The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 3.5 miles (5.63km)
Time to walk: Roughly 1.5 hours, although when we walked this in January 2015 the fields were quite muddy so it took slightly longer
Difficulty: Mainly across fields so some good footwear required out of the dry season. It’s a pretty flat walk apart from one 1/2 mile climb up a couple of fields
Parking: On road in the small village of Marston Trussell
Public toilets: None
Map of the route:
Marston Trussell has sat by the start of the Welland River on the Northamptonshire / Leicestershire border for well over 1000 years. It was first recorded as ‘Mersitone’, meaning marsh settlement. The ‘Trussell’ was added in the Middle Ages after the name of the landowning family at that time
The Trussells of Marston died out in the 14th century & the hall was eventually re-established as the seat of the Barwell-Ewins Bennett family
Marston’s most famous person was Mark Brewster, & there’s an interesting kneeling monument to him in the church. He’s described as a London Merchant who was executed in Moscow in 1612. He’s also described as a ‘pirate’! He had retired to the village & gave 40 pounds to the church for a new bell & 41 shillings & 10 pence for the local poor. An ambassador from Russia came to England & tracked him down. He was arrested, sent back to Russia, tried & executed
Local folklore states that King Charles I hid in the Hall grounds when retreating defeated from The Battle Of Naseby (1645). This is folklore as King Charles seems to have hidden up every oak tree, hence the popular pub name, The Royal Oak
The River Welland was in flood at this time which led to a massacre of retreating Royalists who were trapped between the river and the Church; this area is known locally as Slaughterford field – there’s plaques telling the facts of this which we’ll see shortly
It was a beautiful cold January morning when we did this walk & there had been snow on the higher ground the previous night – so wrapped up well…
Let’s Walk!
1. Our walk begins outside the old Sun Inn Pub which is sadly no more & is now some houses
…where facing the houses head right towards the exit from this very small village…
2. On the right’s the car park & entrance to the church, which we’ll have a look at later…
…& this is also the location of Slaughterford field that we mentioned above
3. There’s a really good information board that tells what happened & you read it looking at the actual field where it all too place…
The decisive battle of the English Civil War was fought in the fields around here on Saturday June 1645. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, defeated the Royalist army, commanded by King Charles I & Prince Rupert of the Rhine
From the heights of the Welland Valley, Royalist troops fled towards Leicester. Some rode east of Market Harborough whilst others retraced the route from earlier that day, guided by the tower of Marston Trussell Church
At that time the road to the Church was unfortunately a dead end. Royalist horsemen didn’t know that & were trapped at the Church where tradition has it they fought to the death. They were buried in the corner of the churchyard in an area called Cavaliers Grave
The field near the church was where the final stand took place & is now named ‘Slawford’ or Slaughterford
Well…it’s only a short walk but what a historical start!!
3. Continue along the road we were previously on – be careful though as it’s narrow & the traffic moves quickly!
4. After 1/2 a mile the road bends slightly left & crosses the River Welland which forms the boundary with Leicestershire…
The river is very much in its infancy here having risen literally down the road in Sibbertoft 2.5 miles away. It’s already pretty with quite a flow on it…
5. Let’s get away from this busy little road, so our exit is just past the county border sign through the kissing gate in the hedge on the right…
…& immediately we’re beside the river in a little paradise – this would be a great picnic meadow on a warm summer’s day
6. All we need to do now is simply follow the twists & turns of the river to exit through the next gate beside the bridge…
…& here’s the kissing gate out – be careful of the road again!
7. We turn right & cross the stone bridge…
…& then left through the kissing gate into the parkland of Thorpe Lubenham Hall…
8. Our route across the estate lies pretty close to the edge of the field heading to the left of a small group of oak trees & the cricket square…
There’s views of Thorpe Lubenham Hall across the right – unfortunately we were looking into the low sun today…
Thorpe Lubenham Hall stands in an estate of 1500 acres. Between 1918 & 1976 it was owner by the Wernher family
Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby, otherwise known as Lady Zia Wernher, was the elder daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. The family was frequently included in high society events.
Her daughter, also called Zia Wernher, became Georgina Phillips, who invited the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and their children to the Hall. This created much media attention & large crowds in the village during the 1960s
The Hall is still lived in today
Our exit from the estate through another kissing gate onto the road…
9. If we turn left we come into Lubenham, but we’re heading right & following the road past the entrance to the Hall…
…& round the corner up the slight hill…
10. After a 100 yards or so there’s a pair of footpath finger posts showing a path that crosses the road…
It’s the right hand path that we need heading across the open field towards the gap in the hedge – this was very, very muddy…
11. Passing across the bridge we’re now on land that has open access through the Countryside Commission. We now simply follow the right hand edge uphill across the next 2 fields…
12. Once we reach the top of the rise the views across the Welland Valley to Market Harborough are pretty spectacular…
13. Eventually in the 3rd field a hedge stands in our way. It does have a gate, but don’t go through there! Our route back towards Marston Trussell is through the kissing gate on the right, but before we go there turn left up the hill to the large stony shape …don’t give up as it sits in a dip. If you use What3Words it’s incensed.habit.napkins
On closer inspection this really is a big lump of rock sitting in the middle of nowhere…
This rock is called The Judith Stone & it’s actually a huge glacial boulder brought from hundreds of miles away in an ice age. Apparently it got its name from Judith Countess of Huntingdon, the edge of whose land it marked in the 12th century
The photos don’t really show its size but you can easily get 3 people on top of it. For those of you who are geocachers you might also want to pay a visit. Here’s a photo we found which gives some perspective….& no that isn’t me!!
14. Right…stop posing & head back down to the corner of the field & through another very muddy kissing gate…
We’re now on a grass (& mud) bridleway which continues along the edge of 2 more fields…
15. At the end of the 2nd field there’s a privately managed copse &, as it says ‘Private’ we need to turn left & follow the hedge to the road…
16. We turn right & head along the road for about 1/4 mile where Marston Trussell Church comes into view again…
17. Our route back to the start’s marked by another fingerpost pointing across the bridge on the right into a field…
However, if you feel in need of refreshments, continue for a short distance along the road to Marston Croft B&B who serve takeaway coffee & cake
18. If you did go to the B&B return to the gap & bridge…& then we head diagonally towards the Church across another very muddy field…
19. Before we exit the field have a closer look at the mounds on the right which mark the site of a small medieval castle…
Then its over a very slippery bridge into the final field…
…before entering a gate into the Churchyard
20. Although not open today, this is an interesting little Church. The arched wooden timbers in the porch are thought to have come from a Danish ship that got stranded on the Welland…
St.Nicholas Church was originally built in 13th century although the site is believed to date back to Roman times
21. Our exit back into the village lies through the Church Gate…
…where we turn left to return to where we left the car…
So that’s the end of our short walk around the Marston Trussell area, somewhere that we’d not explored before
Whilst the weather was stunning for a January morning, this walk’s definitely one to be done in the summer when the fields are much drier
Having walked & researched the walk, it never fails to amaze how many historical facts & figures turn up & there’s plenty on this one
So…wait for the warm summer days & take a picnic to eat either sitting by the Welland or, if you fancy looking at massive skies, on top of that Judith Stone
Go Walk!