Kington Mills and Weirs, Kington Walks

Start : Clock tower, Kington (HR5 3BQ) Grid ref. SO 295 565

(D/A) From the clock tower go up Church Street, pass the war memorial and continue for a further 200m.

(1) Turn into Castle Hill Lane on your right and look at the water tower on your left. There is a plaque giving information on Kington’s early water supply. Continue down Castle Hill and bear right into Broken Bank. On your right is a small hill covered in trees, a pre-Conquest castle mound.

(2) Take a steeply descending footpath on your right, next to The Nook, bringing you down to the old tramway track, where you turn right to follow it (A).

The tramway path runs alongside the Back Brook and, after about 100m, go through a kissing gate a typical product of Kington Foundry further down the brook. Soon you will see a weir and, on the other bank, traces of a leat, an artificial watercourse which once fed the corn mill and pumping station at Crooked Well.

(3) Follow the path for 375m, pass through a second kissing gate and bear to the left of the first house, taking the path that hugs the brook. After 150m you’ll come to a footbridge over the brook.

(4) Take a detour here. Go over this bridge and then cross the main A44 road with care. On the other side of the road, go on for a few metres and then turn left for a few metres. To your left is the ivy-covered pumping station, erected in 1886 which was powered by a water turbine. On your right is the Crooked Well, from which Kington’s water supply was drawn, and ahead is Engine Cottage, once attached to the former Crooked Well Corn Mill long demolished. Retrace your steps across the A44 and the Back Brook.

From the footbridge the ancient ford is clearly visible. Turn left into Crooked Well Lane for almost 200m to rejoin the old tramway path (B).

(5) Turn left onto the old tramway and after about 400m it comes back by the brook. Shortly before a footbridge over the brook you can see traces of a minor weir, with brickwork and inlet pipe. Despite its appearance, this marks the start of an important ancient leat, feeding water meadows.

Continue along the old tramway to a weir with an ugly later additional concrete fish ladder. At this end of the weir is a steel frame which once contained a sluice gate (C).

(6) Turn right into Victoria Road for about 250m and left into Love Lane. At the bottom turn right along a footpath. The course of this path was once a leat (D). Cross Bridge Street and go straight on to some iron gates (E).

Just before the gates turn into Mill Furlong. This runs along the back of stone maltings erected around 1835 as part of the mill complex.

(7) Cross the Co-op car park and continue up Crabtree Road before turning left into Mill Street. Walk past the football ground (F).

(8) Enter the recreation ground and follow the path. The leat once ran under the trees to the left of the path. Continue along this path and, not far from a side entrance, a rectangular patch of concrete to your left was once a bridge over the leat.

At the far end of the path, a little to the left, is a gate into a private field. Looking across the field from here, the dry leat can be seen emerging from the trees. This leat was fed by a weir which still exists in the River Arrow, another few hundred metres upstream. Retrace your steps to the Clock Tower walking along the recreation ground then Mill Street. (D/A)