A walk from High Green to Wortley

Distance: 7 miles
Time: Allow 3 hours

A moderate to difficult walk. Some road walking but several sections cross undulating farmland, with stiles. Two steep climbs up / down steps. Boots or stout shoes needed.

Refreshments: Countess Tea Rooms, Wortley; Wortley Arms; Wortley Hall bar and restaurant; Wortley farm shop.

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The Route Points of interest are shown in bold

From the crossroads at Thompson Hill and Wortley Road, go down Westwood Road. 200 yards after the end of the houses take the public footpath on the left at the bottom of the hill, just before the Recycling Site. Cross the field (this can be boggy) following the line of the telegraph poles (some cut off to only 6 feet high). Go over the stile into the woods, cross the stream and up the hill to join a track leading to workshops. Go up the steps straight ahead to cross the A61 main road (take care, this is an extremely busy road).
Take the footpath immediately across the road down the steps and follow the path to the right round the edge of the field, keeping the stream on your right. Follow the path round to a gap in the bushes on the right. Go through, past a muddy pond on the left and continue to the top corner of the next field. Keep the stream on your right still and follow the path to the road (Storrs Lane). Turn right up the road, passing under the Stocksbridge by-pass. Just after the by-pass turn right onto a public footpath which then heads left through the trees running parallel to the road to emerge at the gated entrance to Wharncliffe Estate (Wortley Park) by Westwood Lodge.
Go through the gates into the park. Follow the track straight on, passing Park House on the left. There is a good view of Wortley Hall from the brow of the hill. Continue straight on the track to the gate out of the park by the Lodge House. Follow the lane up to Wortley Village, heading for the church. Cross the road to the church (take care!) and follow the pavement round, with Wortley Church on the right and Wortley Arms on the left. Between houses on the right is a public footpath (sign opposite) down a passageway leading down to the right. Go down the passage, over the stile and straight ahead along the edge of the field to reach the road (Finkle Street Lane). There are good views from here over the Little Don Valley towards Stocksbridge and Deepcar, with distant views of the moors beyond.
Cross the road, over the stile and down the footpath on the left, aiming for the metal gate at the bottom of the hill. Cross the stream to the stile in the corner of the field. Follow the wall, heading towards a cattle grid and stile by the cottages. Join the track, turning left to go under the by-pass. Bear round to the left to a stile by a gate with cattle grid and head slightly left, following the footpath straight ahead across the field. Keep the stream on the right. Cross this and the next field, using the stiles in the wall, to reach a track (Rough Lane). Go over the stile opposite and follow the footpath along the ridge to another stile. Cross the track, over the stile and follow the wall on the right. Over another stile, cross the next field, aiming for the top left corner. Go over the stile and cross Woodhead Road (with care!) to reach Cundy Cross and an old milestone at the end of Bank Lane.
Go down Bank Lane to reach Penistone Road. Good views here across to High Green and Sheffield. Cross the road (with care!) and go down Berry Lane.
Turn right on the footpath just after Ruggen House. Follow the path straight across the field, aiming for the water tower on the horizon, and go down the hill, towards a stile leading into the woods. Follow the footpath through the wood, over the stream and up the field to the A61 main road. Cross the road (with care!) and go down Thompson Hill to return to the starting point of the walk.

Details

Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 278 Sheffield and Barnsley

Start: Cross roads at Thompson Hill / Wortley Road and Westwood Road, High Green, S35 4LE

Public Transport: For information on public transport ring the South Yorkshire Traveline on 01709 515151 or visit www.travelsouthyorkshire.com

Car Parking: There are large lay-bys on Westwood Roadbr />
Public Toilets: None on route

Refreshments: Countess Tea Rooms, Wortley; Wortley Arms; Wortley Hall bar and restaurant; Wortley farm shop.

Points of Interest

Cundy Cross

The cross commemorates Edmund Cundy, curate at Wortley from 1592 to 1629. An early milestone on the opposite side of the road marked the way on the Sheffield to Halifax / Sheffield to Manchester turnpike road.

Westwood Lodge

The lodge was formerly a gatehouse for the Wharncliffe Estate. The present building is thought to date from the c16th and has mullioned windows, thick walls and ancient timber in the porch.

Wortley Arms

The Wortley Arms public house was once known as the Wharncliffe Arms and the present building dates from the c18th. Cattle sales were held here in the c19th.

Wortley Church

The first definite mention of the church is in 1318. It was originally a chapel of ease and part of the parish of Tankersley. The present church dates from around 1753 and was financed by Edward Wortley Montagu of Wortley Hall. There are many monuments in the church to the Wortley family (the Earls of Wharncliffe), including a vault in the choir area also dating from 1753. Several members of the Wortley family are buried in the churchyard to the rear of the church. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu first brought the idea of inoculation against smallpox cure from Turkey into England in 1719.

Wortley Hall

The Hall was the seat of the Earls of Wharncliffe until World War 2. The most famous resident was Sir Frances Wortley who fought on the side of the Royalists in the Civil War and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. The present hall dates from the c18th and has been associated with the Traders Union and Labour Movement as a residential centre for the past 50 years. During World War 2 US servicemen, mostly from the US Army Air Force were based at Wortley Hall. They appear to have been mostly from the Ordnance and Quartermaster units and were possibly involved in the operation of the nearby ammunition depots at Scout Dike and Grenoside.

Wortley Village

The name Wortley is Anglo-Saxon and the village is recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 as ‘waste’. There are several interesting houses in the village. The oldest house is thought to be Tivvydale Cottage, to the north of the church, beside the footpath to Wortley station. It is said to have been the headmaster’s house when Tower House, dating from the c17th, was the school.

Wortley Park

Wortley Park covers an area of around 200 acres and is now mostly used for agriculture and as a golf course. Originally thought to be a medieval deer park, it was landscaped around 1800 and contains early to mid c19th gardens and pleasure grounds. A walled kitchen also survives to the west of the Hall, which is currently being restored.

The Dragon of Wantley

A satirical ballad, ‘A True Relation of the Dreadful Combat Between Moore of Moore Hall and the Dragon of Wantley’ was first published in 1685, telling how brave knight Moore of Moore Hall slew a dragon which had devoured everything around.

“...For houses and churches were to him geese and turkeys; He ate all, and left none behind…”

It is thought to relate to the enclosure of land by the Wortleys to create a hunting park, as happened at Wharncliffe Chase in the early c16th.