Reinterred: Belchamp St Paul Walk

It was the first Thursday of the month today and time for the first Bury St. Edmunds U3A Longer Walks Group walk.

Today it was Tim's turn to lead us and he took us over the border into Essex. This was his invite...

"This walk visits all the pretty Belchamp villages and is about 10 miles. We meet on Thursday 3rd April at 9:45am, ready to walk at -

Cole Green
Gage's Road
Belchamp St Paul
Essex
CO10 7DP

Gage's Road has house on one side and the village green on the other. There seems to be plenty of parking on the houses side of the road. If we are back in time the Half Moon pub in Belchamp St Paul, is open until 3pm."

This was our route today. It is based on this AllTrails route.

Here are a few of my photos.

We met by the village sign. As the parish council site says "Belchamp St Paul is situated in the north corner of Essex. The village is eight miles in circumference and is approximately 200 feet above sea level. In 1848 the village was referred to as 'a long straggling village' and so it remains today.

The name Belchamp is derived from the old English word ‘Bylcham’, which means a house with a beamed roof. St Paul comes from the fact that in 930 AD King Athelstan granted the manor to St Pauls Cathedral."

We were soon out in the open country and walked across and around fields for quite a while.

We saw, but didn't visit, St. Andrews, Belchamp St. Paul Church.

We stopped in shelter from the wind for our drinks break here.

We admired this farmhouse and its pond.

We saw a couple of deer here.

The primroses are looking good right now.

We skirted the village of Borley Green.

We could see, but didn't get near Borley Church. We had plenty of paths across fields, but fortunately the ground was dry.

Now I was on familiar paths. We came to Belchamp Walter..

This impressive house dates from 1717.

Belchamp Hall and church were familiar from previous walks (see links at the end of this post). Belchamp Walter will be well known to fans of the late 20th Century television series Lovejoy, particularly Belchamp Hall which became 'Felsham Hall' in the series.

They have pea hen in the grounds (although some thought them guinea fowl, which look quite similar). We didn't see any peacocks today, although we could hear them.

The cherry blossom in the grounds of the house is looking good.

The church of St. Mary, Belchamp Walter was our lunch stop.

As Simon Knott tells us, "The church has one of the best ranges of wall paintings in Essex. The upper range is a Passion sequence, but the most interesting paintings are below, including several unique survivals in the county. The best of the Passion sequence includes a detailed Last Supper, Judas Iscariot shown holding the money bag and stealing a fish, St John with his eyes closed and resting on Jesus's chest. Elsewhere, Christ washes the feet of the Disciples and appears to them after the Resurrection. The lower subjects include a fine Martyrdom of St Edmund, the Blessed Virgin suckling the Christchild while a donor looks on, and part of the Three Living and the Three Dead story."