Echoes of Bloxholm's Past

About trip

This easy ramble through the peaceful countryside of mid- Lincolnshire is inspired by one of North Kesteven District Council’s excellent ‘Stepping Out’ walks. They form a series of short waymarked routes that explore the area around Sleaford, south of Lincoln, and take in hidden villages, ancient woodland and medieval castles through to historic RAF airfields. Leaflet guides to all the walks are available in local shops and post offices, or from the tourist information centre in Carre Street, Sleaford. While you're there: The Airfield Visitor Centre at Westmoor Farm, Martin Moor, near Metheringham, is open weekends, April to October. The former wartime Ops Room at RAF Digby near Scopwick has been painstakingly re-created with exhibits and photographs (guided tours every Sunday morning, May to September). What to look for: The elegant spire of St Hybald’s at Ashby de la Launde will be a familiar landmark on this walk. Hidden away in the woodland surrounding the former hall is Bloxholm Church. The parish church of Dorrington has no spire or tower at all. Where to eat and drink: There are no pubs or cafés in Bloxholm or Ashby de la Launde. Try the Musicians Arms at Dorrington or, for more choice, visit Sleaford, about 6 miles (9.7km) to the south. Directions: The walk begins on a lane 350yds (320m) south of the quiet hamlet of Bloxholm, at the designated Stepping Out car park. Facing the notice board, turn right and walk along the lane away from Bloxholm Hall and its surrounding woods. After bending right the lane bends left, and here the walk keeps straight ahead along the farm drive. Where the track curves left, towards Hill Farm, go keep ahead on a public footpath through the trees. It’s a clear and direct route that keeps just inside the southern edge of Spruce Covert and, after eventually swinging right, it then bears left to leave the main wood and follow the middle of a wide strip of trees, known as the Long Plantation. The woods are rich in birdlife, although to identify them you will have to use your ears as well as your eyes. The “pink, pink” is likely to be a chaffinch, while the great tit’s distinctive call sounds like “teacher, teacher”, plus a metallic series of “zee-de” notes. Another common woodland bird, which arrives from late March onwards, is the chiffchaff. Its loud and plaintive “hoo-eet” is often followed by a monotonous “chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff ”. Out on the open farmland and by the hedgerows listen out for the yellowhammer’s high-pitched “little bit of bread and no cheese”. Since the path skirts the edge of the wood there are occasional views out across the open farmland, which to the south includes the site of the deserted medieval village of Brauncewell. A scattering of low, rectangular earthworks is all that remains of up to 25 buildings, while around the church, rebuilt in 1855, is the outline of what were thought to be once the grand gardens of the Manor House. If you look on the Ordnance Survey map you will see that another lost village, Dunsby, is located less than a mile (1.6km) away by the present-day A15. Across the country there are many more examples of villages simply wiped out during the Middle Ages, and more than 235 have been identified in Lincolnshire alone. It’s commonly thought that the Black Death, which arrived in England in 1348, was the main culprit, but in fact it was more likely owing to failed harvests and famine, and in particular the clearance of whole communities to make way for sheep grazing. For a close-up view of the Brauncewell site take the path across the fields towards Manor Farm that leaves the Bloxholm lane 0.5 mile (800m) south of the Stepping Out car park. When you reach a junction of paths turn right, past a reedy pond, and follow this permissive route up towards Mount Farm. At the lane at the top turn right and walk along this wide, hedged track eastwards for about a mile (1.6km), passing through several farm gates. The distant church spire and distinctive water tower seen away to the left belong to the village of Ashby de la Launde. Ashby, which means ‘settlement by the ash trees’, is quite a common name in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, but to distinguish itself Ashby de la Launde (like Ashby de la Zouche, near Leicester) has retained the name of its Norman landlord. The dead-straight track continues over a wooded rise, known as The Mount, then descends to continue through two fields, separated by a gate and stile, towards the former Bloxholm Hall. The original house was built in the 1600s but, despite subsequent enlargement, most of it was pulled down three centuries later. At the perimeter fence turn right and walk alongside this to the corner of the field. Here go straight on, through a small but obvious gap in the thin line of trees, and turn left. With fields on your right, and some houses and a long red-brick wall on your left, walk as far as the road and turn right to return to the car park.