Littlebury Green Circular

Littlebury Green is a small village in the Uttlesford District of north-west Essex and 3 miles from Saffron Walden. It has a chapel of ease since the main parish church is in Littlebury itself; a chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently - it is not every day you see a church with corrugated sides and roof!

From here, our walk takes us south west across fields to reach the B1309 where we cross and head to the outskirts of Rockell's Wood, one of several in the area with beautiful carpets of bluebells between the trees. From here we walk to Duddenhoe End and walk north and pass The Hamlet Church - it is not every day you see a church with a thatched roof!

We cross the B1309 again and head towards Elmdon; we have a view of Lofts Hall Stud which has bred several winners at the Newmarket race course over the years. The original hall was in the former parish of Wenden Lofts; this in now abandoned, but the ruins of the old parish church (St Dunstan's) are still visible in the adjoining house gardens - it is not every day you see a church that has been left to become a shell!

We turn off before Elmdon and have a good view of St Nicholas' Church there as we follow part of the Icknield Way along the northern outskirts of Free Wood (more bluebells) towards Catmere End and head south back to Littlebury Green.

A good walk with few expectations (other than bluebells), but it turned out to be rather "churchy" and interesting.Read more