Whorlton Castle and Church from Swainby

6 miles                           Cool and mostly dry

We always seem to do this walk at this time of year, possibly because it's short and sweet, ideal for today, the 20th December and almost the shortest day!

We parked at the roadside in Swainby and before crossing the river we looked at the restored pinfold, which is a sort of pen where stray animals were kept until they were reclaimed by their owners after payment of a fine.

Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Cleveland Hills

Gate opening into the pinfold

Memorial plaque inside the pinfold

We then walked up the high street and turned left into a footpath just before the church.

Mining weather vane on Swainby High Street

Our path runs behind houses and out of the village

This footpath passes along the back of houses and we quickly left Swainby, which Tom Scott Burns informs us means 'Swain's Farm', from the old Norse name Sveinn.  Our footpath soon joined a lane which took us very quickly to Whorlton Castle.

Front of Whorlton Castle

The castle is open and inside are graffiti and drink cans

TSB tells us that there have been a number of castles on this site, even before the Domesday Book which records it as Wirueltun in 1086. William the Conqueror gave the manor to Robert Count de Mortain, and then it passed into the hands of the de Meynell family.  The castle was surrounded by a deep moat over which was a drawbridge.  In 1323 Edward II was known to have stayed at Whorlton Castle while hunting deer in North Yorkshire and during the Cromwellian period Royalists held the castle and were bombarded by Roundheads from Whorl Hill to the East and Toft Hill to the West.

Clive on the remains of the Norman Keep

A few yards further along the tarmac lane brought us to the old Saxon church of Holy Cross. There is a tale that an underground passage links the castle to this nearby church and we decided to stop off to have a look round.  The church was locked and we peered through the grill in the chancel door.  We could just see the bog oak effigy of the second Lord Nicholas de Meynell who died in 1322, as described by TSB.  There are some very interesting tombstones dating from the early 1700s.

The Church of Holy Cross

The bog oak effigy of Lord de Meynell

We wandered around the graveyard but many of the stones are so old that they are barely legible.

'In perfect hilth he went from home, and little thought his glass was run, but dying in so short a space, I hope his soul in  a good place'

Interesting 'modern' stone with bronze coat of arms

We returned to the lane and followed it to the junction with Whorlton Lane, where we climbed a stile into fields and headed straight towards Whorl Hill, which dominates the skyline.

Leave Whorlton Lane at this gate. Whorl Hill in the distance.

Follow field paths to Whorl Hill

A steady climb took us into the trees of Whorl Hill (old Norse 'hvirfill' - 'high hill with a rounded top') and we continued to climb until our track levelled out and we circumnavigated the hill, just inside the tree line.  

TSB informs us that in 1810 one of Britain's largest hoards of Roman silver coins (weighing 2 stones) was dug up on Whorl Hill by a local farmer whilst ploughing his field.  

We followed the path with a fine view down to Swainby through the trees, until we dropped away from the main path to exit the woods at Bank Lane via the garden of a bungalow.

Looking back at Whorlton Church and Castle

Climbing Whorl Hill

Looking back at Swainby from Whorl Hill

Turn right off the main path when you see the bungalow below

Descending out of Whorl Hill woods

New vegetable garden at Bank Lane

We now walked up Bank Lane towards Live Moor and Round Hill.

Reaching the trees of Faceby Plantation we turned right and a short sharp climb brought us to a path below Round Hill, and here, sheltered from the wind, we sat to enjoy our coffee and scones.

Bank Lane

Another walker?  No, he turns out to be a bird watcher and unfortunately we frighten the fieldfares he's watching!

Looking back at Whorl Hill

Climbing through Faceby plantation

We reach the moor gate at last!

A level walk above the plantation across old spoil heaps

The wall provides shelter from the chilly breeze

That looks a good spot!

Coffee and scones al fresco

We now climbed once more, to reach the moor top and the stone path of the Cleveland Way.  We turned right and walked into a cold head wind, soon passing a large cairn standing on a Bronze Age burial mound.

Climbing to the moor top

Whorl Hill and Faceby below

Looking east towards Carlton Moor

South is Scugdale Head and Holiday House at 9 o'clock

Bronze Age Burial Mound

We followed the Cleveland Way footpath westwards with good views down to Whorl Hill and Swainby to our right, eventually reaching the steep descent to Huthwaite Green.

This steep descent is always slippery and requires care. At the bottom where the path reaches Scugdale Lane is an old railway 

goods truck, a remnant of the mineral railway that once ran up this valley into Scugdale.  Someone has used the truck as a firewood store.  

We crossed the lane and passed Hollin Hill Farm and then crossed two bridges over meandering Scugdale Beck to enter fields where a faint track took us to the trees of Clain Wood.

Whorl Hill from the Cleveland Way footpath

Approaching the descent to Huthwaite Green

Leaving the moor

Slippery descent!

Old railway truck

Crossing Scugdale Beck

Approaching Clain Wood

We followed the Cleveland Way through the woods, at times walking parallel with the dismantled railway, until we reached the tarmac of the Sheepwash to Swainby road.

Here we turned right to follow the tarmac downhill to Swainby, following the road through the village.

Looking back to the houses of Huthwaite Green on the right and Whorl Hill to the left

Walking through Clain Wood

Shepherd weather vane in Swainby

Footballer weather vane

It doesn't have to be pedigree to be of value!

Swainby

Having seen the old Church of Holy Cross at Whorlton we decided to pop in and see the new Church of Holy Cross, in Swainby, which was built around 1875- 1877, to replace the old church at Whorlton.

We crossed the river and entered the church which was open to visitors.  It was very gloomy inside as we couldn't find the light switches and we were surprised to see that there are no Christmas decorations, unlike last year when there were trees and lights.  Perhaps there has been a change of policy?

Church of Holy Cross, Swainby

No Christmas decorations this year

Side window

Leaving the church we continued up the high street to the Black Horse where we discussed today's walk over a pint of Theakston's bitter.

The end of the walk!