Stonegrave and Caulkleys Bank from Nunnington
7 miles Fine and bright
This is the most southerly walk in Tom Scott Burn's book, The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills. Set in the gently rolling Howardian Hills this route would be graded very easy and the going is good underfoot.
We approached Nunnington on the B1257 from Helmsley and parked in a lay-by opposite Nunnington Hall, next to the river.
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| Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills |
Tom Scott Burns explains that the name Nunnington is derived from the old English personal name Nunna and not from the Saxon nunnery that once stood where the hall now stands.
We crossed the bridge over the river and walked through the village admiring the neat streets, laid out in a grid formation with all the houses decorated in the same dark green and cream paintwork.
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| Passing by houses in Nunnington |
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| Limestone gives the houses a clean, new look |
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| The Old School |
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| The coffee shop gets ready for customers |
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| Nunnington Studios, note the weather vane |
As we passed Nunnington studios we paused to admire the weather vane which we were once told is a life sized memorial to a much loved dog, a spaniel called Percy. Apparently the spaniel was a real character who led a very independent life, doing exactly what he pleased. At the other end of the village is a small copse of trees named after the dog and known as Percy's Plantation.
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| Percy |
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| Clive passes by the old grocers |
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| Good advice |
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| Bridge cottage |
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| We leave Nunnington |
Leaving Nunnington at Bridge Cottage we walked for about a mile alongside the river until we crossed a small bridge over a beck. Here we turned sharp left and walked away from the river into fields.
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| Our path follows the river |
After walking through several fields we turned left onto the tarmac of High Moor Lane and after a hundred yards or so turned right at a signpost to return to fields.
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| Turn left to ? The sign should say 'Stonegrave' |
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| High Moor Lane |
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| Leave High Moor Lane at the sign.. if you can find it! |
After half a mile or so we dropped down to reach the busy Malton road and the village of Stonegrave.
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| Dropping down towards Stonegrave |
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| House at Stonegrave |
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| Stonegrave Minster comes into view |
Crossing the busy B1257 we followed the wooden sign to the rear gate of Stonegrave Minster, England's smallest minster.
TSB explains that Stonegrave is derived from steinn-gryfia meaning a 'stone cleft', and that there were important quarries of building stone to be found here in the Middle Ages.
We entered the churchyard by a stile and crossed to the Minster which we were disappointed to find locked. Undeterred we took advantage of a bench next to the minster to enjoy our coffee and scones in the sun.
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| Stonegrave Minster |
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| Coffee in the sun |
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| Rear view |
We were surprised to find the minster locked and as the door still had a sign saying 'Welcome' we hope this was an oversight. It is worth looking round, not least to see one of the finest Celtic crosses in England.
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| 8th Century Celtic Cross, taken on a previous visit |
Leaving the Minster we walked past the old manor house and crossed back over the Malton road to join a grassy path that veers left from the road to climb Caulkleys Bank.
The name Caulkleys is a corruption of 'Chalk Lands' and in The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills one reads that the terrain here consists mainly of rich deposits of reef limestones and detritus known as Coral Rag, all pointing to the marine origins of this hillside.
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| The old Manor House |
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| Looking down on the Manor House from Caulkleys Bank |
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| Climbing Caulkleys Bank |
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| A new build blocks our view of the old thatched cottage in Stonegrave |
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| Passing Caulkleys Wood |
Reaching the top of Caulkleys Bank we walked along the grassy ridge and after passing Caulkleys Wood we had fine views in all directions.
We followed the ridge walk for about 2.5 miles: at its highest point it is marked by a trig point. TSB says that no less than 22 towns, villages and hamlets and sixteen churches can be seen from here. We didn't check.
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| Lots of wild flowers on Caulkleys Bank |
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| Hoveringham in the distance |
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| Surprising sign at Caulkleys Wood warning of the move to a cashless society. I do hope their predictions are wrong! |
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| Crossing The Avenue which runs down to Nunnington |
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| We reach the trig point |
Eventually our path began to lose height and we reached the houses of the tiny hamlet of West Ness, where we passed an old Wesleyan Chapel, long disused.
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| Following the ridge walk |
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| We eventually drop to the road and West Ness |
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| Wheat for sale at West Ness Farm |
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| The Wesleyan Chapel dated 1836 |
Just past the chapel, built in 1836, the path leaves the road and rejoins the River Rye. We walked alongside the peaceful river for about 1.5 miles and reached Mill Farm.
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| Leave the road at the sign |
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| .. and drop down to the riverside path |
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| .. which you follow for about 1.5 miles |
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| I send Clive on ahead to check the route |
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| Waiting to pounce! |
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| The natives are friendly |
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| Speckled wood butterflies were all along our path |
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| We reach Mill Farm and the old mill |
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| Mill Farm |
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| .. and its friendly collie dog |
TSB says there has been a mill here since Domesday and the present mill dates from 1875. Until 1950 the mill race powered a generator providing electricity for Nunnington Hall.
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| The mill race |
Continuing alongside the river we reached Nunnington Hall, where the screeching of peacocks could be heard. This was owned by Sir Thomas Parr in the sixteenth century so it's possible that Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife, played in the village as a child.
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| Nunnington Hall |
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| Nunnington Hall from The Avenue |
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| Old Alms Houses |
We emerged on to The Avenue and went back through the village, this time to the Church of All Saints and St James, which we knew from our Tom Scott Burns' book, contains the remains of Peter Loschy, the dragon slayer. The church was open and we soon found the effigy of a knight with a dog at his feet.
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| All Saints and St James |
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| Looking towards the altar |
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| Colourful altar |
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| Victorian organ |
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| Looking towards the rear of the church |
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| 'Peter Loschy and his dog' |
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| Kilburn mouse |
The church is very attractive with a fine Victorian organ. After a look around the interior we wandered the graveyard, as always fascinated by the bleak Victorian epitaphs.
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'A lovely bud, so young, so fair, Called hence by early doom, Just came to show how sweet a flower,
In Paradise should bloom' |
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| 'Fresh in the morn the opening flower, Hangs withering 'ere tis noon. We scarce enjoy the balmy gift, But mourn the pleasure gone' |
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| 'Wrecked on the shore where silence sleeps/ Attended by the worm that creeps/ Through rayless death-extinguished eyes/Enshrouded in a coffin's gloom, Amidst the victims of the tomb' |
This last epitaph I found particularly interesting and a google search reveals that it is the first verse of a poem called 'Lorenzo', missing the last line, from a book called The Remains of Joseph Blackett. The poem's title is:
'Lorenzo, Founded on the fact of persons having been buried alive.' The verse goes:
'Wrecked on the shore where silence sleeps, attended by the worm that creeps, through ray-less death extinguished eyes, enshrouded in a coffins gloom, amidst the victims of the tomb, the young Lorenzo prematurely lies'
Why anyone would want this as an epitaph is a mystery!
The village pub, which used to be opposite the church, is now a private house so we drove to Helmsley where we popped into Helmsley Brewery and discussed today's walk in their beer garden.
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| 'To Lorenzo!' |
