Description as per October 2014
Stapeley Common is a magical place. You can easily roam around for a couple of hours. However, if you do, you will no doubt spot several ‘well liveried’, weathered signposts, like this one!
Stapeley is ‘en route’ of several trails and circular walks.
The Rorrington Trail is a nice little loop off the main drag. Take the left fork just before the large horizontal stone (said to be the magical cow the witch milked into a sieve). Follow the path til you come to a stile in the fence, cross it and then another one in the next fence. Keep the fence to your left and cross another stile. Follow the fence until you come to a stile in it and cross here to the other side of the fence. This is the place where Holywell Brook springs up. This is quite a special place. For centuries (even into the 19th century) hundreds of people would take part in an annual procession to this spring and then take celebrations to a fair in Rorrington village.
Carry on and you will see an iron age hill fort, Castle Ring Hill Fort. Where else can you take in a stone circle, a holy well AND a hill fort in one walk. I love this place!!
Follow the sign posts through the wood and you will go right past the hill fort ramparts. Follow the path down hill until you come to a track and turn left along it. Carry on down hill until you join another track. Go round a small clump of trees, through a gate and onto the road (to Rorrington). Follow the trail when it turns left off the road (stile) steeply down hill and up along the Holywell Brook. Imagine being part of that annual procession…. Follow the track along the wood and past (below you) the old quarry. At the top of the hill you will pass Rorrington Lead and Barytes Mine, worked up until the 1920’s. There is so much history here!
Follow the sign posts back onto Stapeley. A nice loop, just over 5 miles.
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