Green Lanes around Priors Marston

By car: There is space for several cars to park just east of the canal bridge on the Welsh Road at Marston Doles. Post code CV47 1UZ. The Welsh Road runs from the A425 just east of Southam to the A361 north of Charwelton. Follow signs for Priors Marston. It should also be possible to park on Shuckburgh Road in Priors Marston village near waypoint 4.

By bus: Hellidon and Priors Marston are in the Daventry South service area of the County Connect bus service, which has no fixed timetable and needs to be pre-booked. See county-connect.co.uk/timetables/daventry.pdf  for more information.

[1] From the parking point at Marston Doles walk along the side road heading north. At a road junction carry straight on while the more important road turns left. This leg is shown on the map as an Unclassfied County Road but it is in fact surfaced with tarmac as far as the entrance to Potash Farm. Carry straight on from this point to reach the first of many field gates. The track continues alongside a grassy field. You have been gradually gaining height and, looking back, you have a view of the Burton Dassett hills. After going through into the next field you also have a view of Napton on the Hill to your left. The next section is a green lane between hedges after which comes another grassy field. You might take time to study the view to the left. Southam can be clearly seen, with the woods at Bascote behind. There are two more fields before the first road crossing, the first arable and the second grassy.

[2] This location is named on the map as In Meadow Gate. On some old maps the spelling is Inn Meadow Gate, so it is possible that there was once an inn nearby. There are two tracks starting on the far side of the road. The left hand route leads to Shuckburgh, but you should take the right hand track. Follow this track to reach a gate where you cross the county boundary into Northamptonshire. The Northamptonshire section of the lane is classed as a Byway. Appropriately you start to have views of the hills around Hellidon as soon as you have passed the gate. In fact the county boundary follows our lane for the next kilometre. At a right hand bend the lane changes character. Where there had previously been gentle curves the route now follows a straight line across the map. It is not too difficult to guess that the original route carried on to Lower Catesby. There is still variety on the straight section as the route crosses the valleys of two small streams, tributaries of the River Leam. At the third gate you pass through there is a footpath signposted to the right, and at the next gate the path continues to the left. Your route, on the Byway, is not signposted. On the next leg you should have views to the left. You should be able to see Catesby viaduct on the disused Great Central railway and Catesby House further to the right.

The long straight section comes to an end at a track junction, where your route turns left. 500 metres further on, with farm outbuildings on the left, you turn right onto a signposted bridleway which starts at a field gate. Walk up slope with a hedge on your right to reach a second gate. Continue straight ahead along a lane.

[3] At a road junction turn right. You pass the site of the old Barley Mow inn, now a private house. Turn right again at the next road junction. You are now walking along the top of a ridge that runs east towards Priors Marston and can glimpse the views to left and right through gaps in the hedges. Go past the entrance to the Hellidon Lakes Golf and Spa Hotel. There is a Northamptonshire bridleway signpost on the right but this is not the route you want. 200 metres further on the road bends to the left. Right on the bend you take a path to the right where there is no waymark at all. The difference in treatment between the two bridleways is possibly explained by the fact that you have just crossed the county boundary back into Warwickshire. You should follow the left hand side of the hedge ahead and can confirm that you are on the right path by finding a Woodland Trust information board. On your left is one of the 27 new woods planted in 2005 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, each named after one of the ships of the line that took part in the battle.

Continue with the hedge on your right through two field gates to reach a farm track. Walk along the track past the buildings of Hillcrest Farm and go through the left hand of two field gates ahead. Follow a rather overgrown track between two fences to emerge at a bridle gate onto another farm track. Follow this track to the left. Pass to the left of the buildings of Hill Farm and go through a gate onto a minor road. This is a fine viewpoint from which you can see the Burton Dassett hills and Edge Hill.

Go through a kissing gate and walk down slope along the right hand side of the field. Approaching the bottom of the field head diagonally left towards a gate. On the far side is an area of waste ground where you should be able to follow a cleared path. Turn left at a path junction and go over a stile by a field gate. Turn right along School Lane to reach a triangular open space. The Priors School was built in 1847 and achieved national fame in 1996 when villagers of Priors Marston and Priors Hardwick set up an educational trust to keep the school open after Warwickshire County Council decided it should close. In 2011 the school became one of the first wave of 'free schools'.

Follow the footpath in front of the school and then turn right onto a path leading to the churchyard where you walk towards the south door of the church. Priors Marston church dates from the late 13th century but was substantially rebuilt in 1865. Turn sharp left onto a path leading directly away from the church door. Turn right into School Lane and then left into the Holloway.

[4] Cross the road and almost immediately bear right onto a tarmac path signposted with a footpath waymarker and a No Cycling sign. Go through a hedge line and turn right past the side of a house to reach a stile in the garden fence. Walk diagonally across a grassy field to a second stile, then along a path beside a fence which leads to a private drive.

When you reach a road turn left and almost immediately right through a field gate. Look out for traffic as this can be a busy road. You are now back on an Unclassified County Road which curves left along the edge of the first field, cuts diagonally across a second field and then follows a hedge line for over a kilometre.

Go straight over a minor road and continue in the same direction, now with a hedge on your right. It is worth looking back the way you have come for a good view of the Charwelton communications towers. You can also see the hills behind Priors Hardwick to the south. Go through a gate in the far right field corner and continue down slope along the edge of a grassy field. Here you have another fine view, this time over the flat lands of Radbourne. This area was formed during the ice ages as sediment accumulated at the bottom of a lake of meltwater. In the distance you can see the cement factory chimney at Long Itchington. A gate in the bottom left corner brings you to a track junction. Turn right through another gate onto a footpath which you follow along the edge of three fields. A kissing gate gives access to a farm track. Walk straight ahead along the track. Turn right where the track joins a tarmac lane and then left at the junction with the Welsh Road. After 150 metres you will be back at waypoint 1. Take care along this final section as the Welsh Road sees fast moving motor traffic.

The green lanes on this route are easy to follow but you will not find many waymarks along the way. Occasionally there may be a strip of green and yellow tape on a gate to confirm that you are on the right track.

The route starts on the parish boundary of Priors Marston at Marston Doles. The placename Doles describes an area where land previously held in common was shared out in different portions. The name Marston means 'marsh settlement', so evidently the land near the village was less well drained in earlier times. Priors Marston, together with Priors Hardwick with which it has always been closely linked, formed part of the endowment of St Mary's Priory, Coventry, from 1043 until its dissolution in 1539. Since 1602 the Spencers of Althorp have been lords of the manor. The heart of the village is now a conservation area, with many cottages built in the local Horton Stone, some dating from the 17th century. The Welsh Road runs through the village, this was a major route for drovers bringing cattle to the London market. Stagecoaches from Warwick to London also came through Priors Marston. 

The east to west green lanes are part of a much older network of long distance routes. A section slightly further west was identified in a tenth century legal document as the "salt street". At this period salt was the commodity most often traded by land, so the long distance trade routes are generally known as saltways. The route can be traced to the Avon crossing at Stratford and it will have continued to Droitwich.

Linguistics lecturer Dick Leith wrote about a series of walks in the south-east border country of Warwickshire, taking a particular interest in old field names and other aspects of local history. His work can be seen at dickleith.communityartsworkshop.org/border-walks.html. Walks 3 and 4 cover much of the present route.