The walk begins near Hertfordshire's oldest church, St Mary the Virgin, in Walkern. Founded at the beginning of the 11th century, it has a Saxon nave and doorway, and a stone rood figure in an early Norman aisle. There are some interesting brasses and monuments — that of a 13th-century knight with his face hidden by a visor is one of only three similar in the whole of England — and a late 14th-century font. In the churchyard, there is a fine memorial, dating from around 1765, to a Susannah Lewis.
The route leaves the village to head east and north to Ardeley Bury, an Elizabethan house restored in the Gothic style and once the home of Sir Henry Chauncy, a Hertfordshire historian. From here, you continue into the small, enchanting village of Ardeley for a glimpse of the fine whitewashed thatched houses by the village green before heading south to pass two more interesting houses, Walkern Bury Farm, sited near a Norman bailey with a deep ditch and bank, and Walkern Hall, a fine Regency mansion. From here, a tree-lined drive leads south towards the village of Benington.
The jettied, timber-framed cottages looking out over the duckpond and village green are the very essence of a traditional English village. The old Bell pub, built in a similar style, boasts an early 18th-century wall painting in its bar. Nearby, St Peter's Church is set in a lovely flowery churchyard. The huge contoured yew near the church door is said to be over 1,000 years old. The present church was built by John de Benstede, Keeper of the Great Seal and of the Wardrobe to Edward I, who owned the manor in 1285. Later additions and embellishments were carried out by his descendants. The Benstede coat of arms can be seen on the tower, in some windows, and also in the 14th-century porch, decorated with a crumbling St Michael slaying a dragon. The Benstede tombs and memorials are in the chancel, under the beautiful stonework of the arches built by Petronilla, widow of Sir John de Benstede, in 1330.
Later owners of the manor, the Caesars, are also commemorated here. Their name derives from an Italian doctor to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth; his successors, following an elevation in their fortunes, owned the manor from 1614 up until 1741.
Next to the church are the flower-studded banks around the Norman keep of Benington Lordship, which looks down on the River Beane. A visit to the house and gardens here is probably the highlight of the walk. Benington Lordship is set in a romantic garden established around the ruins of the Norman Benington Castle, a moat, and a Victorian folly. A wonderful mixture of herbaceous planting, roses, trees, and shrubs surrounds the house and cascades down the slope to ancient fishponds.
From Benington Lordship, a walk over fields and lanes returns you to Walkern, an interesting village of mixed houses and cottages of different ages. Worthy of particular note are the late 18th-century Mill House, built of bricks in two colours; the converted maltings and brewery house; the 17th-century chequered brick Manor House, with its lovely octagonal dovecote; the Elizabethan Rook's Nest Farm, with its fancy chimneys and mullioned windows; and the old rectory built in 1632 for John Gorsuch, the rector of the time. Fairs were formerly a vital feature of village life and were held opposite the 17th-century White Lion pub.
The most infamous inhabitant of Walkern was perhaps Jane Wenham, the Witch of Walkern, who lived in Church Lane. She was said to have bewitched sheep, servants, and farm labourers, and was ducked in the pond before being committed to stand trial at Hertford Assizes in 1711. Evidence against her was given by three local clergymen, as well as the historian Sir Henry Chauncy, from Ardeley Bury.
The jury found her guilty and she was condemned to death. Although subsequently pardoned by Queen Anne, she was too frightened to return home, and lived the rest of her life in Hertingfordbury under the protection of Earl Cowper. She was the last person in England to be sentenced to death for witchcraft, and her case was instrumental in bringing in the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which ruled that the crime was no longer a capital offence.
