14TH MAY 2021: PLEASE SEE BELOW CURRENT VISITOR INFORMATION FROM NATIONAL TRUST CANONS ASHBY
“Currently, we recommend that visitors book in advance, especially at busy times like bank holidays and weekends. This booking ensures there will be parking available for everyone who comes in, and also helps us avoid big queues and crowds in busy areas such as outside the toilets. If we are not booked up, of course people can come in without booking in advance and sort this out on arrival, but this won’t always be the case. Each booking is a two hour slot, although on a weekday it is rarely a problem to overstay this. Unfortunately our car park is very small compared to our visitor numbers on busy days.”
Distance: 3.7 miles (5.95 km)
Time to walk: This one only takes around 1.5 hours so it’s ideal to combine with a visit to the amazing Canons Ashby House (& tea room!)
Difficulty: A real mix of quiet country lanes, grass tracks & (in October) some drilled fields. It’s an undulating walk too so, if you fancy a workout, pace it!
Parking: Being National Trust members we parked in the House’s car park – don’t forget to show your ticket. If you’re not a member there’s limited parking outside the church.
Public toilets: Canons Ashby House
Map of the route:
This area of our Shire is one of the most beautiful…lovely old villages, rolling countryside, history & lots of wildlife
Lots of the fields around here are “ribbed” to show where the boundaries of each family owned a plot
Canons Ashby House is a beautiful property owned by The National Trust. If you’re not a member then just pay the fee, but include a bit extra for the guided tour as it’s well worth the admission fee alone
So what can we tell you about this walk? Well it’s very easy &, in early October, Autumn’s already here in all its glory. It’s a short one, but the villages of Canons Ashby & lovely Moreton Pinkney are well worth a look around
So why are we wasting time….
Let’s Walk!!
1. Being National Trust members we parked in the house car park. There is limited parking outside the church. Canons Ashby House & gardens are well worth a visit & probably the best time to do this is late summer when the vegetable gardens are at their best plus the Mulberry Tree is in fruit…
The admissions hut in the car park is great & rather quirky…
Canons Ashby’s an Elizabethan House built by the Drydens using the remains of a medieval priory, the house and gardens
It’s been in the hands of the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse & the fantastic gardens had turned into a meadow. “The Tower” of the building is looked after by the Landmark Trust & you can stay there!
The house had been the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century, being built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, 1630s & 1710
John Dryden married Elizabeth Cope in 1551 & inherited, through his wife, an L-shaped farmhouse which he gradually extended. In the 1590s his son, Sir Erasmus Dryden completed the final north range of the house which enclosed the Pebble Courtyard
The interior of the house is famous for its Elizabethan wall paintings & Jacobean plasterwork. It’s remained essentially unchanged since 1710
The gardens are well worth a visit in the summer months with colourful herbaceous borders, an orchard featuring varieties of fruit trees from the 16th century, terraces, walls and gate piers from 1710. There’s also the remains of a medieval priory church (from which the house gets its name)
There’s also a Mulberry Tree which was in fruit the last time we visited…
Also close by is Canons Ashby Church (St Mary’s). Here’s a video we found online…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShXAPauI0lA
2. Today we’ve not come to see the house, but to walk around the surrounding landscape so….having parked in the car park let’s exit through the main gates…
…& turn right down the lane past the gates to the House gardens & immaculate vegetable plots…
Be careful walking down here as the road is pretty narrow…
3. After a couple of hundred yards we arrive at a footpath signpost showing the entrance into a field on the left…
…so pass through the kissing gate…
Whether or not there was something wrong with the electric fencing in this field we’re not sure, but there were many strange crackling noises going on so just beware
4. The path lies straight ahead across the field to another kissing gate, but we meet with some of our ‘friends’ early on…
Whoa…stay there fella!!
The last few times we’ve encountered cows we’ve had bad experiences, but this one & his ladies were very placid. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t now breeding time or something
There’s the kissing gate into the next field
5. After passing into the next field we meet ‘the ladies’…
They weren’t particularly interested either & didn’t want to set foot on the cultivated field that we now have to cross, heading for the road…
The way out is in the bottom corner
6. This road stretch is only short, but we turn right & pass what used to be Moreton Pinkney Station Yard which was opened in 1873 & closed in 1952…
Some fine specimens around here
…before turning right into the next field
Without knowing it we now actually back on a footpath we’ve walked parts of before (near Stoke Bruerne rings a bell) the Macmillan Way…
The Macmillan Way is a long-distance footpath in England that links Boston, Lincolnshire to Abbotsbury in Dorset. The route’s distance is 290 miles (470 km). It is promoted to raise money for the charity Macmillan Cancer Relief
7. There’s more ‘wildlife’ in this field, but it’s of the ‘woolly’ variety. The path heads for another stile which is between the first & second telegraph poles…
Hello girls!
8. The next field, also full of sheep, is of historical interest & similar to many others we’ve come across near old villages
The furrows here date back to medieval times & the uneven bumps etc show where the old village once stood…
The exit from this field is across the stile-bridge diagonally left…
9. Now it’s head across the next field to the left corner where we finally pass through another kissing gate & head down the grass lane to arrive in beautiful Moreton Pinkney…
Moreton Pinkney is a stunning village with references back to the times of Edward the Confessor & Norman times, although most of today’s properties are early 18th Century. They were built of brown ironstone. We need to turn right & follow the road towards the Manor which was built in 1859
The name “Pinkney” comes from the family name of two brothers, Ansculf & Ghilo de Pinchegni, who followed William the Conqueror to England in 1066. Ghilo was rewarded with land in Northamptonshire & neighbouring counties
10. The entrance to the Manor House lies through the very impressive Victorian ‘Scottish baronial’ style gatehouse which was designed by EF Law of Northampton & bears the arms of Lord Sempril
There’s a fantastic knotted rope running round it. The de Pinkneys held the manor from 1086 to 1346 & one of the Barons, Robert de Pinkney signed the Magna Carta in 1215. The church dates from this time & nearly burnt down in the 19th century
11. Continue round the bend walking on the right side taking the footpath through to Prestige Row…
The house on the right here has some impressive fruit trees…
12. Entering Prestige Row we can see why this beautiful part of the village gets its name from. The 18th Century cottages here have a unique feature which if you visit in May you’ll see at its glorious best. A single wisteria winds its way across all the cottages, linking them together
…& our route away from it is down the left road above called Brooke Lane (guess what there is at the bottom of it?). The properties down here are also stunning…
There’s a thriving village entertainment scene…
13. Finally at the bottom of Brooke Lane we arrive at….the brook!
…& follow the path straight ahead past the bench (time for a bit of R&R before an uphill stretch if you need it)…
14. The stretch of the walk on this track until the next checkpoint is steadily uphill & quite long so just keep straight ahead until you finally come to the lane with the old railway bridge on the left…
Keep left at the fork
Last of this years Sloes – we didn’t manage to make any Sloe Gin this time
If it’s been raining the track can become a bit muddy so hop around the puddles…
15. Eventually after passing a farm on the left the path narrows & enters a wood…
…& finally we arrive at the road & old railway bridge…
16. The rest of this walk is now along narrow lanes so please be careful. We don’t need to cross the bridge, but simply continue straight ahead round the right bend…
…& finally out into the open once more. On the left here is the entrance to Foxhill Farm which has a horse cross-country course across its fields. A look at the above link shows just how impressive this equestrian centre is…
17. Follow the road down the hill & across the stream marked with white railings, before passing through what was once a railway bridge – plenty of old railway tracks around here
There were plenty of ducks quacking around here, but we couldn’t find them so continued up the hill to the crossroads…
18. At the crossroads it’s right turn & follow the up & down lane that takes us all the way back to Canons Ashby…
There’s a good chance to stretch the legs & lungs along this final stretch…
…& it also has fine views back across to Moreton Pinkney…
…& ahead to Canaons Ashby…
19. We managed to just save a cat from being run over here as a car came over a blind bump rather quickly…
Almost back…
On the left in the dip are the famous Canons Ashby Lakes which were developed by the Canons of Canons Ashby, medieval Augustinian Friars, to provide food for the monastery. Today the Lakes are one of the top Northamptonshire’s fishing venues
20. Right…time to finish this walk so carry on down the lane. We had to say hi to the gorgeous ladies on the right first though…
Just round the corner we arrive at the point where we entered the first field & now simply need to continue up the hill past the gates back to the car park
So there we are, safely back at the car park &, unfortunately today, with no time to visit the house. What we’ll do is revisit & then post under the ‘About Northamptonshire’ section of the Blog
This walk’s another pre or post lunch stroll & visit to Canons Ashby House, but some of the tracks may get wet after prolonged rain so walking boots recommended
It’s a good one though & we must go back in May to look at that wisteria!!
Go Walk!!
Lovely walk, the problem was actually getting to Canons in the first place. Approaching from Northampton along the Banbury Lane, do n`t try to cross the A5 at Pattishall as due to the ongoing roadworks, they wo n`t even let you cross the road to Cold Higham. Best to turn right off Banbury Lane to Bugbrooke, and then the Northampton Road to Litchborough, and then Maidford,Adstone. The House etc is closed ,(Covid-19) as is the car park, but we parked on a nearby grass verge. Moreton Pinkney is a delightful village.
Great advice thank you & I’ll put a note on the walk. Really glad you enjoyed it. Yes, Moreton Pinkey is a bit special isn’t it! Thanks again Dave