Paulerspury

 

To keep the amount of time spent walking along the A5 to a minimum, we are starting and ending this walk in a rather strange place, namely part way along the metalled road from Concept Park (previously Kirby Farm) to the A5. For anyone having to arrive by car there is a lay-by on the southbound A5 almost opposite the gated road to Concept Park. If you have trouble locating the (presently unmarked) start point you may have to begin at Concept Park and head towards the A5. The critical point is about half way along where the road cuts through a line of hedges. It is the place where the corners of four fields meet and the hedge along the metalled road changes from one side of the road to the other. (1) (NB. All numbers are marked on the map overleaf.) At this point stand with your back to Concept Park, facing the A5 with a large open field on your left. Cross this field diagonally, aiming at the far left corner of the small tract of woodland that lies ahead; the path is very obvious at the time of writing.

 

From about two-thirds of the way across this field you are entering the area that ‘the Developers’ think would be suitable for allotments and a cemetery! The proposed roundabout would flatten a good chunk of the plantation on your right. A stile in the corner takes you through to Cowpastures. Turn right and head towards the A5, crossing Cowpastures before you get to the dangerous corner. Turn left on to the A5 which you should also cross as soon as it is safe to do so. Walk down the pavement in the direction of Towcester crossing the Stoke Bruerne road as you go.

 

Heathencote is one of our smallest hamlets and has shrunk, if anything, over the centuries. As you begin to pass the buildings on your left (Park Hall Farm) pause and lean over the metal farm gate on your right. (2) As late as the 19^th Century there would have been another farm in the field to your right and, though it is hard to detect, a road or track going off to the left. On the Boer War memorial in St Lawrence’s, Towcester, the first name commemorated is that of Sergeant E. Bennett of Heathencote. It seems incongruous for a young man from such a tiny corner of England to have lost his life fighting for the Empire in far off Africa. The second name on the list, another Bennett (Chas from Whittlebury), was a farrier. As the motorised traffic on the A5 thunders by, you might wish to reflect on how much has changed in a hundred years.

 

Walk on past the start of the red brick wall of the Racecourse to the first of the gates. A fingerpost should point to the right (presently the post is there but the finger is missing!). There are two gates set into the wall. Go through the right-hand, smaller one and get a good view of the buildings on the Racecourse.

Descend a short flight of steps and pick up the path as it bears left and follows the perimeter fence of the Racecourse. The new buildings on the Course give it an air of prosperity that would have appealed to Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, who is credited with holding the first race here in 1876 whilst a tenant at Easton Neston. The building in the picture is called the Empress Stand in her honour. The charismatic and unconventional Empress was something of a Princess Diana figure, travelling around Europe till her life was cut short by an anarchist who stabbed her in the heart with a nail file. The tightness of her corset temporarily masked the severity of the wound.

 

Paulerspury’s northern boundary has traditionally been the River Tove. At the time of Enclosure, 1819/21, various landowners took part in what amounted to a land grab. Pieces of land were bought, sold and swapped as the landowners increased and rationalised their holdings. The third Earl of Pomfret extended his park at Easton Neston across the Tove and took in the former open fields at Heathencote. The racecourse was later laid out in the new park so it all lies within Paulerspury parish. Some of our best preserved examples of ancient ridge-and-furrow are found within the precincts of the Racecourse. Follow the path and go over a fairly steep stile in a wooden fence. Continue in the same direction with a small stream on your right. The former Park Hall would have stood back on the hill on your left. (3) Carry on to the stile at the bottom (to the right of the green fingerpost) and again look to your left. The hill standing above the lower entrance to the Racecourse held a windmill from post-Mediaeval times to about the mid 18^th Century. (4) The windmill mount remains, but it is just out of sight from the road. (It is a few yards to the left of a fairly prominent, but squat, horse-chestnut on the skyline.)

 

The less agile may wish to cut short the walk by turning right onto the public road and walking back through the village to the A5. Everyone else should turn left and walk along the road. The most interesting feature on this stretch is the old barn on your right. (5) Continue till a fingerpost directs you to the right, over a stile and through the hedge. Cross the field ahead to where a cunning stile just about manages to cross the corners of three fields! From the stile, look back the way you have come and a little to the right to where the Tove flows down to Towcester. For at least 800 years a water mill, Twickets Mill, would have been visible at this point. (The buildings remained till the end of the 19^th Century.)

 

After crossing the ‘treble’ stile continue diagonally across the next field to a stile in the far corner which is sometimes bedevilled by nettles. You may also attract the attention of some fairly frisky heifers (?). Turn left onto a farm track and almost immediately follow an arrow pointing into the field on your right. Carry on up the field keeping the hedge on your right. At the top of the field the ‘cart track’ bends left but do not follow it! Immediately before the track bears left into the next field, the footpath goes straighter, between two stretches of wooden fencing, over a dry stream and through a metal gate. You may need to look for the gate as it can get overgrown and nettles are often a problem. Once through the gate, walk uphill with the hedge on your left. The present public road through Heathencote bends quite a bit. Originally it was much straighter and ran parallel to this footpath over on your right. The lovely pair of 18^th Century cottages (6) was built right across the line of the old road. Up hill from the cottages the sunken road is better preserved, but now obscured by trees. Various archaeological artefacts have been found in this area.

 

Where the hedge on your left turns left, follow it round for a short way. There are several arrows at this point as you are crossing a longer footpath to Alderton. Turn right and walk up to the left hand corner of the field keeping the hedge on your left. The stile in the top corner has been giving us concern but we are hoping for a new stile very soon. You need to be aware that you are about to emerge on to a very busy road, on top of any problems with stile or nettles, so cross through the hedge with all due caution. Turn left and walk along the A5 for a little way. This road, Watling Street, was traditionally the border of the Danelaw. You should cross opposite the gated road to Concept Park, unless you left a car in the lay-by. Let yourself through the small gate to the left of the main gate and head back in the direction of Concept Park. The walk ends where we started. Some historians surmise that the village of Paulerspury has ‘moved’ over the last two thousand years and that the original settlement would have been much nearer to Watling Street. One theory puts it just about here.

 

Appoximate distance: 2¼ miles (3.7 kilometers)

Approximate time: 1 hour/ 1 hour 10 minutes

 

NB. This walk involves climbing over some fairly steep stiles and it would not be suitable for the less agile.

First published June 2008.