Eccleshall was planned in around 1190 by the Bishop of Lichfield, who reclaimed and extended a Saxon see. He developed a castle-cum-bishop's palace at the centre of a bishopric that extended from Chester to Coventry. The castle was destroyed in the Civil War and replaced in 1695 by an imposing mansion built for Bishop Lloyd. Six bishops were buried in Holy Trinity Church before the diocesan centre moved to the city of Lichfield in 1867.
The vast Holy Trinity Church was comprehensively restored by the Victorians, but four of the bishops' memorials remain. Two splendid alabaster chest tombs are all but hidden in the murky twilight beneath clerical regalia at the west end.
The route leads over higher ground known as the Leys, an area dotted with small pits and hollows. Some of these are marl holes. Others are kettle holes dating from the Ice Age, and were created when buried blocks of ice melted, causing small collapses on the land's surface.
You come to Cop Mere, a great water-filled hollow surrounded by reeds and woodland. The smaller Pershall Pool is away to your right. These lakes were created about 12,000 years ago. Most of the county was covered by ice, which gouged out depressions in the land surface. When the glaciers actually retreated, the holes filled with meltwater and were kept topped up by the rivers, in this case the River Sow. Access to the mereside is private, but frequent gaps in the trees allow you to see the wildfowl that make these waters an ornithologist's paradise all year round.
The turning point of the route is Walk Mill, where the village corn mill is becoming increasingly decrepit. The immediate area is littered with old metal cogs, shafts, and wheels, while a glimpse through old windows or gaps in the door reveals a complex jumble of decaying machinery.
Varied cottages and farms, both ancient and modern, line the lane for the next half mile or so. The wooded south side of Cop Mere separates the hamlet of Walk Mill from Copmere End and the welcoming Star Inn. From here, an easy stroll, mostly along back lanes, returns you to Eccleshall.
