Circular walk around Kersey via Lindsey

5.5-mile / 8.8 kms circular walk around Kersey via Lindsey

Wednesday's circular walk started from the pretty village of Kersey, Suffolk's quaintest village, with its many medieval timber frame houses estimated to date from between the 12th and 15th centuries, and are one of the biggest collections preserved in Suffolk and East Anglia.

The village itself sits in one of Suffolk's crumpled valleys “where the landscape corrugates”, with its principal claim to fame, apart from one scene from Lovejoy being filmed there, is that a coarse woollen cloth called Kersey cloth takes its name from it.
Parking the car on church hill leaving the handbrake on the car firmly on! The first thing that catches your eye are the original road signs from the early days of motoring.

Coddenham and Hemingstone 4 mile circular walk

Coddenham and Hemingstone 4 mile circular walk

Approximately 8 miles north of Ipswich is Coddenham a small village which has a rich history dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period.

Having driven through the village of Coddenham many times over the years on my way to various car shows. I was aware that the road that passes through Coddenham, High Street road, is very narrow in places and I wasn't sure I could park safely along it. A quick google search showed that along school road was a parking area at the community centre, this turned out to be a great move, as the community centre looked to be only a few years old and it also had lots of free parking.

5 mile circular walk from the village of Lavenham

5 mile circular walk from the village of Lavenham

Parking in the lay by near the beautiful Lavenham church, its free to park there then walking down to the magnificent Lavenham guildhall. The walk heads off out to the east of Lavenham into the countryside along the gentle hills, woods and ancient tracks.

Our walk today was chilly at the start as it was about 3 degs, and in places quite muddy, the walk was mainly countryside views and also at times following along a river for a short stretch.

Along the route you will come across one of the walks highlights in the beautiful village of Brent Eleigh, the historic medieval church St Mary which was built around 1250. Its old door with its ironwork latch is probably the original one provided by the village carpenter and blacksmith back then, and the sanctuary handle is still fixed to it. When you step inside one of the first things you spot is the unusual box pews they are from the Stuart period, and behind the alter are 3 medieval wall paintings dating from around 1275, which were only found when they were uncovered during renovation work in the early 1960's.