NEWTON SOLNEY AND WINSHILL WALK
THE WALK
Newton Solney and Winshill Walk is a short but rewarding walk over good agricultural land to the edge of Burton, with impressive, wide-ranging views over the surrounding countryside. Newton Solney’s ancient church of St Mary’s is in a lovely location near the river and is passed at the start of the walk before you get your boots muddy. It is well worth taking a few minutes to look around the church before going any further.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 1 – St Mary’s Parish Church is approximately 800 years old, with Norman features to the north doorway. It was restored in 1881, for which the Ratcliff family of Newton Solney provided most of the funding. As a result of the restoration, it is now mainly Victorian. The church is closely linked to the Church of England infant school in the village. Various activities are held at the church, including the occasional flower festival, concerts, and other events. Thomas Gayfere is buried in the churchyard, he along with his family was involved in the restoration of Westminster Abbey in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Point 2 – The former Newton Park estate was broken up around 1960, with the house and its immediate grounds becoming a hotel. Part of the park was sold to a housing developer, and the remainder was sold for agricultural purposes. It was Abraham Hoskins, an attorney and land speculator from Burton, who built the house in the 1790s that forms the core of the present Newton Park Hotel. Grade II listed, it has an oak-panelled Boardroom with stained glass windows in the William Morris Suite and landscaped gardens. It is the former home of Staffordshire brewer William Worthington.
Point 3 – Abraham Hoskins, who lived at Newton Solney Hall, built some farm buildings at the rear of his home, but their location was considered to detract from the appearance. They were demolished after Hoskins’ money problems had forced him to sell to Lord Chesterfield. Who replaced them with a new farmhouse and buildings, known as Newton Park Farm, which was built further away from the hall. The buildings, like the ones demolished, were built to a very high standard. The Ratcliff family later extended them, and they now carry a Grade II listing.
Point 4 – Bladon Castle was built by Abraham Hoskins, probably in 1805, as a grand folly. It was later extended. Hoskins’ purpose was to provide a focal point for the landscaping of the park, the hall having not been built where Hoskins intended on Bladon Hill. During the Second World War, the castle was requisitioned by the War Office. Later, it was purchased by Air Chief Marshall the Honourable Sir Ralph Cochrane, who led the dam busters and Berlin airlift. Following retirement, Cochrane became involved with several businesses, including holding a directorship at Rolls-Royce.
Point 5 – Winshill was one of the oldest manors given by Wulfric Spott to Burton Abbey in 1004. It is now an attractive suburb of Burton. The old corn mills on the B5008 ground most of the corn for the Abbey tenants. The mills date from Saxon days and probably earlier. Located on what was formerly the Derbyshire side of the River Trent, Winshill saw substantial development in the mid-19th century and changed from a small settlement into a large village that provided housing for inhabitants who worked in Burton. Later in the same century, middle-class houses were built along the Ashby Road. In addition, an extensive 20th-century council and private housing development was constructed in the southeastern part of Winshill. Only the northeast corner of Winshill is visited on the walk.
Point 9 – The Brickmakers Arms was acquired in 2011 by the Burton Bridge Brewery, which takes its name from the Burton Bridge over the River Trent at Burton-on-Trent. The brewery is situated twenty yards from the end of the present bridge. Following a great deal of hard work, the Brickmakers made it into the prestigious CAMRA Good Beer Guide three years after acquisition by the Burton-based brewers. The ‘Brickies’, as it is called on account of the former brick-making yard at the rear, is a traditional old-fashioned pub with real fires and a warm welcome. Brickmaking was the principal industry in the village in the 19th century, albeit on a small scale.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 4 miles.
Location: Off the B5008 between Repton and Burton upon Trent (SK283258).
Start: Blacksmith’s Lane is accessed by turning off Main Street, by the Unicorn Inn at the eastern end of the village street (SK283258).
Terrain: A very easy, level walk mainly through fields with a small amount of walking along a normally quiet road.
Refreshments: The Brickmakers Arms is an attractive pub at any time of the year. In the summer, its extensive display of hanging baskets and tubs along the wide frontage is particularly impressive. The Unicorn Inn serves food and provides accommodation. Planters Garden Centre at Bretby has a popular café/restaurant.
THE ROUTE
1. Walk along Blacksmith’s Lane in a westerly direction, cross Trent Lane and ascend a short flight of steps to join a path leading to St Mary’s Church.
2. Turn left down Church Lane and then right on reaching Burton Road. Continue for a few yards, then just before the entrance to the former Newton Solney Hall, go to the left up a surfaced lane. At the end of the grounds to the former Newton Solney Hall, go over a stile on your right into a field.
3. Walk diagonally across the field with Newton Park Farm a short distance away on your left. Go over a stile by a gateway about 20 yards from the corner of the field. Carry straight on in the next field to a stile by a short stretch of wooden fence.
4. Continue across another field with the hedge on your right, and then after crossing a stile by a metal field gate, keep close to the hedge, which is now on your left. Bladon Castle, best seen from the B5008, is hidden away amongst woodland on your right. After crossing a stile in the corner of the field, turn sharp left through Bladon Farmyard and walk down the lane past Bladon Farm Cottages.
5. A brook is crossed as you enter Winshill, near where you turn left down Hollow Lane and then, after a few yards, left again to re-cross the brook by a raised footpath bridge. Walk up the road passing Mount Pleasant Cottages and go through a circular stile into a field.
6. Continue through a series of fields, keeping close to the hedge on the right, before eventually walking down a short, enclosed path. Maintain the same direction, now with the field boundary on your left, going through a gap into the next field.
7. Cross the field, keeping close to the hedge, and then go down a field access track that leads to Newton Lane, where you turn left. Shortly after passing the Newton Solney village sign, turn left up a track between cottages and cross a stile into a field.
8. Keep close to the hedge until it bends to the right, where you walk a few yards to the left to go over a stile into another field. Follow the hedge around to a stile into the lane that you came up at the beginning of the walk.
9. Here you turn right and then right again at the end of the lane along Burton Road. This time, continue along the road through the village, past the Brickmakers Arms. Turn left in front of the Unicorn Inn, down Blacksmiths Lane, to return to the starting point of the walk.
NEWTON SOLNEY
