Horncastle to Harrington - Horncastle Cycle Route 3
A cycle ride through the ages – Civil War battlefield, Georgian Manor House and a Victorian Poet's birthplace – this route is on narrow lanes around the Lymn & Waring river valleys.
A
Horncastle walk
posted on 12/02/21 by Lincolnshire Wolds. Last update : 08/02/24
Description
(S/E) Leave the car park and turn right onto South Street, then next left onto Mareham Road. Continue along through the village and take the second left, signposted Hameringham. Follow the road past the church, round the right then left bends to the junction and turn left, signposted Lusby & Winceby.
(1) At the next junction, turn right onto Slash Lane, continue past Snipe Dales Country Park to Lusby and turn left, signposted Hagworthingham. Follow the narrow road downhill to the Ford, where you can either cycle through the stream or use the footbridge. Continue along to Hagworthingham.
(2) Take the next right onto Manor Road then right again.
(3) At the junction with the A158, carefully cross over to cycle onwards to Harrington, crossing the River Lymn as you go.
(4) Once you have passed Harrington Hall on your right, take the left hand lane to Bag Enderby. Continue on this narrow lane, passing the thatched cottage and Bag Enderby onwards to Somersby, the home of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Keep to the left hand side through the village and drop down Bridge Lane to cross the River Lymn once again.
(5) Take the next left, signposted Greetham, and continue past Clapgate Farm until you reach the next junction.
(6) Turn left, signposted Horncastle and continue until you take the next right at the cross roads. Cycle up hill to Fulletby, gaining good views across the Lymn Valley on your left.
(7) Turn left at the next junction, and cycle through the village to take the next left, signposted Horncastle. Follow this downhill, bypassing Low Toynton, crossing the River Waring and past the houses until you reach the A153 again.
(8) Turn left and continue through Horncastle, across the lights and turning right into the car park, your starting point.(S/E)
Waypoints
- S/E : km 0 - alt. 34 m - Cattle Market Car Park
- 1 : km 7.55 - alt. 117 m - Slash Lane
- 2 : km 11.78 - alt. 62 m - Manor Road
- 3 : km 12.51 - alt. 73 m - A158
- 4 : km 15.59 - alt. 44 m - Harrington Hall
- 5 : km 18.55 - alt. 51 m - River Lymn
- 6 : km 21.73 - alt. 89 m - Junction
- 7 : km 25.09 - alt. 141 m - High Street
- 8 : km 30.3 - alt. 41 m - A153
- S/E : km 31.43 - alt. 34 m - Cattle Market Car Park
Useful Information
Cycling is a great way to keep fit and appreciate the countryside. These easy to read leaflets provide useful information on mileage, approximate timing and gradient.
A simple map and points of interest are included – for those times when you need to catch your breath, admire the countryside or explore the area.
Good cycling code :
• Always follow the Highway Code and Countryside Code
• Be safe and be seen – wear a helmet and high visibility clothing and use lights
• Keep your bike roadworthy and carry a puncture repair kit
• Be courteous to other road users
• Take plenty of water and have a drink regularly
All cycle routes start from the Cattle Market Car Park on South Street, Horncastle (TF 259 693 Postcode: LN9 6EB). Please check for parking restrictions.
The Lincolnshire Wolds is a National Landscape, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1973. Covering an area of 558 square kilometres or 216 square miles, the rolling chalk hills of the AONB have been inhabited since prehistoric times whilst the appearance of the countryside today has been greatly influenced by past and present agricultural practices.
The Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service helps to protect and enhance the landscape through partnership projects with local landowners, farmers, parish councils, businesses and residents of the Wolds.
Places of interest/refreshments:
Snipe Dales Country Park, Winceby: toilet facilities and picnic areas – no cycling in the park.
The George & Dragon, Hagworthingham Tel: 01507 588255
JJ's Café, Hagworthingham Tel: 01507 588611
Rachel's Café, Hagworthingham Tel: 01507 588424
Numerous refreshment outlets available throughout Horncastle.
Tourist Information: Tel: 01507 601111
Email: tourism@e-lindsey.gov.uk
www.lovelincolnshirewolds.com
FB@LoveLincsWolds X@LoveLincsWolds IG LoveLincsWolds
Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service, Navigation Warehouse, Riverhead Road, Louth,
Lincolnshire, LN11 0DA 01522 555780 www.lincswolds.org.uk
aonb@lincswolds.org.uk FB@LincsWoldsNL X@LincsWoldsNL
Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.
During the walk or to do/see around
Points of Interest:
Battle of Winceby – Slash Hollow
During the Civil War (1642-49), only two battles took place in the Lincolnshire Wolds, one at Riby in the north and one here, at Winceby. Parliamentary forces were holding nearby Bolingbroke Castle to siege so Royalists set forth from Newark to relieve the Castle. On the 11th of October 1643, troops of cavalry from both sides met at Winceby, with the battle lasting less than an hour! Royalists became trapped against a parish boundary gate that only opened one way (against them) and in their panic the press of men jammed it shut. For the remainder of the day the Parliamentarians hunted down Royalist stragglers, with about 300 Royalist killed, whilst the Parliamentarians lost about 20 with a further 60 wounded. Today it is known as 'slash hollow', a rather descriptive name that leaves nothing to the imagination.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson's inspirational haunts can be discovered around this part of the Lincolnshire Wolds - his home village of Somersby, Bag Enderby where his father was rector, his growing social life at Harrington Hall and throughout this landscape, the River Lymn babbles along.
The quaint 15th century church at Somersby is not just any old church, this is where Alfred Lord Tennyson was baptised, where his father was Rector (along with Bag Enderby) and where further information on Tennyson can be found.
River Lymn
Believed to be the inspiration for the 'The Brook', the River Lymn originates from the Chalk aquifer underlying the Wolds. The brick bridge over the brook was built in 1827, the year that Alfred started at Cambridge. The river runs through the meadow beyond Somersby House garden before flowing through Bag Enderby to Wainfleet and out to the sea at Gibralter Point.
I chatter, chatter, as I flow to join the brimming river, for men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.
Geology of the landscape
Take an opportunity to stop, catch your breath and look at the landscape. To the north and east of Fulletby, you are looking out over 145 million years of geological history. Whilst Chalk forms the dominant, upper bedrock for the area, much is underlain by older rock formations. These deposits of sands, clays and ironstones are commonly revealed on the southern and western facing scarp slopes and within the numerous river valley systems that cut through the Wolds. The soft Chalk has been eroded by glaciers, leaving outliers of harder rock dominating this landscape, such as Fulletby Top and Hoe Hill.
