other historic houses lieupthelaneto Knapp. Anumberof remodelled in theearly17thcentury. cruck-framed former farmhouse,extensively century medieval buildingsinthevillage, a14th or15th was built. TheWhiteHorseisone oftheonlysurviving whentheturnpike roadtoBishop’sCastle 18th Century Horse isTheGate House,built asatollhousein the be apub,namedafter itsowner. Opposite theWhite The housemarked ‘Woodcock’ ontherightusedto ➐ 1773. church wasrebuilt in1853, butthewesttowerdates to lie onthesiteofamuchearlierhillfort.Thepresent prominently inacirculargraveyard,suggestingitmay to bethevillagepool.ThechurchofStEdithsits The greenspacewherethetrackmeetsroadused ➏ towards thehouse. lies inthewoodlandandfieldtoleft,extending Wilderleymotteanddouble bailey The wellpreserved ➎ leads ontotheroad. tree inthecornerof thefieldwhere abridlegate head slightlyrightontheleveltowards alarge beech descending gentlytoakissinggate. Through this, around patches of gorseandwetareas before and thenfollow thepath swingingslightlyright Stay totheleftinitiallyuntilyoucross asmallstream White HorseInnandbackuptotheKnappcarpark. the mainroad through Castle Pulverbatch tothe Pulverbatch, alsoknownas‘Churton’. way’ withexposedbedrock, andonintoChurch the charmingwoodeddingleandworn‘hollow leading downtoafootbridge andford. Continueup the dipafter 400mtake arightalonghedgedByway remains of amedievalhamlet. A farmtrackleadsdowntoWilderleyHallFarm, the here, ashortalternative loopisshownonthemap). a gate andashort,narrowmuddy section(ifvery The fieldnarrows intoafunnelbefore leadingthrough follow therightedgeof thelarge fielddownhill. traffic onthesteep roaduptothevillage. the road ashortwayfrom theKnapp.Take care of footpath signleftandacross three more fieldsto Short cut–halfwaydownthebigfield, follow the Turn leftalongtheroad andthenleftagainalong Turn leftontotheroad at WilderleyHall,andat Gothrough anotherbridlegate opposite,and Shuttle busservicealsostopshere. bus stopsat theWhiteHorse.TheShropshireHills Public transport:The546Shrewsbury –Pulverbatch Limited parkingat Cothercott barytesmill(3onmap) Parking: Carparkat theKnapp,CastlePulverbatch. local foods www.shropshiresown.co.uk. The nearestshopisat ,whichspecialisesin 01743 718247. www.thewhitehorseinnpulverbatch.co.uk beer andfood, aswellaccommodation. The WhiteHorseat Castle Pulverbatch has good Further Information please [email protected] . additional support from 2013 to 2017. Forenquiries Country Landscape PartnershipScheme provided Historic .TheStiperstones &CorndonHill Wokkon, with supportfrom theParishCounciland of volunteerswholookafter theKnappand The Friends ofCastle Pulverbatch isasmallgroup scrub andloopsbackalongthetop. rougher path withstepsleadsupthroughbracken and bank withbluebellsinseason,andneartheenda pretty woodedstreamrunsalongthebottomof passing acrossthegrassbehindBrookCottages.A diagonally fromtheeastsideofKnappandthen ‘wuk’ meaningoak.Itisreachedbyapath descending facing bank.Thename‘Wokkon’ maybederivedfrom the Wokkon, extending400malongthesteepsouth- Below theKnappisanotherareaofcommonland,

Leaflet design by www.MACreative.co.uk • Front cover photograph by Adam Stanford © Aerial-Cam Ltd 2017 Pulverbatch anditscastle short cutoption.Moderate terrainincluding 9km or5miles,taking2-2½hours,witha and ancient lanes several muddytracks andsomestiles. Medieval mottes, and historichillsofPulverbatch, barytes mining A circularwalkinthescenic Cothercott andWilderley Start from the Knapp car park, Huglith Hill from Cothercott The concrete bases of the mill buildings can be seen, along with a number of grinding stones, some now re- Castle Pulverbatch Grid Ref: SO 423 023 sited with information.

The Knapp is a 12th century motte and bailey, with Go through the kissing gate at the right-hand end of fine views from its strategic position. Only earthworks the parking area, follow the permissive path uphill and remain, but there was once a tower on the motte, and bear left behind a small, round knoll. There are great domestic buildings in the inner and outer baileys. The views to the west from here, with the Stiperstones Castle fell out of use during the 13th century, but there prominent and Paulith Bank ahead. A grassy track was a weekly market here at one time, and fairs were still continues north for about 200m to a gate. Beyond held within living memory. this, continue across Cothercott Hill, rising slightly, then gradually head right. By the remains of a small Start by turning left out of the car park uphill on the reservoir (linked to the not very successful Wilderley lane through a ‘tunnel’ of hedges. This is Puntley By the house, pass through a gate on the track and then copper mine), head further right up the shallow gully or Pultheley Lane, the old medieval road from another field gate. Continue across two stiles, then stay lying before another rounded rise. The path continues to Bishop’s Castle. just right of the small stream until the path fords this to to contour around the hill to the right following the a wicket gate into a field. old horse-drawn tramway from the barytes mine, with After about 500m turn left through a field gate ➊ views east to the Wrekin. It then follows a fence on waymarked ‘public footpath’. The gravel track leads ➋ Follow the lower edge of this field, turning uphill the left before dropping steeply down. down over cattle grids. at the end to reach a metal kissing gate on the right leading into a rougher patch. Stay left up here till you On the hillside across the valley you can see the The footpath here joins the old ‘outrack’ which was reach a waymarked level grassy track, and turn right remains of adits and heaps of the Cothercott mine, the ancient route for taking sheep up onto the open along this. The track rises gradually through trees, past which was active from 1910 to 1928 and produced a hills for summer grazing. Tenants of the Manor of the ruins of Cothercott Hill Farm, out into the grassy total of 23,000 tons of very pure barytes. In the early Pulverbatch (‘Polrebec’ in the Domesday Book) had field above and then to the road. This is the trackbed of 1980s, the site was investigated for possible reworking. common grazing rights on the . the old railway connecting the Cothercott mine with Apart from small quantities in medical use for x-rays, the trans-shipment point near Outrack the main use now for barytes is for high density muds Church Cottage. used in oil-drilling. Pulverbatch Alternative – from the start stay on ➍ At the bottom of the dip cross a stile and step 1 Kilometre Puntley Lane, and then follow the across the small stream and up some boggy ground road left for half a mile to point 3. to meet the track heading up and left. Follow this as LAWN HILL Castle it runs closer to a fence on an old stone bank on the Pulverbatch In the conifer trees of Riddles Wood just beyond Huglith Hill are the old workings left, to reach the high point of the walk. Here at the of the significant Huglith barytes mine, edge of the Hills the views are extensive across the lowland plains to the north. HUGLITH The Knapp where 300,000 tons of ore was extracted HILL in the first half of the 20th century. Follow the path (waymarked Shropshire Way) down Wilderley (There is no access to this site from the RIDDLES The Wokkon Hall to the left (north-east) and through a gate into a large WOOD Motte & lane). field.The wet areas here provide habitat for birds such Lower Bailey ➌ Go left along the road for about as snipe, and plants such as rushes and lousewort. Westcott Cothercott 100m to the junction and straight over here. (If you would rather have the pub Mill stones at Cothercott Sheppen in the middle of your walk, you could Fields start and finish here). LONG ROUGH This is the former mill site for the Main Route Cothercott barytes mine on the far side of the hill. Here the ore was hand- Alternatives picked and washed, and ground using six Barytes mill pairs of burr stones to produce barytes and mine Footpaths (barium sulphate) – a dense white filler COTHERCOTT Bridleways HILL used in paint, paper, lino and pottery. Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Shropshire Council 100049049.2017