Carriage ride walk at Croft Castle near Leominster
Explore some of the lost carriage rides that were designed for Fishpool Valley in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries during the Picturesque landscape movement.
Map
Start:
Croft visitor reception SO45119 65659
1
Turn right outside visitor reception and pass through the gate following the track around to your right. Follow the purple markers to the top of the hill and see if you can spot part of the original carriage path to your left.
2
Keep following the purple markers up the hill towards the wood pasture and then follow the path sharply to your right, keeping the wood pasture on your left.
Wood pasture
Home to many ancient oak trees and a myriad of bluebells in May. Cattle occasionally graze here. Take a peek inside our wood pasture barn, which contains information on the parkland’s wildlife and our current and future projects.
3
Take a sharp left and keep heading up the hill, keeping the wood pasture on your left.
Candelabra oak
Keep an eye out for the candelabra oak on your left. This is an 800-year-old pollarded oak tree.
4
Once you reach the top of the wood pasture, follow the purple way-markers round to your right and back down the hill slightly.
Sir James Croft's grave
On a prominence overlooking the Fishpool Valley. Just up from the grave, rest your legs in our Moss house; a temporary structure providing a place to rest and enjoy the natural surroundings.
5
Follow the way-markers down the wooded slope, stopping to admire the fish pools on your right. Don't miss the viewing platform, created to overlook particularly picturesque scenes.
Saw pits
Where heavy timber was once cut by hand.
6
Keep following the markers down the wooded slope until you come to a sharp bend in the path. Follow this round to your right.
Charcoal burning platform
Evidence of a past woodland industry.
7
Follow the path to your left and then take another sharp left.
'Gothic' Pumphouse
Keep an eye out for the 'Gothic' Pumphouse on your right. In the nineteenth century, this supplied water to the castle.
8
Continue to follow the purple way-markers until you eventually reach the main driveway. Turn right into the visitor car park and towards visitor reception.
End:
Croft visitor reception SO45119 65659
