Granborough Church

AUTUMN TRAIL Additional Information

Welcome to our autumn trail. This autumn, following on from harvest, we have been looking at creation and our environment. There are 10 locations on the trail, each connected to the theme. They can be visited over several days and you can do as many or as few as you wish. Some of the paths cross fields and given the time of year, it will most likely be muddy! Apart from Station 1, they can be done in any order. We hope to provide some insight into this special place in which we live and perhaps be a little thought provoking. As we wander around the trail, we hope and pray that we will all get a glimpse of our amazing creator God, whose hand upholds it all.

Station 1

The highest point in the village, 120m above sea level

Granborough is built on a hill. From here you can see most of the parish. The village is built on a hill as some of the surrounding areas have been liable to flooding for hundreds of years. In the past, the route to North Marston would often become impassable, too muddy and boggy for horses and carts to pass. North Marston (also built on a hill) means north marsh town – the clue is in the name! You are welcome to start your trail in the play area. At 120m above sea level, it is the highest point in the village. Alternatively, by arrangement, you can also start your trail from the top of the church tower. From the tower roof, you can see some of the places you can visit on the trail. The view is amazing, but be sure that you have a head for heights. Access is via a narrow, steep and unlit spiral staircase (bring a torch), with no handrail. Final access to the roof is using a ladder. If you’d like to start your trail here, then do please contact: Peter Evans, 07710 153033, petergranborough@gmail.com or

Robert Kemp, 07905 419117, rookery4@aol.com to book a slot. We will try and accommodate everyone who wants to start the trail here, but capacity is limited, so please understand if we have to say no.

CHRISTMAS GORSE STATIONS

Station 2

The brook without a name The brook which flows underneath the road doesn’t have a name at this point. But that doesn’t stop it causing trouble each year. Most winters, and usually more than once, this brook will burst its banks and flood the road, and sometimes this will make the road impassable. We hear more about flooding each year, but this brook has flooded as long as anyone can remember, and probably for hundreds of years. Just over a mile north from here, this brook with no name flows into Claydon Brook at Shipton Bridge – the picnic spot off the A413 just before Winslow. Claydon Brook starts near Drayton Parslow and flows into Padbury Brook just southwest of Padbury. Padbury Brook flows into the River Great Ouse northwest of Thornborough, and then eventually out into the North sea at King’s Lynn. The River Great Ouse has a slow flow, and depending on current, water here at Christmas Gorse would take between 3 and 6 days to reach the sea. Most likely, the flooding we get here is not due to climate change at the moment. But as we move to wetter summers which climate change is expected to cause, then the amount of flooding is likely to increase.

Station 3 Pastureland or rewilding?

On the map, this piece of land is shown as a field, probably pasture land. But if you have walked into it, then it clearly isn’t pasture land anymore. There are lots of paths and it’s easy to get lost. It’s clear to see that this field is slowly rewilding itself. Although its mainly blackthorn, there are several areas where trees have started to grow. The areas of grass that remain are still used for grazing cattle (watch out for the cow pats). It is thought to be more than 25 years since this land was only grass for grazing. Is rewilding always a good thing? It increases and encourages biodiversity, but it reduces the amount of land available for food production, meaning that in the UK, we would have to import more.

Station 4 Christmas Gorse

Christmas Gorse wood is approximately 6 hectares or 15 acres of lightly managed woodland. Although the map shows tracks inside, these are hard to find. It is an area that is rich in wildlife. In winter, the tops of trees can be seen and hundreds of rooks nests are visible. There are also ground nesting birds such as pheasants, and deer can often be seen. We think there are around 8 different tree species visible from the road – it’s much harder to tell now that the trees are losing their leaves. The tree tops are full of rooks’ nests, which can also be seen from a distance as you approach Christmas Gorse from the village.

Station 5

Poors Piece and Clocklands In one sense, not much to look at here – it’s just a field. But this piece of land was set aside for the

poor of the parish and the maintenance of the church clock in an enclosure act dated 1797.

The photo shows this land inside the red line. If you look closely at the left hand side of the photo, you can clearly see the remains of the 62 plots or allotments which were made available to the poor. The layout is the ridge and furrow system, which dominated farming in the open field era before enclosures became commonplace. Standing in the gateway, you should just be able to see the remains of the ridge and furrow system. These strips of land are broadly similar in size to a modern allotment provided by local authorities. Although a contentious subject, it is fascinating to think that an act of parliament at the end of the 18th century

not only created provision for the poor of the parish, but also to provide a fund for the maintenance of the church clock. In the days before wrist and pocket watches (and mobile phones), the church clock was important, as it was the only way most people would be able to know the time. If the chimes could be heard at a distance, then those people working in the field would also be able to keep track of the time.

CLOSER TO THE VILLAGE

Station 6 An abandoned building

If you’ve walked along this footpath before, you may never have noticed an abandoned brick building at grid reference, SP 76874 25236. It’s quite hard to find as it is almost completely hidden by brambles – you can just see a bit of wall on the east face of the building. This is an old well house. When it was in use, it housed an engine and pump to lift the water to a tank on the roof for storage. There were several of these dotted around the village as well as ordinary bucket wells. In the days before Anglian Water, these wells were the main source of water for the village. As far as I know, this is the only one that is left.

Station 7 Millknob Hill

At 112m, this mound isn’t quite as high as the highest point by the play area. But before the trees were here, it was in a good position to catch the prevailing winds from the west. As the name suggests, this is (almost certainly) the site of a windmill. The power of the wind was used to turn the sails, which through a series of drive shafts, turned the mill stone at the base of the mill. This was used to grind wheat into flour for bread. If you turn to the west, you may be able to see the electricity grid substation between here and East Claydon. You will certainly be able to see it on your walk down towards the mediaeval earthworks. In 2020, 25% of all power flowing through this substation was generated by the wind. Some forecasts suggest that by 2030, half our electricity will come from wind power.

Station 8

Mediaeval earthworks

If you wanted to eat fish in the middle ages, then you either had to live by the sea, or a freshwater river or lake. Before the invention of good roads, railways and refrigeration, then fish would have to be eaten close to where they were caught. Unless you had a fishpond. These earthworks mark out the fishponds that were built here in mediaeval times to provide fish to the local area. The ponds were fed from Claydon brook and run by the monastic community on this site. They are large in size, which would have provided a good supply of fish. There are other fishponds in this area, one at Hogshaw, and one outside Quainton.

Station 9

Holes in the ground This unused kissing gate marks the boundary between Upper Great Ground, nearest the road, and Lower Great Ground. The map still shows a formal field boundary. There is a small clump of trees here which shelter some small ponds, most likely to be a home for frogs and newts. But also, underneath the kissing gate are a number of large holes – entry and exit points for a large badger set. There are many badger sets in this area, but badgers are rarely seen, being nocturnal.

Station 10 What’s for tea in Great Ground?

This field was left fallow for most of 2021 but was planted with wild flowers, in part to bring nutrients back into the soil. They were also really beautiful. It’s impossible to tell at the moment, but this field has just been sown with winter wheat, due for harvesting in August 2022. Winter wheat spends longer growing than spring wheat. It tends to have higher yields, and it’s easier to spot and remove any early growing black grass. Sometime towards the end of next year, this wheat could easily end up being part of your lunchtime sandwich!

Sunday 31st October at 11.00am Come and join us in church at 11.00am for a celebration of creation and the things we have looked at in our autumn trail. If you’ve taken part in the trail, there will be a bar of fair-trade chocolate as your reward. As well as being lovely to eat, this will remind us that the food we enjoy comes from around the world and that the farmers who made it have not been exploited.

Many thanks to Simon Miles for the beautiful photo of Granborough and Peter Evans for creating this Autumn Trail.