U3A WTT Croft Huncote Long Stuart Galloway

Route Summary

A circular walk taking in Croft Huncote and Potters Marston. The hike up Croft Hill is challenging. Many of the paths

are not walked regularly so they are hard going and stiles in some places are high and awkward to get over.

Route Overview

Category: Walking

Length: 7.800 km / 4.88 mi

Parking: Hill Street Croft and Heathcote Arms with permission.

Date Published: 20th May 2016

Difficulty: Medium

Rating: Unrated

Surface: Average

Refreshments: Huncote Leisure Centre Heathcote Arms

Last Modified: 20th May 2016

Description

The walk starts and finishs at Heathcote Arms where you can park if you are eating there. If not there is plenty of on

street parking in Hill Street and directly in front of the pub.Information on Croft with the kind permission of the Croft

Heritage Group.

Waypoints

Croft(52.55923; -1.24730)

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Even though the Roman Fosse Way passed close by what is now the site of the village it is very unlikely that a village

existed here in Roman times as the rural economy at that time was based around individual villas or farmsteads and

not what we now know as villages.

It is likely that the village was formed at the time of the Christianisation of England sometime in the 5th or 6th

centuries. The earliest known reference to Croft as a village is in the Cartularium Saxonioum a survey of place names

compiled in 836AD. In this survey the name is recorded as Craeft. This Old English word denotes an engine or

machine and probably refers to a water mill.

In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was called Crebre or Crebe. Croft was at this time administered from Thurlaston as

part of the Barony of Thurlaston and was not granted Manorial Rights until 28 April 1204 by King John. The first Lord

of the Manor of Croft was Squire Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester.

Croft has had some notable residents perhaps the most bizarre was David Ike who lived here in the 1970’s.

Turn right out of the pub car park onto Huncote Road until you see the church on your right.

St Michael and All Angels Church.(52.55916; -1.24877)

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The church in Croft is probably Norman in origin and in the 19th century was restored in Croft stone by the Rev James

Brookes. It sits on the southern side of Croft Hill in the old part of the village and the church of St Michael and All

Angels consists of a nave, north and south transepts, chancel, west tower, and south porch. The inside is a with a fine

wooden beamed roof and a gothic inspired altar piece of carved marble in-laid with very good tile mosaics. The east

end wall and arches consist of two coloured stone whilst the rest is plastered and white washed.

Pass the church and turn right into the Aggregate Offices and at the far end of the car park there is a kissing

gate onto a path. Take the path and eventually turn right and climb to the summit of Croft Hill.

Croft Hill and Quarry(52.56562; -1.24891)

The parish of Croft claims possession of one of the largest granite quarries in Europe, and quarrying has been carried

on thereabouts since the Roman occupation of Britain.

Tradition has it that the parish stone pit at Croft, known as Clevis, was worked by the Romans and that their engineers

used its granite AD 46-47 in constructing the Fosse Way and foundations of bridges on Fosse Way.

Croft Hill was used in Saxon times as a place of assembly where matters of importance were discussed and settled. In

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836 when Wiglaf, King of Mercia, was joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury and eleven of his bishops and three

abbots, besides twenty two laymen of authority and influence to witness a grant of land by Wiglaf to the monastery of

Hanbury in Worcestershire.

In 1124 an assize was held on Croft Hill with Lord Bassett acting as Justicar of England for Henry I. At this assize it

was reported that 44 thieves were hanged and 6 others blinded and castrated.

The parish church of has a Norman font and of a Norman window of local quarried stone replacing its Anglo Saxon

predecessor which may have been wooden.

Keuper marl clay found in this area provided the raw material for a brick works prior to quarrying on a large scale. In

1865 Samuel Pochin acquired the Croft Brick Works. The removal of the red clay soon exposed the granite beneath

and quarrying started in earnest about 1868.

Descend back the way you came but continue around to the right along the path at the base of the hill. Rejoin

the original path after two stiles on the left and continue parrallel to the road. Join Croft Hill Road towards

Huncote until you reach a bridge over Thurlaston Brook.

Croft Hill Road(52.57008; -1.24370)

Take care of traffic along this stretch of road as there is no pavement for part of it.

Huncote Mill(52.57102; -1.24160)

In 1833 the water-driven corn mill was still in operation and it continued to mill corn until the end of the century. The

mill is no longer visible but Mill House on the left contains buildings of this date.

Continue over the bridge and along Main Street until you come to Cheney End opposite the Red Lion and turn

left into Cheney End..

Huncote Castle and Church(52.57235; -1.24017)

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In a field near the mill ruins were found of a castle and a church now a housing development on Cheney End. There is

evidence that the chapel, dedicated to St. James was still extant in 1346. The chapel was in ruins by 1622.

Take the first right into the continuation of Cheney End and join a path at the end of the road.

Huncote(52.57298; -1.23932)

Huncote was held by the Count of Meulan in 1086. The value of the village had increased from 15 shillings to 4

pounds over the preceding 20 years. The Domesday Survey also tells us that there was a mill at Huncote and a priest,

suggesting the possibility that there was a church. There was a watermill at Huncote in 1086 when the Domesday

Survey was carried out. It was worth ten shillings.

In the 18th Century the villagers' chief occupation was domestic framework knitting. This was replaced during Queen

Victoria's reign by quarrying, which improved transport by providing better roadways.

During the previous 800 years, the land has belonged to the Mellent, Quincy, Burdett and Stafford families but by

1846, the lord of the manor was the Earl of Stamford and Warrington. Huncote is an industrial village with a tradition of

framework knitting and quarrying but in 1800 two thirds of the working population, 128 people, were employed in

agriculture. At that time there were 57 houses in Huncote with 505 inhabitants.

The story of the Huncote pig is one surrounded in an air of mystery. The story is one known to almost every resident.

In the 1920's there was supposed to be a pig which whenever a brass band was playing in the Village came and sat

on the wall and listened. Some residents were proud of this and there were people from other nearby villages who

claimed that the Huncote people were making this up and every time a band appeared they placed a pig on the wall.

Turn left here and walk across the recreation ground behind the Leisure Centre. Toilets available here. Take

the left hand path at the top of the field. Continue along this path until you reach the M69. This path can be

muddy even in dry weather

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M69 To Potters Marston(52.58006; -1.25090)

Turn left and walk parallel to the motorway until you reach the bridge across. Turn left here away from the

motorway along a wide trak. Continue along here until you reach a path on your right

Directions(52.57207; -1.25162)

The paths from here are not clear. Do not cross the brook and turn right and head alongside the brook

towards a large hummock probaby from the working of the sandpit. There is a path marker at the corner of

two hedges and once here if you look to the left of the track running to the road a you will see another path

marker which leads you Croft Lane. Turn left onto the road - care some traffic here - and continue along the

road until you meet a bridge. The path here is not clear. There is a sign on the left hand side of the road

indicating the rough direction. At the end of the bridge parapit on the right hand side of the road you will see

an overgrown path which goes down to a stile into the field. Over the stile and follow by the side of the brook

and over a bridge into the next field. Follow the brook and then look for the path marker diagonally on the left.

Leave the field . The path again from here is not obvious but if you look for a tree that has grown into an arch

and go through it you will see a path sign to Potters Marston.

Potters Marston Hall(52.56429; -1.26536)

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The manor of Potters Marston near Croft now consists of nothing more than a Hall, small chapel and a few other

properties, and is classed as one of the lost villages of Leicestershire. There are few records of the manor, but

evidence of it’s craft are still found when ploughing in the area – pottery. There was a community here in around 1250

probably already making pottery – hence the name. It is believed that the Black Death reduced the village.

Potters Marston Hall ahead is a Grade 2 listed building was built on top of a moated enclosure with strong defensive

works. Parts of the hall date back to the 15th centuary. The moat has almost been completely in filled. A surviving

photograph shows it to have still been extant in 1922 but subsequent research suggests that it was probably in filled

some time before 1954. The southern bank of the northern arm is visible only as a slight scarp on the northern edge of

the present farmyard. The eastern arm is barely discernable as a shallow linear depression. A small sub-circular pond

on your left is the only water-filled section remaining.

Finding the route of the path from here is difficult. When I walked it there was a rusting tank and something

that looks like a part of a pylon at the edge of the field. The path marker is behind this items. It is accessed by

pasing through the fence at an opening to your left. The path eventually leads into the farm and St Mary's

chapel is a short walk to your lrft.

St Mary's Chapel(52.56254; -1.26701)

The chapel dates from the 15th century and is one of the smallest in Leicestershire at 38 feet long and only 19ft wide.

It was designed purely to be a ‘preaching box’ . The main requirement of the wealthy for the longer sermons of this

period was comfortable seating.

The churchyard is now closed but the chapel still conducts baptisms and services once a month.

Walk past the church and graveyard and take the style to the left followed quickly by another stile into a field.

Again there is no clear path and here you should bear right and aim for a house that is just visible to the right

of a new house being built (2016). The yellow marker will come into view and will lead you between houses

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onto Stanton Lane.

The Kiln(52.56138; -1.26092)

Further up Stanton Road is the site of a former Kiln. The presence of pottery shards on this land had long been

known, but it was war-time ploughing (1939-1945) which made two small mounds noticeable. In 1943, Mr. E. Pochin,

of Croft, recovered a number of shards from the site, and in 1945 he spent some time in excavation. A kiln of 13th

century construction was found and many of the pottery is now in the Leicester Museum. The pottery consisted of

pitchers, cooking pots, jars, shallow dishes and ridge tiles. The best work reaches a high level, technically and

artistically.

All traces of the upper part of the kiln had been obliterated, no more than eighteen inches of the wall standing at the

most. The kiln ran from east to west, with sandstone walls and floor. There seems to have been an opening at each

end, that at the east being full of ash and charcoal, while there was none at the western opening. The kiln was filled

with burnt wattle-and-daub, soot-darkened soil, and Swithland-type slates, each with one nail-hole. These slates litter

the whole site, and can be picked up even in the modem farm-yard. There were several pots lying on the floor of the

kiln.

Cross Stanton Lane onto a bridleway back to Croft. You enter Marston Road which brings you back to

Huncote Road,. Cross the road and return to Croft on the the same path you used to leave.

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