Londesborough Wilderness Walk
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Londesborough Wilderness Walk

Part of one or two popular local walks enter the Londesborough Hall parkland by the ornate entrance gates on the bottom road to the village from Market Weighton.

A clear track climbs slowly up though the grassland, dotted with venerable individual trees, clumps of half a dozen or so, and a few juvenile replacements. To your right is a large tree lined lake and to your left, looking up the hill, the massive arched walls of the old hall garden terrace walk. The track continues through another pair of ornate gate posts, still upwards, into dense woodland with views through the trees to steep grazed grassland valleys on your right now, and occasional “lost” ivy clad brick garden features amongst the trees to your left. It is truly an intriguing spectacle, especially in early spring when the ground is white with drifts of snowdrops.

This track brings you out onto the lowest village street, immense beeches dwarf the old clay pantiled cottages with mostly old russet red brick walls and chimneys, even a few with the really vernacular local chalk in their walls.

Two further narrow village streets rise up behind this first, each providing south facing aspects down to the stream that feeds the lake, and to the encircling hills beyond.

This is a well-found private place where the pace of change has slowed. It is hard to believe that the Celts farmed this land, that Roman soldiers marched this way, that there may be a Kingly palace lying somewhere under the turf, that the Cliffords, the Earls of Burlington and the Dukes of Devonshire built, altered and finally demolished a fine country house here.

But, the attraction every spring, thanks to the careful stewardship of the present owners must be ‘The Wilderness’. Part of the original ornamental pleasure grounds created by the 3rd Lord Burlington, his architect, William Kent and his visionary head gardener, Thomas Knowlton. This is a private garden, only very occasionally open to the public.

Depending on the weather and the ground conditions, the regular annual snowdrop walks have been fixed for Sunday 9th and Sunday 16th February this year.

There will also be an extra open event on Tuesday 11th February when very well-known local speakers Dr Peter Halkon, Phil Gilbank and Andrew Sefton will give illustrated talks about the history and archaeology of the Londesborough area. This will start at 1.30pm in the church followed by refreshments. A new “travelling museum” of information and artefacts will be on display from one o’clock in the church. The wilderness area will be open to view the snowdrops afterwards (weather permitting).

Location

Londesborough Hall Park. The snowdrops cover an extensive area of woodland and it can sometimes be a bit wet underfoot, so good footwear and a stick are recommended.

Cost

This is a free event, but donations will be most welcome towards the upkeep of Londesborough Church and the development of the promised new museum in Pocklington that the Pocklington and District Heritage Trust have been working hard to establish.