Distance:
2.5 miles (4km) round trip
Time:
1 hour round trip
Difficulty:
Easy
OS Map:
Explorer 270, Sherwood Forest
An easy walk from the Courtyard at Welbeck along the Harley Art Trail with sculptures by Michelle Reader and Martin Smith to Creswell Crags.
Accessibility: An easy walk with mainly flat surfaces, through woodland paths with slight inclines.
Please respect the landscape. Keep dogs on short leads and always follow the paths to help us protect wildlife. Please take your litter home with you.
Please note: the telephone signal at Welbeck can be hit-and-miss! If you plan to use a map on your device, please download it before you visit. Printed maps are available in The Courtyard at Welbeck, subject to availability.
Along the way, you will find sculptures by two local artists, Michelle Reader and Martin Smith, and interpretation panels that tell the story of art in the landscape. Two horse sculptures mark the start of the trail made by artist Michelle Reader out of recycled materials collected from the Welbeck Estate.
Situated in The Courtyard at Welbeck, the award-winning Harley Gallery shows contemporary exhibitions by leading artists. The museum displays works of art from Welbeck’s world-class art collection, which has been amassed over 400 years by the Dukes of Portland and their families.
Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge honeycombed with caves and smaller fissures. Stone tools and remains of animals found in the caves by archaeologists provided evidence for a fascinating story of life during the last Ice Age between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. Further evidence came to light in 2003 with the discovery of Britain’s only known Ice Age rock art.
It is also home to the biggest concentration of ‘witches’ marks’ found in British caves. “Apotropaic” marks were scribed into the cave surface as they were thought to keep evil spirits coming from the underworld. Hundreds of these protective marks, believed to be from the 17th and 18th Centuries, were discovered in 2018.
Surrounded by picturesque countryside, take a leisurely stroll through ancient woods, pre-historic gorges, wild parklands or tranquil tree-lined avenues.
