Medieval Mottes, Barytes Mining & Ancient lanes

Walk directions

1. Start

   Turn left out of the car park uphill on the lane through a ‘tunnel’ of hedges.  This is Puntley or Pultheley Lane, the old medieval road from Shrewsbury to Bishop’s Castle. After about 500 metres turn left through a field gate waymarked ‘public footpath’. The gravel track leads down over cattle grids. By the house, pass through a gate on the track and then another field gate. Continue across two stiles, then stay just right of the small stream until the path fords this to a wicket gate into a field. 

   Alternative Route – from the start stay on Puntley Lane, and then follow the road left for half a mile to Step 3.

2. Step 2

   Follow the lower edge of this field, turning uphill at the end to reach a metal kissing gate on the right leading into a rougher patch. Stay left up here till you reach a waymarked level grassy track, and turn right along this. The track rises gradually through trees, past the ruins of Cothercott Hill Farm, out into the grassy field above and then to the road.

3. Step 3

   Go left along the road for about 100 metres to the junction and straight over here. (If you would rather have the pub in the middle of your walk, you could start and finish here). Go through the kissing gate at the right-hand end of the parking area, follow the permissive path uphill and bear left behind a small, round knoll. There are great views to the west from here, with the Stiperstones prominent and Paulith Bank ahead. A grassy track continues north for about 200 metres to a gate. Beyond this, continue across Cothercott Hill, rising slightly, then gradually head right. By the remains of a small reservoir (linked to the not very successful Wilderley copper mine), head further right up the shallow gully lying before another rounded rise. The path continues to contour around the hill to the right following the old horse-drawn tramway from the barytes mine, with views east to the Wrekin. It then follows a fence on the left before dropping steeply down. 

4. Step 4

   At the bottom of the dip cross a stile and step across the small stream and up some boggy ground to meet the track heading up and left. Follow this as it runs closer to a fence on an old stone bank on the left, to reach the high point of the walk. Here at the edge of the Shropshire Hills the views are extensive across the lowland plains to the north.

   Follow the path (waymarked Shropshire Way) down
   to the left (north-east) and through a gate into a large field. Stay to the left initially until you cross a small stream and then follow the path swinging slightly right around patches of gorse and wet areas before descending gently to a kissing gate. Through this, head slightly right on the level towards a large beech tree in the corner of the field where a bridle gate leads onto the road. 

5. Step 5

   Go through another bridle gate opposite, and follow the right edge of the large field downhill.

   Short cut – half way down the big field, follow the
   footpath sign left and across three more fields to the road a short way from the Knapp. Take care of traffic on the steep road up to the village.

   The field narrows into a funnel before leading through a gate and a short, narrow section (if very muddy here, a short alternative loop is shown on the map). A farm track leads down to Wilderley Hall Farm, the remains of a medieval hamlet.

6. Step 6

   Turn left onto the road at Wilderley Hall, and at the dip after 400 metres take a right along a hedged Byway leading down to a footbridge and ford. Continue up the charming wooded dingle and the worn ‘hollow way’ with exposed bedrock, and on into Church Pulverbatch, also known as ‘Churton’.

7. Step 7

   Turn left along the road and then left again along the main road through Castle Pulverbatch to the White Horse Inn and back up to the Knapp car park.