Village Walk

Walk: Mill Lane & the Winz

This walk starts at the Church in the centre of Scrooby, and covers less than a mile through the village, passed the water mill and out to the old common, known as the Winz.

The walk has good views of Scrooby's eighteenth century landmarks: farmhouses, cottages, mill, river works, and turnpike road.

Start at the Church

Head North on Low Road, passed the Village Hall and the Croft

Low Road was once the Great North Road; the main route between London and Edinburgh. The Great North Road was turnpiked in 1776, and a new road was laid out, by-passing Scrooby to the west. This is the line of the main road through Scrooby.

Continue along Low Road at the crossroads with Manor Road

Manor Road leads eastward to the site of the medieval Archbishop of York's manor house,demolished in 1636-7. The empty plot on the north-east of the crossroads is the site of a former inn, demolished long ago. This is the best place in Scrooby to see the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century red brick farmhouses typical of North Nottinghamshire. Low Farm lies to the east of the crossroads on Manor Road, and Mill House lies to the north of the crossroads on Low Road. Note the 'tumbling' brickwork on the gable ends of the farmhouses. Many of the barns and outbuildings of these two farmhouses have been converted into housing in the last twenty years.

Turn the corner westward on Low Road

The houses on the north of Low Road lie alongside the old course of the River Ryton. The river was diverted northward in the 1960s, but for most of its history Scrooby was a riverside settlement.

Turn the corner northward on Low Road

The row of cottages on the west, known as Parish Cottage and Black Bull Cottage, were built as cottages for the poor of the parish, on the edge of the common land which extended into the village at this point. There was a second row, now gone, to the north-west.

Continue along Low Road onto Mill Lane

The Mill building and pond lie to the west of Mill Lane, while the Mill Field lies to the east of the Lane. The mill is largely an Eighteenth Century flour and animal feed water mill, though some parts of the building are older. The main course of the River Ryton once flowed under the Mill, through its pond, across Mill Lane and eastward to the Manor.

Continue along Mill Lane

This stretch of Mill Lane, across Mill Field, is one of the most pleasant walks in the village. The fields to the west of the Lane were known as Otter Pitts in the Eighteenth Century. The old course of the River Ryton flowed through these fields, paralell with the Lane, towards the Mill. The 1776 turnpike road can be seen on the far side of the field, with its red brick arched bridges, constructed to enable flood water to flow under the turnpike's causeway. Follow the Lane between the field hedges, until the River Ryton.

Cross the bridge over the River Ryton

The Ryton rises in the sandy lands of Sherwood Forest many miles to the south-west of Scrooby. The river was known as the Narrow River or The Narrows in Scrooby in the Eighteenth Century. The Ryton continues north-eastward to join the Idle, and eventually the Trent at West Stockwith.

Follow Mill Lane between the Winz common and the pine trees

The pine trees on the crest of the hill are a landmark in Scrooby. Scots Pines were common on the drier higher sandy land of the region throughout the ten thousand years since the last ice age. These particular pines were apparently a landmark for travellers on the old Great North Road. They are mentioned in Nineteenth Century guides to the area, and postcard photographers chose to capture them in the early Twentieth Century.

Explore the Winz

The Winz is a fragment of common land; a rare survival in North Nottinghamshire. The Winz extends beyond the turnpike road, bordered by the river on the South. These are the last parts of Scrooby High Common which covered a huge area westward towards Harworth. The common was used by Scrooby's villagers for gathering wild food, fire wood and grazing of cows and sheep, and was an indispensable part of the traditional farming routine. The common was abolished in 1777, when the traditional communally-organised farming was swept away by an Act of Parliament. The open strip fields and commons were divided up into consolidated, hedged, fields for privately-organised farming. The sloping, sandy land of the Winz was too poor and worthless to be claimed as private land by any farmer at the time.

Continue to the Turnpike Road

On the wooded flat ground to the north-west of the crossroads where Mill Lane meets the main road, there once stood the late eighteenth century toll bar for the Turnpike. The sign board advertising the prices charged is now displayed in Scrooby's Village Hall.

Retrace your steps to the Church