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A fairly strenuous walk taking in the history of a great Tudor mansion and a royal deer park.
Distance 5 miles (8km)
Minimum time 2hrs 45min
Ascent/gradient 117ft (35m)
Level of difficulty Medium
Paths Open parkland, forest tracks and some cross-field footpaths
Landscape Undulating deer parkland, ponds, lakes and mixed woodland
Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 175 Southend-on-Sea & Basildon
Start/finish TQ 568940
Dog friendliness Wonderful open spaces for a romp but watch out for grazing cattle and ducks
Parking Free car parks at Visitor Centre, Belvedere and Cricket Green on Weald Road and Lincolns Lane
Public toilets Visitor Centre and inside park
(1 user review)
© The Automobile Association 2008. © Crown Copyright Licence number 100021153
1 With your back to Weald Road, turn right out of the car park past the golden willow tree. Keep the red brick wall on your right and continue to the Belvedere car park - the site of the foundations of Weald Hall. On your left an information board tells the story of the Hall and refers to tunnels linking it with St Thomas Becket's Church in Brentwood. Walk into the car park and take the earth path uphill. Turn left, keeping the church on your right, and pass the door which used to give access to the graves of the Tower family. At the end of the church wall, turn left through trees and go on to the grassy knoll. This overlooks the original gardens of the estate and the site of Weald Hall.
2 Keeping the gardens to your left, walk up the steps to the site of Belvedere Hill where spectators would watch hunting and indulge in banquets. Walk down the steps, turn right and take the path downhill, between conifers, to open parkland. Maintain direction and turn left through the gap in the fence keeping Bluebell Pond and the cricket field on your right.
3 Turn right through the kissing gate and follow the grassy path uphill, passing the bridleway waymarks on your right. At the top of the hill, pass through a thickly wooded area of ancient hornbeam and silver birch, and continue along the bridleway, which runs parallel with Sandpit Lane.
4 As the path veers away from the road, note the steep embankment to your right - the remains of an Iron Age settlement. You are now walking around what was the moat. Keep to the path through meadow and parkland and, at the tree-clad embankment rising to your right, continue clockwise until you join the hard track.
5 Turn left through the gap in the fence on your left and continue walking downhill through Langton's Wood. Follow this hard bridleway, which hugs the edge of the woods, until you pass an avenue of sweet chestnut trees by Shepherd's Spinney.
6 At the fingerpost turn left on to the public footpath. After 400yds (366m), at the cross path, turn left and then right between the wide avenue of chestnut trees. After 500yds (457m), turn right before the kissing gate to walk with the lake on your left. At the end of the lake, turn left over the footbridge and return to the car park passing the deer paddock.
Weald Country Park's origins are back in 1062 when the land was a gift from King Harold to the Abbots of Waltham. The abbots managed the land (which was worked by peasants), added fallow deer which they hunted for food and sport, and over the years the estate prospered. All this came to an end when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and stripped them of their lands and goods. Weald was passed to the King's closest allies.
In this walk you will discover a mixture of formal landscapes, with lakes and woodlands, and spot fallow deer - elements which make this country park one of the finest in Essex. You will also take a trip into history as you explore the site of Weald Hall, a fine Tudor mansion, built in 1540 and extended over the years by various owners. In Tudor times owning a deer park brought more prestige than having your own moat, but less than having your own private gallows.
By 1800 the mansion had 40 bedrooms and provided jobs and housing for around 50 people. The first owner was Sir Brian Tuke, Henry VIII's treasurer, who was followed by a succession of nouveau riche individuals who made their money by trade or in government. One of these, Sir Anthony Browne, a judge, politician and favourite of Mary I, and who lived here in 1550, went on to become the founder of Brentwood School and provided almhouses for the poor. Although knighted by Queen Elizabeth, he persecuted Protestants during Mary's reign and was responsible for the death of a young apprentice, William Hunter, who was burned at the stake in Brentwood. A memorial to Hunter stands in the town.
But easily the most tyrannous of owners was William Scroggs, Lord Chief Justice to Charles II in 1678. He sent over 20 men to the gallows, and was so detested that when he died all traces of him were removed, including his face from a portrait at the top of the stairs in Weald Hall.
In 1756, the Towers, a family of lawyers, bought the estate and owned it for the next 200 years. During World War Two over 30,000 troops were stationed at Weald. Sadly Weald Hall fell into disrepair and the deer escaped, but in 1987 they were replaced. The house was demolished in the 1950s, but you can go to the top of Belvedere Hill where there are wonderful views over the parkland and you can get a real sense of the extent and grandeur of this royal hunting estate hundreds of years ago.
None on route, but if you pack a picnic you can enjoy it at the pleasant tables outside the Visitor Centre, which also serves drinks and light refreshments. Pub options include the Tower Arms in Weald Road and the Nag's Head opposite Wigley Bush Lane. Otherwise head for the Little Chef on the A1023 just before junction 28 of the M25.
Adults and children alike may enjoy a visit to Old Macdonalds Park Farm where attractions include the TV star of Big Breakfast, Connie the Dairy Shorthorn and friends; along with rare breeds of poultry, pigs, sheep and goats, a magnificent collection of owls, some of which are hand tame, and otters. You can also see the endangered red squirrel, which is part of a captive breeding programme on the farm.
Pick up a tree trail from the Visitor Centre and have fun identifying a multitude of trees. The park has 500-year-old hornbeam, weeping willow, dawn redwood, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut and silver birch to name but a few species. Superstition and folklore surround many trees such as the alder which, when cut, was supposed to represent the blood of the devil while others, such as ash, was believed to drive evil spirits away when burned.
(1 user review)Write a review and share your thoughts with other users.
I took my dog around this walk and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We did manage to get a bit lost, but that was more due to my inability to follow instructions than the instructions themselves. So much wildlife to see - including deer who ran across the path infront of us!! It is a beautiful place and we will definately go back.
Reviewer: Jen and Caddie, Southend
Visited: 25 June 2011
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