The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 6.65 miles (10.7km)
Time to walk: Around 2.5 hours
Difficulty: The walk pretty much covers every surface, quiet roads, village paths, field edges, across fields & woodland tracks. There are several stiles, some of which large dogs may not be able to get through. There were no cattle, only plenty of sheep
Parking: Park outside the Bulls Head or maybe use the car park if you buy some refreshments at the end
Public toilets: The Bulls Head at the start & end of this walk
Map of the route:
Clipston is a small village just south of Market Harborough in the north of the county, on the Leicestershire border
The village has very old origins & King John is said to have had a palace here. It’s thought that the palace was merely a hunting lodge. A Saxon mill has been found close by & also many Roman artefacts
Clipston village is first documented in Domesday of 1086 under the name ‘Clippestone’, the first part of which is thought to come from the old Norse name ‘Klypper’ The name therefore probably means ‘Klyppr’s farm’. In Victorian times Clipston was described as “large & respectable”. Whilst today I’m sure it’s still “respectable’, it now has a population of approximately 643
It’s located close to the Battle of Naseby Battlefield sites & the village is recorded many times as having played an important part of the events of 14th June 1645
Shall we go & explore then…
Let’s Walk!
1. This walk starts from the Bull’s Head…
Turn left from the pub & head towards the centre of the village, passing the village green on your right
2. We’ll return to the green very shortly, but it’s worth a wander down the High Street to look at the village school
The main school building dates from 1667-73. It was originally a Free Grammar School & Hospital. There’s a fascinating mural on the wall of the school staircase donated by American airmen in the Second World War who flew the ‘Carpetbaggers’ from Harrington Airfield
The Hospital section had two wards to accommodate ‘twelve poor aged persons’
3. There are some other lovely houses on the way down to the church…
This one has a stone inscription with a date of 1575
4. On the left’s All Saints Church, a grade 1 listed building…
5. Retrace your steps back to the village green, noting the lovely war memorial…
Cross the green & look for a footpath sign straight in front of you
6. Continue following the footpath straight until you reach the road
Turn right into Chapel Lane & follow the road past the large chapel on the left…
The Baptist Chapel (1803) has an impressive façade (1864) by Edmund Francis Law, who carried out many restorations & similar projects in Northamptonshire & neighbouring counties
7. Ignore the footpath sign by the Old Manse…
At the end of the road, note the Village sign on the right.
8. Turn left along the single track road, until you see a footpath sign on the right heading into a field…
Cross the footbridge & head up the field following the marked path…
9. Go through the next field & exit via a stile on to a narrow lane. Cross the road to the gate…
From here you can see the full extent of the main Naseby conflict area &, in particular, the believed route of the Royalist retreat
The Royal Observer Corps post is of considerable historical interest itself…
Constructed originally to observe aircraft movements during the Second World War, it later became part of the Cold War early warning system, when an underground bunker was built – certainly there is still visible evidence of a ventilation system on the surface
10. After taking in the stunning views retrace your steps back to the road…
Turn left once you reach the road & follow the road for 1.2 km, until you reach a large wood on the right hand side called ‘Alford Thorns’…
11. Not long after the end of the wood you’ll see a sign for the Jurassic Way…
Take the stile on the left into the field…
12. Continue across this field & then over a stile into the next field…
Cross this next field & head towards the stile that will take you into the woods
13. Now you’re on woodland paths. Walk through the woods, initially uphill, & they will soon open up to fields again…
14. The footpath now goes diagonally across the field. In winter this may be very muddy. Continue to the end of the field where you’ll see a stile on your left…
Follow the marked track across this field into the next one, & then two more, continuing pretty much straight, In the fourth field there is an electricity pole…
15. Head to the left of the pole, where there is a footbridge…
Cross the footbridge into a short lane that takes you on to a road. Turn left & you’ll arrive in Sibbertoft (this is covered more in Walk 116)
Nobody really knows how old the village of Sibbertoft is, but sometime in the first millennium AD a family called Sigbiorn, started to clear land for a settlement – the “toft”
16. Walk past St Helen’s Church, which has seen many alterations over the years, mainly in the 13th & 14th centuries. It also contains a memorial to a 16th century Roman Catholic priest who found sanctuary here
17. Continue walking straight down the road until you see a signpost indicating Clipston…
This road takes you all the way back to Clipston. It is a single track road so be careful as a few cars do whizz down there quite fast!
Look out for Sibbertoft Manor on the left which is now a nursing home. This is possibly the third Manor on this site & dates back to the Georgian period
18. Continue along the road…
…enjoying the views to the left
19. Continue along the road, from Sibbertoft to Clipston. It’s about 3km, but the road is pretty quiet..
You’ll eventually see, on the left, the footpath we took initially across the field. Continue to the Clipston village sign, walk down Chapel Street looking out for the footpath you came up earlier & arrive back at the village green
Turn left & you will see the Bulls Head where this walk started
So that’s the end of another excellent walk, exploring the beautiful part of Northamptonshire that’s still relatively unspoilt
Go Walk!