Just outside the village, a broad bridleway leads past ancient oaks between fields to Pretty Wood. Descending into the wood, you pass another venerable oak tree of enormous girth, and deep in the woods stands the Four Faces monument (a classical folly whose worn, crumbling fantasy fits the ancient tranquility of woods that are carpeted with bluebells in spring).
A broad path leads through mixed hardwoods and conifers, soon revealing the impressive Kirk Hill Mausoleum designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor (completed in 1733, the burial place of the Earl of Carlisle and the Howard family). As you leave the wood, Hawksmoor's great pyramid comes into view on the left atop St Anne's Hill containing a portrait bust of Lord William Howard, the first Howard to inhabit the castle in the 16th century after marrying Elizabeth Dacre and inheriting estates including Henderskelfe.
The track leads down towards New River Bridge (dating from the 1740s, built to improve the view and carry footpaths over the artificial river), ahead of which is Castle Howard itself with its prominent Grand Dome. The dome was not part of the original plan; as the house was built, architect John Vanbrugh borrowed from various architectural styles with imaginative touches. After being gutted by fire in 1940 and rebuilt twenty years later, filming for 'Brideshead Revisited' in 1981 created an opportunity to restore empty rooms on the south front.
In the centre of the lawns is the Atlas Fountain; an overflow reservoir feeds the fountain and South Lake, cascading into Temple Hole and Garretts Falls before passing under New River Bridge to Lowdy Gill. Heading away from the bridge you come to Vanbrugh's 'Temple of the Four Winds' summer house, and skirt the estate wall bounding Ray Wood (created by the third Earl with scattered statues and fountains, and a massive reservoir supplying the lake and river systems).
The footpath passes between ancient oaks towards the Great Lake (constructed in the 1790s), leading to Coneysthorpe village where prominent ridges show medieval 'ridge and furrow' cultivation. A permitted path provides access around the top of the Great Lake with fine water views towards the northern prospect of Castle Howard.
The path brings you onto the Five Mile Avenue lined with enormous lime trees, where a 100-foot-high obelisk built in 1714 marks the intersection and entrance to Castle Howard. A little further on is the gatehouse; turning left leads along a quiet farm lane past Vanbrugh's perimeter castle wall and mock fortifications, before the pyramid and mausoleum come back into view and you return via Pretty Wood and meadow to Welburn.
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.
