Walpoles in the Marshes

About trip

Distance: 7.25 miles, Minnimum Time: 3hrs, Difficulty: Moderate, Description: In October 1216, things were not looking good for King John of England. The previous year he had been forced to sign Magna Carta, which saw him abrogate much of his regal power to the barons, and 11 months later Prince Louis of France invaded the country, intending to seize the English crown for himself. King Alexander of Scotland had reached Cambridge and had to be ousted, and John was losing supporters by the fistful. To top it all, he was ill, probably with dysentery - unpleasant at any time, but especially so when travelling fast along a medieval road. King John’s Lost Treasure. On 11 October, John started to move from his Norfolk base into Lincolnshire. Because time was of the essence, with hostile forces all around, he was obliged to take the shortest and quickest route. This happened to be across the Wellstream Estuary in Walpole St Andrew. Impatient to be on his way, John didn’t wait for the tide to recede and the result was devastating. The heavy baggage wagons became bogged down in the mud and many of the servants driving them drowned. He also lost some of his chapel goods. Did John lose the crown jewels in the Wash as the monk chroniclers at St Albans later claimed? Did the tide come racing in, a mass of brown surging water that sucked the King’s entire baggage train, all his money and most of his army into quicksands and whirlpools? Probably not, although the legend persists and the Walpoles have seen countless treasure hunters searching for the fabled wealth lost to the sea. Within a few days John was dead. His servants stole his personal goods, the Abbot of Croxton laid claim to his intestines for burial in his abbey, and his nine-year-old son was crowned Henry III. Cathedral of the Fens. The Walpoles offer a good deal more than legends, however. There are four of them - St Andrew, St Peter, Cross Keys and Highway. The church at Walpole St Peter is so magnificent that it is known as the ‘Cathedral of the Fens’. It was originally built in Saxon times, but was swept away by floods in 1337, so that much of what you see today dates from the mid-14th to 15th centuries. The money for raising such a fine building came from the fertile surrounding lands, allowing its parishioners to be generous to the Church. Also fine is Walpole St Andrew’s church, which had bequests in 1443 and 1463. Meanwhile, little Walpole Highway’s St Edmund’s Church was built in 1844 as a chapel of ease for those people who found Walpole St Andrew’s too far to travel. While you're there: Other marshland villages with mighty ‘cathedrals’ are West Walton, Wiggenhall St Mary, Terrington St Clement, Walsoken and Tilney All Saints. The Fenland Aviation Museum is at West Walton, just to the south-west of Walpole St Peter. What to look out for: Since Walpole St Peter has one of the most famous churches in East Anglia, it’s worth looking around inside it. Iron overshoes called pattens, designed to protect Sunday footwear from the mud, hang outside along with a 19th-century notice warning parishioners to remove them before entering the church. Where to eat and drink: The Woolpack Inn in Walpole Cross Keys has a restaurant and bar for lunch and dinner. It has a good carvery on Sundays, and serves hearty bar meals throughout the day. Directions: With the village sign behind you, turn left along Sutton Road, using the pavement on the right-hand side. After about 0.75 mile (1.2km) you will see a track signed ‘No Through Road’ on your left. Follow it, cross the A17 with care, and head down the lane opposite, signed ‘No access to the Walpoles’. This lane follows the line of ancient sea defences; continue along it for about 350yds (320m). Turn left on to the unmarked footpath that cuts diagonally across a field. Cross a second field to a broken line of trees, then go through a gap in the trees and turn right on to a grassy track. Eventually you pass some farm buildings to arrive at a crossroads. Turn right and walk down the lane into the village of Walpole St Andrew. Continue until you reach the old Princess Victoria pub, dating from 1651, now a private house. Keep straight ahead at the junction along Wisbech Road until you see St Andrew’s Church to your left. Bear left at the crossroads at St Andrew’s Church. Take the first turn on your left and walk down this road towards Anthony Curton Church of England Primary School. Take the footpath that runs down the side of the school and through a housing estate before emerging near St Peter’s Church in Walpole St Peter. Turn right, using the pavement on the right as the road winds around to another junction. Turn sharp left at the house called Quantum and stay on this road as it winds through the village. Turn left at Chalk Road. After the road bends, turn right into Bustards Lane and continue until you reach a bend with a farm track straight ahead. Keep to the road as it bends left and walk until you see a communications tower on your right. Keep left again and after 0.5 mile (800m) you will reach the junction you made earlier at Point 3. Go right, with greenhouses to your left, until you reach another junction. Turn left, and follow the lane until you see a tall fence and a hedge of Leylandii trees. Bear left beside a reconstruction of the old Walpole railway station platform, passing The Old Railway Inn, now a house, to reach the A17. Follow the pavement to the left, then cross over at the end of the railings, using the central island. On the other side, walk to the left of the piled pallets and up the lane past scattered houses and a fruit farm. At the T-junction turn right along Station Road continue back to start of the walk.