02 B12
13
A46
A1133
Haddington
15
A6
91
07
4
12
2
14
B12
19 B1
02
02 B12
89 B11
91
B11
1191
9
8
A607
7
3 A15
6
East Heckington A17
A153
16 03
North Kesteven District Council Heart of Lincolnshire
B6 4
A52
Walk Facts
Walk Location
Two circular routes around the Lincoln Edge and River Witham.
Starting Points W1
W2
W1 Distance 4.5 miles/7.3km W2 Distance 5 miles/8km
A52
7
A60
For more Stepping Out walks, further information on local attractions or accommodation, please call the Tourism Department on 01529 414155, email cranwellaviation@n-kesteven.gov.uk or log onto www.heartoflincs.com Download all the Stepping Out walks or for information on safety in the countryside visit www.countrysidenk.co.uk www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk www.visitlincolnshire.com ECS5976RT 2007
Walk
3
www.countrysidenk.co.uk
In the marshes to the south of the city lay a patchwork of watermeadows known as ‘holmes’. To the northeast, recent aerial photography has revealed that Lincoln once lay close to another estuary and it is possible that Brayford Pool was directly connected to the sea. East of Brayford the Witham flowed in a wide southeasterly curve to The Wash. In 1848, the Great Northern Railway came to Lincoln and within 20 years the railways had effectively replaced waterways as the principal means of transporting people and goods. The loop line that followed the course of the Witham between Boston and Lincoln now forms part of the Viking Way and the Sustrans Cycle route linking Barton-on-Humber to Boston.
Car Park, Fen Lane North Hykeham (Grid Ref: SK 9539 6635) Bracebridge Heath Village Hall car park, LN4 2LB (Grid Ref: SK 9799 6735)
Parking W1
10
B1429
For nearly 1,500 years between the Roman Occupation and the dissolution of the monasteries, Lincoln owed its strategic and political importance to its situation in a gap in the Lincoln Edge at the meeting of two rivers, the Till and the Witham. These rivers met in a natural lake at Brayford Pool and in about 120AD Roman engineers took advantage of this harbour to connect the colony to the River Trent via Britain’s first canal, the Fossdyke Navigation.
B
B1395
Whilst great care has been taken in compiling this information into this leaflet, North Kesteven District Council cannot be held responsible for any errors, omissions or alterations contained within it. The inclusion of an establishment within this leaflet does not imply any official recommendations by North Kesteven District Council.
B1178
2
Meadow Lane, South Hykeham Lincoln LN6 9PF Telephone: 01522 686432 carol@hallfarmhouse.fsworld.co.uk www.hallfarmhouselincoln.co.uk Some of the paths are provided by kind permission of Doddington Hall. Walkers are asked to help to ensure a continued welcome by only using the waymarked paths and keeping dogs on a lead. Where paths cross pasture young stock may be present. If you have a dog with you please make sure it is under firm control in these sensitive areas.
11
A15
Lincoln Road, North Hykeham Lincolnshire LN6 8NJ Telephone: 01522 680166
178 B1
Hall Farmhouse
B1190
B1190
8
The Plough Inn
4
A1
5
Lincoln Road, North Hykeham Lincolnshire LN6 8DL Telephone: 01522 688258
5
02
2 B1
18 B1
Lincoln Green
0
34
A1
Lowfields Centre, Brant Road Lincoln LN5 9TR Telephone: 01522 724900
B1 19
3
8
The Crows Nest
1 17
A1
Refreshments
River Witham Walks
58
18 B1
Norton Disney, Lincolnshire LN6 9JP Telephone: 01636 892836 admin@hillholtwood.com
Welbeck Cottage, 19 Meadow Lane South Hykeham LN6 9PF Telephone: 01522 692669
00
A15
Hill Holt Wood
Welbeck Cottage
Stepping Out
A15
A1 0
Whisby Nature Park, Moor Lane Thorpe on the Hill, Lincoln LN6 9BW Telephone: 01522 688868 whisby@leisureconnection.co.uk www.naturalworldcentre.co.uk
Accommodation
19 B1
Natural World Centre
Lincoln Road, North Hykeham Lincolnshire LN6 8NH Telephone: 01522 680088
Introduction
B1398
259-261 Lincoln Road North Hykeham LN6 8NH
The Harrows Inn
B1241
Hykeham Green Shopping Centre Post Office, Co-op & Pharmacy
Go Stepping Out!
B11
Places of interest to visit nearby
W2
Car Park, Fen Lane North Hykeham Bracebridge Heath Village Hall car park
Public Transport
For information call the Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 or visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/busrailtravel
Walk Length W1 W2
4.5 miles/7.3km in length and should take 2 hours 5 miles/8km in length and should take 2 1/2 hours to walk
Type of Walk
Grassy footpaths, rough pasture and some stiles
Ordnance Survey maps
Explorer 272, Landranger 130
4.4
5.5 6.6
7.7
8.8
5 4
9
8 Much of this area lies within Witham Valley Country Park - a connected network of managed outdoor space spanning 26,000 acres. The park aims to give people greater access to green space and its many health benefits, via improved cycling and walking links to other recreational areas, in addition to conserving and improving biodiversity in the area.
10
oad
During the Roman period, dredging, the addition of lock and sluice gates and the clearance of woodland upstream in the Witham basin increased run-off and raised water levels. As the Empire imploded and contact was lost with Rome in about 410, for the next 500 years a lack of channel maintenance led to further accumulations of peaty deposits. Archaeologists have found evidence to suggest that it wasn’t until the beginning of the 10th Century that the River Witham was cleared for commercial river trafic. By the Middle Ages the navigable Witham between Lincoln and Boston linked the city to the channel ports of Flanders and France. The Fossdyke was also cleared in 1121, heralding the beginning a period of intense commercial activity in the city and culminating in the development of the continental wool trade.
1.1
7
Bran tR
3.3
W2
3
1 A15
A607
4
1
3
2 7
8 6
2.2
2
tham
2.2
From the Stepping Out car park on Fen Lane in North Hykeham, continue along Fen Lane until it reaches a public footpath. Turn left onto the footpath and follow it until it joins the River Witham. Pass through the kissing gate on your left and continue along the riverbank until you reach Newark Road bridge. Cross over the river via the bridge and descend onto the opposite riverbank. On your left are the Bracebridge Hall fishing ponds, a relic from the time when Bracebridge Hall stood in extensive grounds. Follow this footpath all the way along the river for 3km until you reach Meadow Lane footbridge. Turn right over this footbridge and follow the footpath right and then almost immediately left onto a public footpath. Follow this footpath through fields for 730 metres until you reach a grassed area where you will see a way marker directing you right along the side of a dyke. Take this footpath which brings you back to the end of Fen Lane, turn left down Fen Lane and back to your car.
â–˛ North
r Wi
1.1
River Witham Walk
Rive
W1
Reproduced from OS Mapping with the permission of the controller of HMSO c Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes crown copyright and may lead to civil proceedings. OS Licence 100017926.2011
In 1762, the Witham Act was passed in parliament which included the widening and deepening of the Witham from the High Bridge in Lincoln to Chapel Hill. At the same time, a sluice gate was built in Boston, effectively turning the Witham into a main drain for the surrounding lowlands and preparing the way for fen drainage and the agricultural landscape we see today.
3.3
6 5
Key
4.4 Car Parks River Witham Walk On Lincoln Edge Walk Alternative Routes Viking Way
On Lincoln Edge Start your walk from the Bracebridge Heath Village Hall car park and walk down, through the houses, following the public bridleway signs until you emerge into open countryside. Turn left, following the Viking Way along the Lincoln Edge enjoying the views over the Witham and Trent valleys. The walk passes along a small section of the Viking Way, a route which is identified by a logo of a Viking helmet. The entire Viking Way travels for 147 miles between Barton-onHumber and Oakham. The route was chosen to reflect the influence of Scandinavian settlers in eastern England from the 9th Century onwards. After leaving the houses of Bracebridge Heath to your left, leave the Viking Way and take the permissive footpath off to your right for approximately 230 metres before continuing in the same direction along the restricted by-way for approximately 1km, eventually going through the residential area, until you reach Brant Road. Turn left along Brant Road until the houses on your right end and you see a restricted by-way on the opposite side of the road.
5.5
6.6 7.7
8.8
9.9
10. 10
Turn right along this restricted by-way until you reach the River Witham. Turn right along the river bank and follow this for 3km to Newark Road. Before Newark Road bridge, turn right and follow the footpath through trees and alongside Bracebridge Hall fishponds until you exit onto a large area of grass. Turn left here, through the houses until you emerge back onto Brant Road. You will see All Saints Church in front of you. With care, cross Brant Road and follow Manse Avenue, past the church until you reach a footpath at the end of the road. Follow the public footpath for approximately 370 metres straight up the hill, before continuing in the same direction for approximately 170 metres on a permissive path into the open countryside. Near to the top, you will see the Viking Way footpath heading off to your right. Turn right along this path until you reach the point at which you first met the Viking Way and then turn left and return, through the houses, to the car park.