Lanhydrock Great Wood & Avenue Walk
This gentle walk is a great introduction to the mature, mixed woodland and historic parkland of the Lanhydrock estate.
A beautiful estate with ancient woodlands and tranquil riverside paths
Explore part of the 900 acres (364ha) of land surround Lanhydrock House and discover parkland full of traditional grassland flowers, bluebell woods, ancient trees, amazing fungi, wildlife and a magnificent beech-lined avenue.
Map
Start:
Lanhydrock main visitor reception, grid ref: SX088636
1
Leave the main car park and follow the signs for Lanhydrock House, crossing the road and entering the park by the reception building. Delabole slate has been used to roof the octagonal reception building, built in 1990.
2
Follow the path down the hill towards Lanhydrock House. Continue past the 17th century gatehouse. The parkland that surrounds you is managed with the aim of promoting species diversity, which has allowed traditional grassland flowers to flourish. The unusually bumpy ground in the park is the remains of a medieval field system.
Gatehouse
The gatehouse was built in 1651 as a hunting lodge. It was constructed in two different architectural styles; Italian Renaissance facing the parkland and traditional Gothic facing the house. The gatehouse has been used as a porter's lodge, a folly, a Sunday school and a Catholic chapel for WW2 evacuees.
3
Go through the wide, unpainted gate next to the cattle grid, and turn left. This track, running down the edge of Great Wood, is known as Lady's Walk. To the left of Lady's Walk you can see the 1823 ha-ha, a vertical wall alongside a stream. The ha-ha prevented the parkland grazing stock from getting into the woodland, without interrupting the view from the house.
Woodland bluebells
Since the clearance of the invasive rhododendron ponticum from Great Wood, fantastic displays of bluebells can be seen here in the spring. Lanhydrock is also home to kingfishers, dormice and 12 species of bat.
4
Follow Lady's Walk down the edge of Great Wood until you reach a red gate onto Newton Lane. Turn left here and continue past the privately-owned cottages.
Trees
Discover the impressive avenue of beech and sycamore, with just two oak impostors! Great Wood lives up to its name, with a mix of beech, oak, sycamore, ash, sweet chestnut, holly and a number of Scots Pine. Also, look out for the amazing fungi for which these trees provide a home.
5
Turn left through the gates by Newton Lodge into the Avenue. This impressive gateway, marked with the initials of John and Lucy Robartes, is dated 1657.
The Avenue
The magnificent beech trees that line the Avenue are host to an array of invertebrates, fungi, lichen and other wildlife. The Avenue was originally planted circa 1657, with just a single row of sycamore either side of the track.
6
At the top of the Avenue, turn right and follow the path back up through the park to the main entrance and car park.
End:
Lanhydrock main visitor reception, grid ref: SX088636