The St Peter’s Way Surround yourself with wildlife and history The St Peter’s Way The route will take you through some The St Peter’s Way was conceived by Essex County Council support the of the most spectacular countryside in members of the Ramblers' Association Countryside Code, which helps is a 45 mile walk Essex following field boundaries, (Fred Matthews and Harry Bitten) members of the public respect, through ancient woodland, over and has been adopted and this guide protect and enjoy the countryside. meandering through commons and hills down to the marshes re-produced by Essex County Council. on our estuaries and coastline. Along Use this leaflet to guide you along the Follow the countryside code: the countryside of the way we hope you encounter much route and visit points of interest we of the diverse and stunning wildlife that have highlighted along the way. Be safe, plan ahead and follow Essex, from Chipping Essex has to offer. For more information on places any signs Ongar to the to visit in Essex please go to Leave gates and property Whilst most of the walk is fairly easy www.visitessex.com as you find them going and reasonably flat it does include ancient chapel of stiles and kissing gates. We also strongly The St Peter’s Way goes through many Protect plants and animals and take St Peter-on-the-Wall recommend that you wear stout, ankle wonderful Essex villages with shops, your litter home supporting footwear, take suitable public houses and public transport Keep dogs under close control at Bradwell on Sea. clothing for the conditions of the day and links. To find out more about public carry a little food and water. transport information contact the Essex Consider other people Traffic Control Centre between 7am and The route is clearly signposted and 7pm on 0845 600 0110 or For more information on the waymarked in both directions. www.essex.gov.uk/travel Countryside Code visit Using this booklet should make your www.naturalengland.co.uk experience more enjoyable. The average walker will take more than 15 hours to walk this 45 mile route We recommend that you use this leaflet without stopping! Therefore we suggest in conjunction with the Ordnance you attempt it in stages that suit your Survey Explorer maps numbered method of travel and the speed that you 183, 175 and 176 which can be would wish to walk it. purchased from most good book shops or online at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk If you have any problems whilst walking on the St Peter’s Way please let the Public Rights of Way team know by telephoning 08457 430430 or email [email protected] Key Scale 1 kilometer Footpath Open access B Bus stop 1 mile Bridleway Pylons P Parking Byway Track Church 2 Road PH Public house Chipping Ongar Blackmore Village History Church of St Lawrence, Blackmore Chipping Ongar used to have a motte and bailey castle; In 1349 the Black Death, also known as This fascinating church is well worth a in fact it used to be known as Castle Ongar. There is the Plague, hit Essex. Blackmore lost two good look. Parts of the church date to the little to see now but the remains of the earthworks that thirds of its population to the disease. It is 12th century when it was a priory. The roof the keep was built on and some of the moat. The town suggested that two roads which bypass of the nave has a number of carved faces developed as an important staging post, being a day’s the village were developed for travellers in and shields, some of which contain shot ride out of London for travellers heading north. order to avoid catching the disease that holes from the bullets of the Roundheads took just a couple of days to kill its victim. at the time of the civil war. The church also The two roads supposed to have been holds a Cresset stone, which is a primitive developed for this purpose are named form of oil lamp made from stone. It is one Service Lane and Red Rose Lane. of the finest examples in the country and the only one in Essex. A414 A414 Mulberry PH House High Ongar PH Clatterford End Nash Hall Recreation Clatterford B ground Bridge P P PH Thistlelands Paslow Hall Ongar Westlands Springs Springs B Castle The Mill A128 Cottage PH PH River Roding e n a L l Chipping Ongar il B M Sparks Farm Long Edwells Nine Ashes Wells Redrose Farm d Farm Berry oa R Farm ry e k H o o Road R Paslow Common B sford Chelm Farm Sch PH Ganders River Roding Hall B PH Paslow Wood The source of this river is Molehill Green near Stansted Common Blackmore I n g Airport and it flows all the way down to the River Thames at a d t a e o s Fryerning R t Barking. All rivers have a diverse ecosystem that supports re o o n m Wood k e c many different species of animals and plants. It is not only a R l o N B a the open water but the plants in the river margins and along d their banks that create these important habitats. You should keep an eye out for trout in the river and kingfishers that use 3 the vegetation along the banks to perch in whilst hunting. Mill Green Ponds In Mill Green, you can see Potter Row Farm; brick and pottery kilns have been found here. Village and farmland ponds can be a very This area was a good place to make both pottery and bricks due to the clay, gravel and important wildlife habitat as they are sand dug from the common. If you walk through the woodland you will see the pits and generally left undisturbed. You will pass mounds created by this clay extraction industry. The woodland is one fragment of what several on this walk. These ponds can be was once the extensive Writtle Deer Park. Keep an eye out for the deer that graze in home to the rare Great Crested Newt, to this area. dragonflies and water beetles as well as the commonly sighted Moorhen (right) and the old favourite – Mallard ducks. Parsons Spring Barrow Wood Ivy Barns Lane Birch Spring Howletts Monk’s and Handley Green Hall Barrow’s Deerslade Wood Farm Farm PH Dawes PH College Wood P Farm Well Wood Maple Tree Stoneymore Wood Box Wood d Farm a o Potter Row R n e Farm Handley Barns B e Bushey Brickhouse r PH Margaretting Glasshouse G Wood l Stoney l Farm Cottage i B M Eastfields Lodge Harding’s Bell Grove Meadow Farm Farm Farm PH 2 0 Margaretting Osborne’s 0 1 PH Mill Green Wood B Tye A12 Little Hyde Canterburys Lane Brook Farm Swan Lane Pound Wood Golf Course Deer Fristling Hall England has six species of deer that live in the wild; Fallow, Red, Roe, Chinese Water, Muntjac and Sika. The most common in Essex is the Fallow deer, they are quite large and Little Wood Tye Green can be identified by their white spotted chestnut coat. You may spot these in woodland N Long Wood or out in the arable fields. Muntjac (right) are also very common, these are very small Swan deer (about 40 to 50cm high) and can often be seen grazing in woodland. Wood 4 PH Stock Windmill N The windmill is the last of three mills that once operated in this village. When windmilling in Essex was at its peak, there were Claydons about 285 mills in the county. One hundred years later, only a Farm handful were still at work and by 1950 the last working mill had stopped. The decline of windmills followed the arrival of the steam-driven roller mill and improvements in sea, rail and road Glebe transport. Grain could be brought from abroad to the huge Cottages dockside mills and the new roller-milled white flour could Pattern’s S Hill Farm o be distributed easily, even to remote country areas. u Farm t Tinsley h Crondom e n Farm d Park R o a A130 d ne n La Pa Helmons Farm Link House Hicks Doylands Farm Farm Farm Brickhouse Holliday Hill Sch Farm B West Hanningfield ad B ad Ro Ro ck Slough House PH h to Chu r c S Farm B1007 er w Swan Lo Mid Wood Greenwood’s dle me Farm B ad Blythhedges Spring Wood Stock B Holes Place Hanningfield Farm Blythhedges Reservoir PH Wood C PH om e Steel’s Farm PH m an R o ll L oa n Mi d Leather Bottle Recreation ane Hill ’s L Ground Seam an Windmill Radar Mast P B B On the horizon you will be able to see this mast that is sited in Great Baddow. The mast was part of Britain's early warning defence network during World War Two. As part of the 'Home Chain' network it was originally built to Seamans Lane and Hanningfield Reservoir detect German bombers approaching the River Thames and London from the northeast. After the war it was used The walk now takes you down an old road, Seamans Lane. This road was converted into a bridleway when the for developing radar, radio and telecommunications construction of the reservoir severed it. Work started in 1951 to build the reservoir in the Sandon Valley, covering technologies. The mast is a prominent landmark, the hamlet of Peasdown.