Newport

Newport is a large village south of Saffron Walden and was on the major toll road (turnpike) between London and Cambridge / Newmarket and it still has many attractive old buildings dating from that time of horse-drawn carriages. This post describes a short walk in the surrounding countryside together with an exploration of the village.

We start off at the Railway Station and follow the footpath that climbs out of the valley of the River Cam; at the top there is a lovely view of the village and the prominent tower of the Church of St Mary the Virgin. As we turn, we see the Newport Chalk Pit, the only working chalk quarry in Essex. We follow the path over the Debden Road and descend a slippery slope to the flood plain of Debden Water, a small tributary of the River Cam, before crossing it and following the path back towards Newport. A bridge takes us over the River Cam and we reach Belmont Hill (aka Newport High Street).

We see a sign on an old house which shows where the old toll bridge used to be and another sign on the building opposite shows that it was a "house of correction" back in the day. Further along Belmont Hill we pass The White Horse Inn, now a local community owned pub, and The Old Vicarage which is probably the oldest timber-framed building in the village. We walk by Monks Barn, a 15th century house with ancient carved figures below one of the windows. We turn left towards the station and note the example of Hertfordshire puddingstone close to the road.

It has been another lovely local walk.Read more