About the South Kesteven Round

South Kesteven is a region in Southern Lincolnshire, located just off the A1 and a popular stop on the main east coast rail line. There is so much to discover with 365 square miles of beautiful undulating countryside and more than 80 rural villages. The area has a fascinating history and heritage, with delightful stone villages, stately homes, castles and of course so many wonderful rural pubs, all waiting to be explored.

The 130 mile South Kesteven Round guides you through 42 of these villages plus the market towns of Grantham, Stamford and Bourne, (with an optional extra section to include Market Deeping). The walk is designed to suit every type of walker, divided into 10 main sections, with each section made up of 3 or 4 smaller walks. So whether you live locally and just want to discover more about the area where you live, you are considering a visit maybe for a walking holiday or just want a walking challenge, the South Kesteven Round will provide you with the perfect opportunity.

I hope you enjoy the wide open spaces and big skies of the Lincolnshire countryside and its historic towns and villages.

Whose Inspired Idea Was This?

A South Kesteven Round was created by Robert Brownlow who published a book of the walk in 2005. Robert has walked several long distance footpaths including the Viking Way, Pennine Way and South West Peninsular Path. Following completion of the Leicestershire and then the Rutland Round, he wondered why there was no such path around South Kesteven, an area where he had lived and worked for over 50 years. So using all his walking experience he set about creating this 130 mile walk around the scenic South Kesteven area for everyone to enjoy.

Robert describes the creation of the round as a simple wish to make a continuous walk around South Kesteven, but as he began to research the villages and countryside where he was walking, he realised that the area is steeped in history. The round passes the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton, England's greatest scientist, the site of England's only native monastic order and a monument to a captive Welsh princess who languished there. It also passes the birthplace of William Cecil, great statesman to Elizabeth l and Charles Worth the famous Paris couturier. It follows a 4000 year old green lane, ancient deer forest and one of the oldest oak trees in Britain can be seen from the path. That is just a start, there is so much more for you to discover as you follow the walk around the south Lincolnshire countryside.

Having recently completed the Macmillan Way, a 230 mile path that runs from Boston to Abbotsbury, I was looking for a new walking challenge and happened to drop across Robert's book. Living in the South Kesteven area myself, I wondered why this walk was not more widely known, so having met Robert and with his kind permission, I decided to complete the walk and create this website. The idea is to make the walk information more easily accessible, enabling more people to explore the relatively undiscovered South Kesteven area.

I hope you enjoy walking the South Kesteven Round as much as I did and thank you to Robert for this labour of love, which has been so methodically researched and compiled, opening up the secrets of the South Kesteven area for all to enjoy.