Castle Hill Country Park, Leicester - a circular walk

The walk is accessible from all entrances to the park.  On street car parking is available near all main entrances.

There are frequent bus services from Leicester to the access point at Gorse Hill, Anstey and to the access points on Astill Lodge Road - for service information phone Traveline 0871 200 2233

Many of the paths through the park are mown and uneven, those through the woodlands are often narrow with lying branches, tree roots and some tree stumps.  Take care - especially when underfoot conditions are wet.

[1]   Walk up Gorse Hill, passing Gynsills Lawn Tennis Club on the right, under the A46 bridge and take the entrance on the left into the park. Turn immediately right onto the first path, continue up the hill with the medieval Gorse Hill Wood Bank and wildflower meadow on the right.  Take the first path on the left and, at the path 't' junction, turn right onto the solid path, known as 'Black Pad',  and follow it round, passing the park entrance on the right. 

(A) You are now in the Blue Gates Quarter of Castle Hill Country Park. This is probably the site of an old gate that allowed entry into the former woodlands associated with the medieval (Beaumont) earls of Leicester.  The medieval earth bank bordering Gorse Hill formed the border of ancient Beaumont Leys.  Gorse Hill was the track of an ancient route to Ashby de la Zouch.  The wildflower meadow was established in 1986 and its variety of flowers attracts a number of species of butterfly. 

[2]   After a short distance continue forward at the track crossing point.  Follow this path into the Bradgate View Point area and round to the right with the meadow on your left.  At the three wooden bollards continue forward on the mown track through the meadow.  At the end of this meadow turn left just before the gateway and immediately bear right to take the track through the woodland.  Continue through the trees to join the track coming over the A46 footbridge.

(B)  You have now entered the Castle Hill Quarter of Castle Hill Country Park. The Great Oak is about 300 years old and is the only surviving example from that era.  The Glades comprise grassland and woodland plantations and examples of Roman pottery and prehistoric flint tools have been found in this area.  It is probable that the area was settled well before Roman times.  The woodland trail in the Glades is rich in flowers and plants - particularly bluebells in spring. (For more information see below.)

[3]   Follow the track to the right, bear left into the field and enter this section of the park through the metal gate.  Keep to the left for a few metres to view the Great Oak.  Bear right to cross the field to the gap in the tree line on the right.  Turn left in the middle of the gap onto the Woodland Trail, following the old Beaumont Leys/Anstey Fields boundary.  Pass over a footbridge and turn right to continue along the trail through the Glades. Just past a ditch, bear right and then right again to follow the narrow path through the woods.

The path is narrow and well worn.  Take care if the path is wet to avoid slipping.

[4]    At the junction with the wide track turn left and then immediately right, by the sign post, onto the woodland track. At the end of the track either follow the signed route to the Bluebell Wood for a circular walk to view the lovely spring display or pass through the gap to enter the Little Hill Meadow Community Orchard and the route to Castle Hill Earthworks.  Take the path by the hedgerow along the bottom left of the orchard to the park entrance at Astill Lodge Road/ Kingsbridge Crescent

[5]  Turn left to take the path leading from this entrance through the gap in the trees.  Turn left and then after 100 metres  take the mown path on the right to walk to the centre of the Castle Hill Earthworks. Keep on this path and walk downhill with views of the medieval fish pond to the front left.   At the bottom of the path continue forward to pass through the metal gate.  Follow the path to the left through Hill Ground Nature Area and follow it down to the bridge under the A46 and pass through to the other side.

Take care along this path as it is used by horses and there are hoof prints which can be a potential trip hazard

(C)  You have now entered the Nothill Quarter of Castle Hill Country Park. This quarter along with the Anstey Quarter are storm water retention areas and there area number of large sluices which feed the area.  They have rarely been called into use. The Nothill Scenic Viewpoint offers great views of Charnwood and contains a new wildflower area (‘Olympic Meadow’).

The Rothley Brook borders both Nothill and Anstey Quarters and is a Local Wildlife Site.  It rises in Bagworth Wood and passes through Thornton, Desford, Ratby and Glenfield on its way to join the River Soar at Rothley.  Over 40 bird species have been spotted here and it is a haven for Kingfishers.  Records indicate the possible presence of Water Voles, Otters and White-clawed Crayfish.

[6]   Turn left and follow the track around for about 40 metres.  Pass through the wooden squeeze gate and walk uphill to the left to the Nothill Scenic Viewpoint. Take the mown footpath down the hill in the direction of the entrance on Anstey Lane, Thurcaston.  Pass through the gap close to the entrance and follow the path into the right hand corner to Rothley Brook. Follow the brook side path with the Rothley Brook Meadow on the left. 

[7]   At the end of the meadow cross the surfaced track to the edge of the wood on the right.  Continue with the wood on the right and, after 100m or so, take the path of the Nothill Woodland Walk through the woods.  The path emerges by a brick sluice - a remnant of the flood defence scheme - on the left.  Follow the path through the meadow to the gate in the top left corner.

Take care as this woodland path has a number of tree stumps which may cause trips and falls

(D)  You have now entered the Anstey Quarter of Castle Hill Country Park. King William's Bridge is a pack horse bridge possibly dating from the 17th Century which was restored in 2008.  Originally recorded as the ‘Dambridge’, it was named after King William III who ruled, with Queen Mary, from 1688 to 1702.  He passed this way in 1696 on his way to visit Lord Grey, Earl of Stamford (son of  Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby - the only Lord to sign the death warrant of King Charles I) at his residence in Bradgate Park (birthplace of Lady Jane Grey, the 9-day Queen of England)

This area was grazed by sheep and to the east of the bridge are the remains of an old tunnel which is thought to be part of an old sheep wash. 

[8]    Turn right to follow the track down to King William's Bridge and the remains of the sheep wash..  Upon reaching the bridge pass through the metal gate and then keep right on the mown path by Rothley Brook with the meadow and electricity pylons to the left. At the second pylon bear left along the side of the field and then turn right to the Gorse Hill entrance (New Anstey Wood and Anstey Leys Community Orchard are to the left) and the start of the walk.

There are a number of very informative leaflets about features in the park available at:-     http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/parks-green-spaces/main-parks/castle-hill-country-park/

Castle Hill Country Park, established in the 1980's by Leicester City Council, comprises 84ha of mixed grassland, woodland and newly created wetlands.  It has had mixed fortunes over the years having been woodland, monastic grange and parkland in the medieval ages - King Edward IV, elder brother of Richard III, established a Royal Deer Park here in 1482. More recently, in the 19th and 20th Centuries, the lands have been used variously for sewage treatment, agriculture and flood prevention purpose. In the 1980s the Urban Fringe Park was created, with the A46 Leicester Western By Pass dividing the Park into two in the 1990s.  The Park contains two scheduled monuments - Castle Hill Earthworks and King William's Bridge.  There are many remnant banks and ditches dating from medieval times and structures from its past life when the Abbey Pumping Station pumped Leicester's sewage to the treatment works at Beaumont Leys

There is a bluebell wood, community orchards, wildflower meadows, woodland plantations, glades, hedgerows and Rothley Brook which forms the western border.  These are homes to a wide variety of birds, insects, flowers, trees, butterflies and plants. 

(B)  Castle Hill Quarter.

Little Hill Community Orchard was established in 2005 and comprises over 100 varieties of fruit trees including traditional Leicestershire varieties.  It is located in close proximity to former orchards known to have been in existence hereabout in the early 14th Century, and associated with the neighbouring Castle Hill Earthworks.

The small bluebell wood is a riot of blue in spring.  It hosts a good variety of broadleaf trees with Ash being quite dominant and other flowers include Pink Campion. The wood also supports a number of bird species including robin and blue tit.

The Castle Hill Earthworks is a scheduled monument and is misnamed because it is actually the site of a medieval monastic grange.  It was associated with the Knights Hospitaller who originally cared for the sick and wounded pilgrims who visited the holy land in the middle ages.  They then became a military order who protected pilgrims and were active in the Crusades.  Their income from properties such as that on Castle Hill went to supporting the crusaders.  The Knights were in this area from around 1240 to 1482, when King Edward IV exchanged a rectory in Boston for the Hospitaller’s Beaumont Leys property.

The medieval fishpond was another source of food and income for the Knights Hospitaller.

The Hill Ground Nature Reserve is an area of hawthorn scrub and trees and grassland containing wild flowers and grasses – including the (locally) rare Grass-leaved Vetchling.

Stefan Cabaniuk - Parks Officer, Leicester City Council