Houghton Conquest and King's Wood

Sue Owen

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Starting at Houghton Conquest, which lies at the crossing of two ancient roads, the path meanders past wildflowers in spring on Glebe Meadows. Then it crosses open fields to the atmospheric ruins of Houghton House, thought to be the 'House Beautiful' of John Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'. The house has a commanding position on the ridge and can be visited for lunch. The route continues along the Greensands Ridge to the edge of King's Wood again. Here there are a number of alternative routes, either round the outside or through the wood, which usually has bluebells in spring. The main route descends on the outside and can sometimes be quite muddy, to Cowslip Meadow which also has wildflowers in spring. Finally return past a moated farmhouse to the main street and a possible visit to the local pub after seeing the Saxon church.

England - Central England - Bedfordshire - Countryside

Features

Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Pub, Public Transport, Stately Home, Wildlife, Woodland

16/11/2017 - Kieran McMahon

Whilst a nice walk the part from 12 to 14 is extremely difficult - the path is very overgrown with brambles , shrubs , weeds, and nettles etc and large fallen trees are also blocking the path which often means crawling on hands and knees to get past. These tress I guess fell a number of years ago due to the growth on them. I would comment that , that part of the walk has not been maintained for years which is a shame. Kieran McMahon Nov 2017

19/06/2014 - Richard Moisey

Enjoyed this walk on overcast June day - excellent walk through series of rare meadows and ancient woodland.