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Wentworth Village, Wentworth Woodhouse and Hoober Stand Circular.

Difficulty Leisurely

Walking time 3 hours 30 minutes

Length 11.5km / 7.1mi

Route developer: Steve Hughes

Route checker: Christine Whittaker

Start location Car Park, Main Street, Wentworth.
Route Summary This walk takes you around part of the former estate of the Earls Fitzwilliam - taking in the magnificent Wentworth Woodhouse and parkland (passing some of its follies and monuments) - and finally visiting the attractive Wentworth village itself.
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Getting there

By car:  The car park is located in the centre of Wentworth, next to the Rockingham Arms public house, with access directly off Main Street (B6091).

By public transport:  For Bus Services to Wentworth from Rotherham and Barnsley see  www.travelsouthyorkshire.com

Description

[1]  Leave the car park through a gate at the back and cross the playing field. Turn right onto Clayfield Lane continuing to a road junction (Cortworth Lane)  and turn left. Follow this road past the next junction (with Coaley Lane), turning left immediately after a bus stop into a drive to Cortworth House. Continue ahead through a kissing gate on the right, going uphill across fields to the hamlet of Street. Turn right and follow Street Lane to a wood, turning left through a gap in the wall up through the trees to (A) Hoober Stand.

[2]  Immediately after Hoober Stand take the path on the right, down to a tree lined path to regain Street Lane. Turn left and continue into Hoober and left again along Hoober Lane (B6090). Go past a farm and cross in front of some houses, taking the path on the left into woodland. Leave at a stile and cross the fields following the path to Low Stubbin. Here turn right along Stubbin Road (B6089) past the junction with Haugh Road to the crest of the hill.  Cross and continue down to a footpath sign between Prospect Cottage and Glebe House. Turn left onto this path to a field. Turn right and follow the old track round to the left as it runs downhill between trees to its end. Caution -  this path can be muddy and slippery in wet weather).

[3]  Turn right onto a cobbled path (Roman Ridge) then continue along a field boundary to a road junction. Go ahead on Rig Lane to the B6089. Cross and take the path opposite (also Roman Ridge) downhill to Mill Dam. Caution - if the last part of the descent to Mill Dam is muddy an alternative path is available through the trees to the left.

[4]  Turn right (with Mill Dam on your left) onto the tarmaced track (permissive footpath) along the reservoir, then through a gate onto a roadway. Bear right along this road until the magnificent (B) Wentworth Woodhouse is seen (The imposing frontage is the longest of any stately home in Europe. The House was the home of the Wentworth family, the Marquis of Rockingham, a former Prime Minister and the Earls Fitzwilliam. The family and its successors have had a long and often colourful history in politics, coal mining and a little known link to the Kennedys. The heir to the title was killed in a plane crash on his way to the south of France with the sister of JF Kennedy). Here bear right at a fingerpost and follow the fence past the side of the house on to an access road. Follow this road past the impressive former 18th centuary stables to the main road.

[5]  Turn left down to Hague Lane junction then left again. Shortly cross the road to a gate on the right and continue straight ahead to the church. At the church, turn right down to the main village street and then right again to return to the car park.

POI information

(A)  Hoober Stand - built in the 1740's to commemorate the defeat of the Jacobite rebellion by the 1st Marquis of Rockingham.

(B) Wentworth Woodhouse and 18th centuary stables - the frontage of the house is 600 feet long and believed to be the longest house frontage in Europe (according the The Guardian newspaper, when the house came up for sale a few years ago)  http://www.wentworthwoodhouse.co.uk/

(C)  The old and 'new' churches.  The old church is thought to originate in Medieval times (within, there is access to a tunnel to the Fitzwilliam family vault in the nearby graveyard).  The new church was built in the late 1800's and was claimed by Prevsner  (the architectural historian) to be "a very fine, sensitive, and scholarly piece of Gothic revival".

The Fitzwilliam reign continued until the death of the 10th Earl Fitzwilliam in 1979 (the last Earl) the village is now managed by a Trust. For more information on the Wentworth Village, the Wentworth Estate, its monuments and follies,  and interesting publications on the 'colourful' family history (including executions for high treason, and romantic ties to the Kennedy family) go to  http://www.wentworthvillage.net/

Notes

Map: OS Explorer 278.

Refreshments: Choice of public houses and cafes in Wentworth.

Visitor Information: www.wentworthvillage.net/  and  www.wentworthwoodhouse.co.uk/

Local Ramblers Group: Rotherham Metro Ramblers  www.rotherhammetroramblers.btck.co.uk

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to The Crowood Press. http://www.crowood.com/default.asp  for their permission to include this walk on the Ramblers Routes website.  The walk is based on a walk from their book ‘100 Walks in Yorkshire’ - part of their 100 walk books series - an updated version is soon to be published.  The Ramblers of South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire have been asked to assist in updating a number of the walks.

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