This month we have a 6 mile circular walk from Harlow Town Station, which is walk 10 under ‘Walks from Railway Stations’ and a 4.3 mile circular walk in High Wych, which is walk 324 under ‘Quiet Lane Walks’. The full routes for these two Hundred Parishes Society Walks, as well as many other walking routes, are here: https://hundredparishes.org.uk/walks

Walk from Harlow Train Station – 6 miles: This walk starts and finishes at Harlow Train Station. The route passes over Burnt Mill Lock and follows the towpath beside the Stort Navigation, passing Parndon Lock Meadows.

The canal rounds a bend just before Parndon Mill. The 19th-century mill ceased to operate in 1960 and has since been converted to a centre for creative activity. Opposite the Mill, the towpath crosses a weir on an ornate metal and glass bridge created by two of the Mill’s artists in 2007. This is one of several works of art along the River Stort Sculpture Trail.

Further on you will see Eastwick church. St Botolph’s Church was substantially rebuilt in the 1870s, but retains the tower and chancel arch from the 13th century. There is a clear view of Eastwick Manor which is little changed from when it was built as the rectory in 1826. On this walk you will also see the Grade I-listed St Mary’s Church in Gilston, which is largely from the 13th-century, with a Tudor tower topped by a Victorian Hertfordshire spike. Further on will be Gilston Park House, built in the 1850s (you can read more about it in the full route description online) and the Moorhen Marina is nearer to the end of the route.

High Wych walk – 4.3 miles: This circular walk starts and finishes at the High Wych village sign. The route will pass the entrance to the Manor of Groves hotel and golf course. The tall iron gates are listed as dating from the 19th century. Then we pass two thatched houses: firstly, Beth Gilboa and then The Thatched Cottage, each dating from the 17th century or earlier. Further along, we pass several 17th or 18th-century houses on the right.

Continuing on we pass a pond and then a farmhouse – Acton Farm. This is what remains of a somewhat larger 16th-century moated manor house, believed to have been built for the local Leventhorpe family –
they have an impressive memorial in Sawbridgeworth parish church and a local school takes their name.

Further along we pass an entrance on the right to Bakers Farm and walk beside a long building on the right. This is the back of the former stable block built in 1891 for a racehorse owner, Mr E. B. Barnard, who was then the owner of Grove Lodge – now the main building within the Manor of Groves complex. Just beyond the stable block, we pass Bakers Farm farmhouse. The route will end up where it started.