cross the main road with care and follow the public footpath opposite diagonally across the field. At the road turn left and after 50m turn right between two houses to a bridge. Cross the bridge and turn left and follow the footpath beside a ditch to a bridge. Cross the bridge and follow the footpath to a track.
- 2Turn right to a road. Turn left and follow the road as it becomes a track and bridleway.
- 3On the right is the entrance to Legbourne Wood nature reserve. Enter the reserve and follow the track straight ahead, the line of the old railway. Access to the wood is by kind permission of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, please keep to the waymarked route and keep dogs on leads. After approximately 300m turn right into the woodland and follow the waymarked walk through the wood to return to the track. Leave the reserve through the gate on the right and turn right along the bridleway. If Legbourne Wood reserve is closed, instead of entering the reserve, continue ahead along the bridleway and past the second entrance to the reserve.
- 4After approximately 700m at a junction of bridleways, turn right. At the lane turn left.
- 5At the T junction turn right.
- 5Follow the road for approximately 0.5 miles (900m) to a footpath on the right. Bear left across the field to the brow of the hill, then continue in the same direction to the corner of the field. Walk alongside the hedge in the next field before turning left over a bridge. Walk straight on beside the ditch and hedge and then alongside Legbourne wood. At the corner of the wood turn right then left to cross the field to the hedge and then walk straight ahead along the field edge. Turn right over a bridge and bear slightly left to cross the field to a road.
- 7Turn left and follow the road as it bends right by the ford, to return to the centre of Legbourne and the starting point.
This walk uses quiet roads, field paths and woodland paths.
You may encounter stiles and livestock
