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About
Gallery
Parking
Poo bins?
Self-guided walk
About
Outwood Common comprises open common, woodland and fields, traversed by streams and dotted with more than 100 ponds here and there. A large proportion of the countryside in and around Outwood is part of the Harewoods Estate, which is managed by the National Trust. Some of the ancient oak trees in the wood are over 200 years old.
This website also has a walk that takes you round nearby Hornecourt Wood and surrounding fields.
Gallery: What’s it like here?
Parking
There is a free National Trust car park off Scott’s Hill, opposite Grade I listed Outwood windmill – the oldest working windmill in Britain, built in 1665 – and just along from The Bell pub (which is dog-friendly throughout).
GOOGLEMAPS LINK: https://goo.gl/maps/yBxb83GDa5CLXJ8r5
WHAT3WORDS: splice.fruit.smart
NEAREST POSTCODE: RH1 5PW
Poo bins?
There’s a poo bin next to the vehicle access gate by the car park/cricket ground.
Self-guided walk
Here is a Footpath app route for Outwood Common, which will take you through woods, past a church, over streams and around a pond. This route is my variation on one published by the National Trust. There is a section of my walk that is usually less muddy than the NT route. My route is also on AllTrails.
Length: approximately 2.1 miles/3.3km
Terrain: Mainly flat but with some short “dips” where you cross streams. Can get very muddy and waterlogged.
Stiles/kissing gates? No stiles, two kissing gates
Pass through the gate next to the vehicle barrier at the back of the car park and walk along the left-hand side of the cricket pitch. When the path forks at the tree line, it doesn’t matter which path you opt for. I tend to take the one to the right hand side of the post with the arrow on it.
It’s often very muddy here. Keep walking on and you will pass another post with an arrow on it. Go around the fallen tree and head on. In very wet weather there’s a stream that cuts across the path – if it’s there, hop straight over it. Shortly, you’ll pass another post on your left-hand side with an arrow on it. The path goes down into a dip with another fallen tree and, depending on the time of year, a stream flowing right to left. Step over the stream then follow the path up on the other side.
Pass another arrowed post. The ground slopes to your left down to a small stream. Ahead there are steps going down to a bridge crossing that stream and more steps going up the other side – take these.
When you get to the top of the steps this is where my route deviates from the National Trust one. If you look to your right, there’s a post with an arrow pointing to the right – this is the NT route – instead, at this junction turn left. Outwood Common is often very muddy but I find that the left-hand path here tends to be less muddy than the one that goes to the right.
This path will continue through the common and presently there’ll be a field on your left (next to a house which is Outwood Butchers’ HQ so sometimes a branded van is visible) which sometimes houses livestock, before arriving at a triangular junction of paths next to a big tree and an information board (which doesn’t usually have any information on it!) Just before you get to the big tree, turn right and take the stony path that leads between some chopped tree stumps. This path runs parallel to a lane so if you have dogs off you might want to put them on lead for now.
You’ll come to a wooden barrier and another post with an arrow on it. Pass this and there’s a house and garden surrounded by a hedge on your right hand side. Continue straight off the mud path and onto the the lane that goes to the house. With the house on your right, the lane curves around to the left – ignore the one ahead. After you round the corner, you’ll see a road ahead and there’s a church – the Church of St John the Baptist, if you’re interested – on the right hand side. Immediately before the church, take the footpath (with a wooden post in the middle of it) down the side of the church grounds/graveyard.
You’ll come to a cross paths by a really big old tree on the right hand side – go straight over, passing a post that has two yellow NT arrows on it (on your left).
When the path forks, look ahead and down the left hand fork is a post with white circles. I take the right hand fork here, because it brings you down to a lovely pond. Pass a bench on your left (where you could sit and enjoy the pond if you want), and ahead you’ll see a small bridge.
In the summer, this bridge can be very overgrown. If you can cross it, go over the bridge and follow the little path around the edge of the pond, then up to a large path and turn left, heading straight ahead to a post with a white circle on it.
If the bridge isn’t passable, turn left at the bench and then right onto a path that will bring you down to the post with the white circle. Pass the post with the white circle (it’ll be on the left) and, shortly after, a small path veers off to the right and through a kissing gate into a field. Enter the field, and walk along its right hand boundary to the end/corner. When you get to the corner of the field you’ll see a gap in the boundary. Go through this, passing what used to be a the middle plank of a stile and head down a dip to a couple of concrete sleepers that act as a bridge across a stream.
Cross over this and head up the path into the next field, again keeping to the right boundary. When you come to a finger post with two arrows (one pointing left and one pointing the way you just came) next to huge tree with part of an old stile in front of it and some fallen tree trunks, turn right.
As you pass the tree you will see on your left another post with an arrow – follow the direction of this arrow into the field, this time walking along the left field boundary. This is quite a long stretch but when you do get to the end of it, the path s-snakes through the corner of the field into the next field and alongside some big trees. As you continue along this path, a metal kissing gate will come into view ahead. Go through this and follow the path up, across some stones and onto the tarmac lane. There’s a house on the right, followed by the National Trust estate office. Immediately after the NT grounds, take a small path that comes off the lane to the right and passes between two Redwood trees.
This path starts out pretty straight but then sweeps to the left and passes another post with an arrow on it – follow the direction of the arrow straight ahead. Shortly after the arrow, the path goes round to the right and then down through the stream that you crossed earlier. Cross the water (a skip will do it) and up the other side where you’ll see yet another post with an arrow – follow the arrow. This path will bring you along the back of the cricket pavilion and out by the side of the cricket pitch. Now retrace your steps to the car park.
Walks with Rena 