Bishop Wilton Wold
Start / End: Bishop Wilton
Distance: 4.4 miles
Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Map: OS 294
This is a walk of 3 parts, the middle part of which is all on road, which is not ideal but it does join up two rather nice walks either side. This is my revised route for Nov 2024.
The Walk
Start From: YO42 1RU /// chess.packet.tripods
1. Park in Bishop Wilton village being mindful of traffic and access (I parked outside the community shop so I could buy cake when I got back) then walk back out the village (turning left at the pub) along the route of the Chalkland Way / Minster Way on the road to Meltonby. Shortly along the road you will find a signpost on the left which indicates an off-road footpath and which heads fairly steeply uphill from the road.
2. Follow the path up, keeping the fence line on your left. When you are almost at the top you will see an old Chalkland Way sign on an old gate on your left, don't attempt to go through it as it is just a marker for where you should turn right to follow the path along the side of the hill to enjoy views back down into the Vale of York to your right.
3. After a short while the grass, and sometimes stone, path bends around a grassy hummock on your left, around the back of which is a path marked with the Chalkland and Minster Ways through a gap in the fence which you go through.
4. Almost immediately after the gateway, a (more or less hidden) path on your right takes you steeply up a small rise and then follows the fence line on the left. You will then reach a gate to the field on your left.
5. Go through the gate into the field (where there may be cows or sheep- so keep dogs on leads) and follow the fence line to your right for a very short distance to a second gate on your right. Go through this gate still following the Chalkland Way & Minster Way and then follow the footpath all the way along. At the end of this first long stretch the path turns left to head to another corner.
6. At this next corner turn right to continue following the path that has a wire fence on the right (i.e. do not go straight ahead at the corner along what appears to be a farm track). This part of the path also bends left at the end where you then come to a gate.
7. Go through the gate and follow the farm track up to your left, turn right around the corner and head down into Great Givendale village. You will emerge at a signpost and wooden bench. Turn left.
8. Here you will start your road-based part of the route. Walk through the village and out the other end to where the signpost points towards Malton. Turn left and continue up the road with Church Dale and then Bishop Wilton Wold on your right-hand side. Unfortunately, this stretch is not terribly interesting and dog leads are essential although the road is not that busy most of the time. Walk for about a mile and a half (past a farm on your left and nearly to the mast), before you come to a footpath through a gap in the hedge on your left. There is also another footpath sign for a path on the right opposite it.
This part of the road is called Beacon Road and just a short distance further along is Beacon Field (on the left). Wilton beacon was established in 1588 at the time of the Spanish Armada, as part of the 'early warning system' to alert the armed militia to the arrival of the enemy. It is very likely that the Romans had a beacon there too. It was revived in the early 1800s because of fear of a French invasion. "Two watchers named Gray and Black lived in the hut made of sods, which stood near the base of the beacon.
According to the archaeologist John Robert Mortimer the beacon was built on a pre-historic barrow, as the highest point - 780 feet (237 metres) above sea level. In excavating the barrow, parts of the wooden foundations of the beacon were unearthed, but that was all that remained by then - apart from the names of Beacon Field and the nearby Beacon Road. The beacon consisted of a sturdy upright post with pegs projecting from the sides to climb up, with an iron cage on the top in which the tar-barrel would be placed to be lit. The system was that Wilton 'took light' from Bainton, Hunsley and Rudston and 'gave light' to Holme-on-Spalding-Moor and the Vale of York.
9. Go down the path on your left, along the side of a field with the hedge on your right, through a gate and down to the bottom of this next field (where there may be cows), to a 3-way signpost. Take the left-hand way (don't go through the gate straight ahead as this leads down to Worsendale - (another of our walks) and follow the fence on your right around Crow Wood on the other side, to a gate in the fence in front of you - just a little to the left.
10. Go through this gate, down and up the dale and follow the well-marked-out path along the valley edge of Old Wood. This is a lovely stretch of the walk taking in wide views across the landscape off the right.
11. Half way around you can stop at a wooden bench for a few snacks, where there is a marker which reads:
'Do not put on the ring Frodo' referencing The Lord and the Rings and similarities perhaps between the views here and the Shire. (Weathertop?)
12. Once you have enjoyed a quick break, you can carry on along the path as it bends around a corner first right and then left (keeping the fence line on your left with yet more lovely views into the dale below on your right.
13. Make your way along the fence line to a gate in the fence. Before you go through though, look over to your right, as this is the site of the Archbishop's medieval moated palace and fishponds.
Bishop Wilton is originally linked to King Athelstan of Northumbria (AD937-939) who gave the lands of the Manor of 'Wilton' to Archbishop Wulstanus of York. The Palace at Wilton, with a moat and fishponds was thought to have been built between AD1216 and 1255, with the first letters referring to 'Wylton' or 'Wilton' signed by Archbishop Gray. The manor remained in the hands of the Archbishops of York until 1544 when it passed to the crown.
Go through the gates.
14. Follow the path as it heads down hill with the fence on your right for the first part, to enjoy more of the views over the site of the Bishop's Palace.
15 As it rounds the corner the path turns left and up to the top corner, to a small patch of scrubby trees where you will find two gates, one after the other. It could be very muddy here. Go through both gates.
16. Keep following the path ahead and as it comes to a fork, where one path heads downhill along the right-hand fence line, but take the left-hand path along to the top of the field. This will come to some duck boards and an open gateway. The whole of this section may have sheep in it and it can be slippery - this is where I fell over the first time we did it - so be careful!.
17. After the duck boards, follow the path down to the next gate, go through it and then, at the path, turn right, and down some steps back into Bishop Wilton along the road from the Community Shop.
18. Just turn left along the road here and walk back to the start to claim that cake at the shop (and a nice cup of tea!).
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
Bill taking a breather (6.)
(new) bench overlooking the Old Wood (6.)
Photo Gallery
Extra Phtotos from Nov 2024
Extra Phtotos from Nov 2024
Extra Phtotos from Nov 2024