Toppesfield to Castle Hedingham Essex Circular walk 25.05.22

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On Wednesday the 25th May 2022 Mike and I drove the hour and 15 minutes to Toppesfield and parked opposite the Green Man Pub.

Toppesfield's only public house is the Green Man. The pub is owned by Toppesfield Community Pub Limited (TCP), an Industrial & Provident Society which was established in 2012. TCP gained control of the Green Man in December 2012 from Admiral Taverns, a national pub chain which had financial problems. TCP is owned by more than 150 shareholders who raised share capital exceeding £150,000 to help finance the purchase.

I had emailed the Pumphouse Community Brewery here to ask if they would be open for a visit. They replied yes, I popped my head in to speak to the brewer to let him know we'd be visiting after our walk and we set off down Church Lane.

The derivation of the name 'Toppesfield' is 'open land on the hill top', a possible agglomeration of the phrase 'Top of the Field'.

We walk up to the pumphouse that the brewery is named after.

We stop and visit St Margaret's Church on Church Lane Toppesfield.

The splendid red brick tower of 1699 is a landmark on the horizon, visible for miles. In memory of a generous rector, Robert Wilde, it is highly individual with its round arched windows, obelisk pinnacles and semi-circular troughs between ‘battlements’. A brass and a figure of a cross-legged knight of c.1260 are apparently hidden under the organ.

The small village of Toppesfield sits on top of a shallow hill and as a result enjoys the position of having the highest church in Essex.

We follow on down Church Lane where it becomes a track and eventually a footpath.

We make our way across paths over Scotney's Farm and cross Great Yeldham Road and onto another path almost opposite.

We pass a Hilton Farm Carp fishery and along a path that looks like it could be very marshy in Winter or after a lot of rain but was firm enough today.

We exit out onto the A1017 and walk up a short way before turning left into Poole Farm Feed Centre.

We find the footpath that leads out of the Feed Centre and across a path that runs alongside the River Colne.

Across on the other side of the river we could see the graveyard of anything railway. This is on the Colne Valley Railway.

 

The Colne Valley Railway is a heritage railway based at Castle Hedingham Station, near Halstead in Essex, England. The railway consists of a 1 mile (1.6 km) long running line, with a fully reconstructed station, signal box and railway yard.

We walk on and eventually out onto Kirby Hall Road passing Four Winds caravan and camping park and this eventually leads out onto Nunnery Road where we turn left and into Castle Hedingham.

We arrive at Hedingham Castle only to find out that it was closed for a private function, probably a wedding.

Hedingham Castle, is arguably the best preserved Norman keep in England. The castle fortifications and outbuildings were built around 1100, and the keep around 1140. However, the keep is the only major medieval structure that has survived, albeit less two turrets. It is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument. The keep is open to the public.

We walk down the pretty Castle Lane into the village.

The picturesque and quintessentially English village of Castle Hedingham. It is still possible to trace the medieval street layout and the village contains some fine timber-framed buildings as well as two friendly pubs, a delightful tea room and a selection of shops.

We visit St Nicholas Church.

The Church of St Nicholas which dates, like the Castle, from the early part of the C12th. With many Norman features it is also unusual in having been partly constructed of materials from the Castle, taken when the Tudor outbuildings were demolished. Against the north wall of the chancel you can find the tomb of the 15th Earl, John de Vere, carved with his coat of arms.

The parish church of St Nicholas dates from the early part of the 12th Century, although there was certainly a church on the present site before that. The present building has substantial surviving Norman architecture, but has been altered and added to in each century since it was built. From the outside, there is a clear mix of medieval flint and stone work, a tower which dates from the 17th Century (but which is built from brick that looks one hundred years earlier), 18th Century brick buttresses and 19th Century windows to the nave.

A house decorated in readiness for the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

The present tower houses a peal of six bells. Five are only around 100 years old, but the Tenor was cast around 1430. It is known as Johannes (the name is cast in an inscription on the bell), possibly referring to John de Vere, 12th earl of Oxford (1408-1461). He and his eldest son were attainted and executed by the Yorkists during the Wars of the Roses; the de Veres were one of the few noble families who remained staunchly loyal to one side during the whole thirty years of fighting. The Twelfth Earl's son, also John, went on to avenge his father and achieve greatness as Henry VII's most trusted aide. It is his badges that adorn the West window. During his lifetime much renovation work was carried out on church, village and castle.

The east window is reputed to be one of only five surviving Norman wheel windows. It is one of the glories of St Nicholas Church.

We stop for lunch in the church grounds before continuing with our walk.

The churchyard cross is passed as one approaches the church from Falcon Square. It was erected in its present position in 1921, having been used as a support in the cellar of the Falcon Inn for hundreds of years. The base and the cross itself are modern - the cross is now used as the war memorial - but the pillar is early Norman, with richly carved decoration on all four sides.

We walk on through the village.

It developed around Hedingham Castle, the ancestral seat of the de Veres, Earls of Oxford. The first earl, Aubrey de Vere III, finished the initial building of the keep and established a Benedictine nunnery, Castle Hedingham Priory, near the castle gates. Hugh de Vere, fourth earl of Oxford, purchased the right to hold a market in the town of the crown in the mid-13th century. He also founded a hospital just outside the gates of the castle around 1250.

The village's main attractions are the well preserved Norman Hedingham Castle, the Colne Valley Railway, Kirby Hall and its many timber-framed medieval buildings.

We walk on back up Castle lane and turn left back down Bayley Street and Nunnery Street. Further up we turn right down a footpath.

Looking back we have views to Hedingham Castle, sadly the only views we have today.

We walk through Kirby Hall and along the footpath that leads out of here.

We walk pass Rookery Farm and back down to A1017 Poole Street.

We cross the A1017 and walk up a short way and turn left into Toppesfield Road and then take a path through a recreation ground with a skate park and back into farmland. Following this footpath we eventually rejoin Church Lane and follow the route we took out back into Toppesfield.

We throw our rucksacks and pull off our boots at the car and head over to the Pumphouse Community Brewery.

I have a good chat with the Brewer Aaron about all things brewing.

The Green Man is also community owned and Pumphouse works closely with the pub, which is our ‘tap’ and main outlet.

They are always happy to have visitors, though it is always safer to call ahead.

You can buy bottled beers directly from them, and they will be pleased to show you around our small, but perfectly formed, brewery.

The Brewery began in early 2015, when Pumphouse Community Brewery was established. It was the first co-operative community owned brewery in the country.

Pumphouse is owned by more than 80 individuals. We have a professional brewer, Aaron Osborne, who is responsible for production, but the rest of the day-to-day running is undertaken by a group of volunteers.

Pumphouse is run on a democratic basis, each member having one vote at members’ meetings, irrespective of the number of shares they hold.

The brewery was established as a not-for-private-profit company. As such, any surpluses achieved can only be used for reinvestment in the brewery or for distribution to the broader community.

The brewery now supplies a select group of nearby pubs and clubs and has appeared at a number of beer festivals in the region.

We buy a bottle of each from their selection.

A good 9 mile walk now for the drive home.