Yorkshire Walks

Background Notes:
This walk is a gentle circular family walk of about 6km, 4 miles, around the outside of the grounds of Castle Howard between York & Malton. There's a large free car park at Castle Howard next to the obelisk on the long straight drive, called 'The Great Avenue'. There is a courtyard with toilets, shops and a cafe. If you want to go inside the grounds or House the entrance ticket kiosk is there too, so it's a good place to start and finish the walk. There are a number of ancient oak trees in the car park. The house and grounds were laid out under the direction of Sir John Vanburugh in the early 1700's so these trees are at least 300 years old but look as though they could be considerably older than that. From the car park we walk out to the obleisk and turn down the long avenue of lime trees. There are two rows of limes on either side of the long drive and there's a footpath between the two rows of limes to the right of the drive. The whole idea of the grand estates of the 1700's was to impress everybody. The approach to the stately home along the drive passes through mock defensive walls and gateways and with tantalising glimpses of large follies in the distance. Our walk takes us past several of these follies and ornamental features of the landscaped grounds of Castle Howard. We follow the path between the limes and then along the drive past the great lake on the right with a view back to Castle Howard itself on the hill top overlooking the lake. We turn off the drive to walk through the estate village of Coneysthorpe. Just through the village we turn off the road to follow a track across the fields to Ray Wood. Again across the fields and in Ray Wood there are some lovely ancient oak trees perhaps a little younger at about 300 years than to those in the car park. From Ray Wood we follow a public footpath around the outside of the outer wall of the Castle Howard grounds climbing up a slope to "The Temple of the Four Winds". This is one of the follies designed to enhance the landscaped parkland. It was used as an elaborate summer house with servants rooms below for the preparation of food which was served to the family and guests in the rooms above with their views over the parkland. From the Temple our walk drops down to a Roman style bridge over a small stream that has been widened into a series of pools separated by wiers. This whole artificial riverscape provides both a pretty walk and a view to be seen from the house. Away on the low hill to the left of the bridge is The Mausoleum. This structure was built in the 1730's and since then it has been used as the official burial place of the Howard family. Our walk continues across the Roman style bridge and up to a narrow farm access road. We walk along this road towards a gate house and on our left is yet another of the follies, this time a pyramid, it seems with no other purpose than to be a rather impressive garden ornament, but apparently the pyramid is hollow and contains a large bust of the Elizabethan Lord William Howard, the head of the Howard dynasty. A little way beyond the Pyramid we come to the mock battlements and gate house on our left. These were designed to impress guests arriving along the 5 mile long straight drive lined with limes and beech trees. At the gate house which in the mid 1700's was used as an inn, we turn to walk along the avenue between the lime trees back to the car park and the end of our walk.

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