Claybrooke Magna

Walk those January blues away on this ramble through the lovely Leicestershire countryside around the picturesque village of Claybrooke Magna. On the way you will march in step with Roman legionaries and have lunch at an 18th century monument, marking the Roman settlement said to be close to the site of the momentous climactic battle of the Boudiccan revolt (AD60)

We set off from the Village Hall, walking through the village, emerging at pasture by Bell Street. We will pass through a succession of fields on this well-marked route, to cross Frolesworth Lane, then on to the village of Frolesworth itself for our morning break at St. Nicholas Church. We leave the village and the Leicestershire Round at this point and progress through Manor Farm Courtyard, with its horse paddocks, through a very long field – bring your binoculars! Upon reaching Roman Road (a tarmaced section of the Fosse Way), we detour from the recommended route - which is heavily flooded due to recent wet weather - onto a short road section then into Fosse Meadows Country Park. This lovely protected area is the site of flower meadows, woodland, a wildlife lake and bird hides, and is a favourite of dog walkers and family strollers. 

In the car park, we will make use of a rather attractive coffee and snack van catering to all tastes, where we will briefly stop for a crafty second break. There is also a single portacabin toilet available here for our convenience.

Once refreshed, we will cross some fields to the junction of the Fosse Way with Claybrooke Lodge Farm and its associated airfield.  This now quiet 1.5-mile section of unmade-up road, once formed part of the major Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) to Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) Road in Roman times, part of an extensive network of  roads that facilitated rapid trade and military movement across Roman Britain. Look to either side and you can still see the remains of the ancient ditches  of this superbly engineered road (“Fosse” derives from the Latin word for ditches).  At Bumblebee Lane, we turn right and take our lunch by the 18th century monument (1712, struck by lightning in 1791) dedicated to Venonae/Venonis, the Roman settlement that thrived at the nexus of the Fosse Way and Watling Street, renowned as the centre of Roman Britain. This is modern High Cross.

After lunch, we will cross the busy High Cross-Claybrooke Magna road and walk across several fields, to emerge at the rear of Claybrooke Primary School. Here we will make a very short detour to enjoy the beautiful St. Peter’s church, whose exceptional chancel is mentioned in Simon Jenkins book,  ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’ as “the finest in the county”.  A short, familiar route then returns us to our cars.

Post-walk refreshments are available at the Pig in Muck pub, on Main Street. Please do not be tempted to park in the pub car park prior to the walk, it is small and they have expressly asked us not to.