Distance Covered: 5 miles Time to Complete Walk: 2.5 hours
Suitable for dog walking: No
Just outside Middlesbrough, Nunthorpe is a leafy suburb which boasts its own railway station and is surrounded by some lovely countryside. Under the shadow of Roseberry Topping, discover farms, fields and railway crossings on this refreshing walk which has just the right amount of challenge to it.
Virus Awareness: Walkers were considerate as the walk was completed in a lockdown making way whenever the path became narrow.
General Safety Tips: Cross the railway crossings carefully, Take extra care crossing the main roads. The track will be prone to mud- take a walking stick with you and wear sturdy boots.
The Nunthorpe walk
Getting There
From Middlesbrough go up Ormesby Bank and head towards Stokesley at the first roundabout which is the A1043. At the next roundabout turn left and then left again signposted to St Marys church which is where the walk starts. Parking is ample and free in the church car park.
Map of the Nunthorpe walk
The Walk
From the car park walk past the church to the left and head to a gate at the back of the graveyard.
St Marys Church
Head to the graveyard
Go through the gate onto a field
Go through the gate
Follow the path across the field.
Head across the field
Head through a gap and down some steps and carefully cross the A1043.
Head down the steps
Climb some steps on the other side of the road and go over a stile.
Climb the steps and go over the stile
Cross through a paddock
Cross the paddock
Go over another stile and turn left and keep to the left of the field.
Keep to the left of the field
Go through a gate and then keep ahead alongside the edge of a sports field.
Go through the gate
Keep ahead on the edge of the sports field
Go through a small gate cross the road carefully and turn right keeping on the pavement.
Go through the small gate
Cross the over level crossing
Keep ahead on the pavement and cross over when safe to and look out for Morton Carr Lane which is a road on your right.
Turn right into Morton Carr Lane
Keep ahead and soon you come to St Marys Church Hall. Follow a path to its left.
St Marys Church Hall
Head onto the path
Keep on the path
Arrive at the A1043
Cross the road carefully onto the gravel track ahead. Spot Roseberry Topping in the distance.
Follow the gravel track
Keep on the gravel track
Cross over the level crossing carefully.
Cross over the level crossing
Follow the track over the cattle grid
At a branch in the track keep to the right heading towards a white house.
Keep to the right branch of the track
Pass by the house and then turn left following the track towards a farm.
Turn left and follow the track to a farm
Follow the track to the farm and before the building turn right and over a waymarked stile.
Follow the lane to the farm
Turn right and over a waymarked stile
Follow the obvious track in the field ahead.
Follow the track in the field
Arriving a gate with a stile, go over the stile and keep to the right of the field ahead.
Go over the stile at the gate
Keep to the right of the field
Notice Roseberry Topping in the background. Head towards another gate with a stile in it.
Roseberry Topping
Go over the stile in the gate.
Head in the direction of the waymark and arrive at a small bridge.
Head over the small bridge
Turn left and head towards another gate.
Follow the path to the left
Go through the gate.
Turn right and keep to the edge of the next field.
Keep to the edge of the field
Look for a small waymark in the field and head in the direction indicated.
Follow the waymark
Go over another waymarked stile.
Go over the stile
Head over another waymarked stile.
Go over another stile
Soon you come to another gate onto a road. Turn left and follow the road towards Eastfield Farm.
Turn left at the gate onto the road
Follow the road to the left towards Eastfield Farm
Turn right onto a track heading away from the farm.
Turn right at the juncton
Soon the track becomes a narrow track between hedges and ponds.
Follow the narrow track
Keep ahead on the track as it goes through a gate.
Go through the gate
Keep ahead at a crossroad in the track.
Keep ahead at the crossroads
Stay on the path as it bends first to the right and then to the left.
Stay on the path as it bends
Follow the track to the left at a waymark until you come to a slope into a wooded area.
Turn left following the waymark
Arrive at a slope into a wood
Follow the slope down and through a gate into the wood.
Head through the gate into the wood
Exit the wood through another gate beside a stream to your left.
Go through the gate
Immediately to your right go over a stile onto the field.
Turn right over the stile
Climb the field keeping on the grassy track to the right of the field.
Climb the path up the hill
Keep on the grassy track crossing over three stiles.
Cross over the stiles
After the third stile, follow the driveway down to the very busy A172
Head down to the A172
Being especially careful, cross the road and turn right, heading to steps on the other side.
Head towards the steps
Climb the steps into a paddock. Head towards a stile in the corner.
Head through the paddock
Go over the stile
Head to the road and turn right into Nunthorpe village
Turn right onto the road
Pass through Nunthorpe village
Walk through the village for a while passing Nunthorpe Hall until you come to a roundabout.
Walk through the village
Pass Nunthorpe Hall
At the roundabout turn left and then turn right into Church Lane back to the carpark.
Turn left at the roundabout
Turn right into Church Lane
Nunthorpe
Nunthorpe is an outer suburb of the town of Middlesbrough, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, Nunthorpe is served by Nunthorpe and Gypsy Lane railway stations, both of which are on the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby. The railway line here forms the boundary between the boroughs of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland, both of which are unitary authorities and are associated with the county of North Yorkshire for ceremonial purposes. Nunthorpe civil parish is west of the railway line, in Middlesbrough, whilst the area east of the railway line forms part of the Ormesby ward of Redcar and Cleveland.
The history of Nunthorpe can be traced back to before the Domesday Book of 1086. The village was named “Thorpe”, or “Torp” (words meaning settlement) in the Domesday Book and described as a thriving settlement, Nunthorpe consisted of an estimated 1,080 acres of land. Towards the end of the 12th century a group of Cistercians nuns, allegedly evicted from nearby Hutton Lowcross for rowdy behaviour, were resettled at Thorpe having been given some land there belonging to Whitby Abbey, on which they built a priory and mill. The nuns only stayed at Thorpe a few years, but their short stay resulted in Thorpe being renamed Nunthorpe. During the following centuries, Nunthorpe remained an agricultural community closely linked to the market towns of Stokesley and Ayton. The Industrial Revolution had very little impact on its agricultural economy.
Nunthorpe Hall is the ancient manor house in Nunthorpe village. It was built in 1623, and largely rebuilt and extended in around 1800 and altered again in the mid-1800s. The entrance porch and was added in 1901. The building was converted into a retirement home for the elderly in 1951. The main building is of dressed sandstone, with Lakeland slate roofs, with stone ridge copings. It became a Grade II, listed building, in 1952.
The census of 1811 shows Nunthorpe to have had a population of 128, living either in the village of Nunthorpe or on nearby farms. Nunthorpe was at that time registered as being in the North Riding of York, in the Parish of Great Ayton. Its economy was all related to agriculture and farming.
The rapid growth of Middlesbrough from a population of 35, in 1811, to a population of 91,302, in 1901 appeared to have had little effect on Nunthorpe, which kept its agricultural throughout the 19th century. Nunthorpe's population in comparison only reaching 198 persons by 1901.
In 1853, Middlesbrough to Guisborough Railway line opened, with a station at Nunthorpe and passenger services the following year. Several important Middlesbrough industrialists chose Nunthorpe as their home and contributed to the development of the village. These men included Isaac Wilson, ironmaster, Mayor of Middlesbrough and later Liberal MP, John Swan, ironmaster, William Hopkins, ironmaster and mayor of Middlesbrough and Sir Arthur Dorman, ironmaster.
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