In Saxon times, Needham Market (where the walk starts) was a hospice for pilgrims bound for Bury St Edmunds. In 1245 Needham was granted a weekly market, and for the next 400 years the town flourished; however, devastated by plague in the 1680s, Needham never regained its prosperity or its market.
One of the most important of the town's many historic buildings is the church of St John the Baptist. Unusually, this is not aligned to the east and does not have a churchyard — its flint walls butt onto the street. Built as a chapel of ease for nearby Barking in the late 1400s and much restored in 1880, St John's is famous for its hammerbeam roof, widely considered the best of its kind in the country.
From Needham, the route to Barking goes along the Causeway, which for most of its length is a shaded green lane (the name is possibly a corruption of "corpseway", as before Needham had its own graveyard, burials took place at Barking). The Causeway emerges by Barking Rectory, built in 1819. A little further on is the Church of St Mary: originally Saxon, the present church is mainly 14th-century with a 13th-century south porch, featuring notable medieval elements including gargoyles, a tie-beam roof, a rood screen, chapel screens, and doors.
The walk crosses fields to the tiny hamlet of Darmsden. The little neo-Gothic Church of St Andrew has had a chequered history: by the second half of the 19th century, the original church had become so dilapidated that it had to be demolished. The present church was built in 1880, closed in 1973, and declared redundant in 1979; however, a trust was formed that year to preserve St Andrew's as a place of Christian worship, and services are again held there from time to time.
From the church, a quiet lane winds down through Darmsden (the kiln attached to Kiln Cottage was once used for drying chicory).
The return to Needham Market follows the old towpath alongside the River Gipping. The Gipping has always been navigable and served as a highway for the ancient peoples that settled in the area, with evidence of Stone, Bronze, and Iron Age occupation in the valley, as well as a Roman site.
The river was in commercial use by the 12th century, but by the end of the 1600s so many mills had been built on the Gipping that it was virtually unnavigable. An Act was passed to canalise the river, and work began in 1790: mills were bypassed, 15 locks were built, and the river was dredged, widened, and straightened. The coming of the railway signalled a steady decline, however, and barge traffic ceased in 1929.
Needham Lake, near the end of the walk, was a gravel and sand pit in the 1970s providing aggregate for the nearby A45 dual carriageway. The area has since been developed by the District Council, with facilities including a nature trail and picnic site.
