Hungarton Parish Walks

From the church walk up the hill and around the bend. Take the track opposite the chapel and onto the footpath through the field on the left. Continue to the right hand corner of the field to reach the road.
A. Turn right and cross to the footpath. Follow the waymarks through the fields, passing to the right of a large house and ground, enjoying splendid views of Charnwood Forest to your left. On reaching a field with a large farm to the far left corner walk with the direction of the ridge and furrow to meet a stile and hand gate leading to a concrete track.
B. Turn right and proceed along the track.
The hawthorn hedges either side of this track are a haven for wildlife.
Go straight on to the unclassified county road into Baggrave Park. As the road bends to the right, leave it to continue straight on following the bridleway. This path can be very muddy in winter
Baggrave was once a village with a church but was deserted by 1500. The site of the village lies south of the Hall which is hidden in the valley to your left.
C. Pass the farm building on your left and cross the track to go through the wood beyond, to reach the road. Turn right and right again onto Hungarton Road. Bear left at the bridleway to cross fields back to Hungarton to complete the walk.

Take the bridleway out of Church lane, past the farm buildings following the track through the Hungarton Spinney. After the gate bear right and keep to the track with the hedge boundary on your left. Then, go straight across three more fields following the waymarkers to reach Hungarton Road.
1. Turn right and continue along the road to a T-junction. Then turn left over the cattle grid. Leave the road taking the bridleway on your right. Slowly descend as views of rolling hills and village beyond unfold.
Very little remains of Cold Newton village, which once had a small church (now gone) and a medieval manor.
On reaching the stream turn right, cross a small bridge and over a stile ahead into the wooded area. Follow the path through and out onto a large field.
2. Turn left and continue along the field edge. Cross the corner of the next field to a stile, then walk up the hill aiming for the houses ahead.
This route crosses the site of a deserted medieval village where in 1799 only 15 families remained. Humps and hollows can clearly be seen in fields where the lost village once stood.
Continue past farm buildings, bearing right into Main Street then turn right at the junction heading back to Hungarton.
3. Turn left onto the bridleway, following the waymarkers for Quenby Hall and Park.
Quenby was depopulated in the late 15th century. It is sited within the grounds of the Hall, one of the finest houses in the country. Built in the early 17th century, it is a tall, undecorated building except for the attractive red brick diapering with dark blue bricks seen on the west front. The Ashbys and their descendants owned the estate from the 13th century to 1904. It is now the seat of the De Lisle family. As the route passes through the park, this splendid building can clearly be seen.
Along the drive just past the wet wooded area on the right, bear left aiming for the corner of the garden wall. Keeping the wall to your right, walk the boundary of the garden to re-meet the drive on the other side of the Hall.
4. Continue along the drive. Good views of Hungarton can be seen in the distance. Just past the Lodge Gatehouse bear right following the waymarkers across two large fields, leading back into Church lane.
As you descend back to the village you can clearly see the ridge-and-furrow pattern left by medieval ploughing methods. The up and down ploughing of long narrow strips, with a certain type of plough, threw the soil towards the centre of the strip, so producing a high ridge. Much ridge-and-furrow disappeared with the intense ploughing during the Second World War, however a good deal remains in Leicestershire.