Back over the border into deepest darkest Leicestershire. We are back in the village of kings Norton, with It's mighty impressive Church looming large in the background. For those who are interested today's walk will be in a clockwise direction. Reputedly to be a distance of 9.4 miles although it never quite works out like that.
We are heading in the direction of Houghton on the Hill.A huge Bumblebee is feasting on the lush patch of flowering clover. The path takes us across several footbridges One of which provides safe passage over the River Sence. That does sound a bit grand though. With a bit of a run up I could probably have jumped it, knees permitting. It is actually a tributary of the much larger River Soar. The River Sence can be traced eastwards up to the village of Billesdon which get to in due course today.
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| River Sence |
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St Catherine's Church
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St Catharine's Church at Houghton on the Hill comes into view. The first mention of Houghton is in the Domesday Book in 1086 (spelt Hohtone) when it is recorded as having a population of 10. It has certainly grown a bit since those times. In the last Census of 2011 the total was 1548. Although in 2007 it was dubbed "the village of the scammed"following a major credit card fraud scam originating from the local petrol station. We continue our walk through one of the new housing estates that have arisen over the last few years.
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Ingarsby Medieval Village
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From the new to the Old as we walk towards the deserted medieval village of Ingarsby. Before we reach it though we pass by the 'Monks Grave motte'. It's all getting very exciting. It is actually quite a small motte mound with a ring ditch, but with no bailey ditch.
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Monk's Grave Motte
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Field Mushrooms
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Ingarsby is one of the best preserved medieval villages in England. The
settlement was probably founded by a Danish individual named Ingwar and
as such was referred to as 'Ingwar's village'. It would originate back
to the 9th or 10th century, growing to become a substantial village. The
Black Death is incorrectly usually assumed to be the cause of a
deserted village. The desertion was for the far more common reason that
sheep were much
more profitable to the big religious establishments than people.
Leicester Abbey turned the villagers out, and introduced sheep farming
instead!The lush ground is a prime site for mushrooms though. Lots of
large edible Field and Horse mushrooms.
Meadows grazed by
sheep, cattle or horses sometimes produce vast quantities of these fungi
of summer and early autumn... but not every year, unfortunately. This year though promises to be a very good year. The same can be said for the red berries too The hedgerows are crammed with them. Good for the birds but a sign of a bad winter ahead perhaps?
This may be a bit controversial but I'm going to say it anyway. I think the Leicestershire countryside is better than we have in Northamptonshire. There I've said it now . There are exceptions of course but generally speaking Leicestershire seems more rolling and even greener.
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Rolling Hills
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We are heading along the footpath to Botany Bay Fox Covert. We then pass through Billesdon Coplow and the surviving house some 700 feet above sea level can be seen. The original estate was one of the classic hunting establishments of the Shires.The walk is not without it's jeopardy though. Passing a farm the path takes us through a paddock with horses. They wouldn't move away from the stile., showing us far too much attention. There was no other way but to cross the muddy paddock. I was worried that one swing of the giant neck and head and I'd be knocked over. Thankfully they seemed more inquisitive than aggressive and we crossed safely, albeit breathing a little heavier.
In the next field a farmer was getting in the last of the Barley Harvest. From there on it was a straightforward walk through nice countryside to the village of Billesdon. The village's name either means 'the hill of Bil' or sword shaped hill. Two fairs, annually on 23 April and 25 July, and a weekly Friday market, were granted in 1618.It has an olde worlde feel to it which I really like. Cattle fairs were held from 1846 until the early years of the 20th century. Leaving Billesdon we pass another deserted village. This time the medieval village of Frisby. It was a settlement that part of the manor of Gaulby. There isn't a lot to see in truth aside from a few earthworks. We then pass through the small village of Gaulby as we near the starting point of our walk. We aren't quite out of harms way as a very ferocious looking and well built Ram starts to pay us unwarranted attention. He is a big brute and no mistake. Thankfully he is happy enough just to usher off his manor so to speak.
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Parish Church of St Peter Gaulby
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As we approach Kings Norton the re-assuring sight of the Church tells us that we are just about finished. A n interesting if at times perilous walk... These things are supposed to be relaxing I thought?
As expected the total length of the walk comes in more than planned at 10.88 miles.
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