Kirkleatham & Wilton ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 4 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes 

Starting from the Kirkleatham Walled Garden, this sleepy village outside Redcar has so much to offer. As well as the gardens there is a museum and dont miss the Owl Centre - a must visit for ornithologists or for a family day out. The Walled garden is best to be visited spring/summer. The walk makes it way through the village of Yearby and then through woods to Wilton and back to Kirkleatham. 

General Safety Tips: Be careful approaching the woods after Yearby as you need to stay on the verge facing the oncoming traffic. The woods can get muddy- wear boots and take a walking stick. Coming out of Wilton be careful crossing the road near the underpass and stay vigiliant for traffic.

                                   The Kirkleatham and Wilton walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough, follow the A174 through Eston. Go over the first roundabout and the second roundabout. Just after the second roundabout turn left into the Kirkleatham Walled Garden car park which is free and closes at 4pm.

Maps of the Kirkleatham & Wilton Walk 

The Walk

From the car park, head back to the entrance you drove into and cross over the road carefully. Turn left into the road heading to Yearby keeping to the pavement.

Keeping to the pavement walk through Yearby and when the pavement ends cross over the road and head onto the grass verge.

Shortly you will come to a turning into the woods through a gate on your right. Go through the gate into the woods. 

Follow the track through the woods keeping as close as possible to the the field fence as much as possible.

At a fork in the track turn right 

Head past a pond on your left. 

At another fork keep ahead slightly to the right

To your right you will see the old ICI Wilton works come into view. Keep ahead on the track with the fence on your right. 

Keep walking through the woods over a fallen tree next to a gate.

Shortly,  keep you eyes open for a path descending to your right. Follow this down between two wire fences.

Follow the path as it winds to the left and over a stile into the village of Wilton.

 Turn right and follow the pavement through Wilton and down to the A174 

 Cross the road turning left onto the pavement.

Keep ahead and then cross over the road and walk under the underpass.

Turn right and head over the road and onto a cycle track beside the A174

Keep to the pavement and head back to the roundabout.

At the roundabout turn left and cross over the road and onto the pavement on your left.

Turn right into Kirkleatham by crossing over the road and onto the pavement into Kirkleatham village.

Follow the pavement passing the Kirkleatham Museum on your left and then head past the walled garden and back to the car park. Pop into the Walled Garden cafe for a bit to eat!

Kirkleatham

Kirkleatham is an area of Redcar in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately 4

+1⁄2 miles (7 kilometres) north-northwest of Guisborough, and three miles (five kilometres) south of Redcar centre. It was listed in the Domesday Book.

The area has a collection of buildings that formed the Turner Estate, named after the Turner family who lived in the area from 1661. It has one of the best collections of Georgian-style buildings in England.

The name of the village comes from the old Norse kirk (church) and hlíð (slopes). Literally, "churchslopes." It is thought there has been a church on the site since the 9th century CE, as a location where the body of Saint Cuthbert rested while carried monks before it was taken to Durham. The parish church is named Saint Cuthberts from that connection. The parish records begin in 1559.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday book "It had a recorded population of 9.1 households in 1086, putting it in the smallest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday, and is listed under 4 owners in Domesday Book." It had (apparently) been laid to waste during The Harrying of the north. The northern magnates the Percy family held the most of the land in Kirkleatham from 1086 to 1608.

In 1232 the advowson of Kirkleatham parish was at the centre of a dispute that saw local knight Sir Robert de Thweng style himself "Will Wither" and take arms against Italian eccelsiatics which saw him raid their properties and redistribute their wealth to the poor.

Kirkleatham was acquired by the Turner family around 1624 and is the birthplace of Sir William Turner who was Lord Mayor of London in 1669. He gave most of his fortune to found the Sir William Turner's Hospital in June 1676. In present day, it is an independent almshouse. Turner bequeathed a substantial amount of money to his great nephew, Cholmley Turner, a member of parliament for Yorkshire, 1727–1741, to establish a Free School, built in 1709, that now serves as the local museum. His estate established for the care of 40 people: ten old men, ten old women, ten boys, and ten girls. The office of governor or governess falls upon the owner of the estate. Management of the estate was the responsibility of a chaplain, a master, and a mistress.

Cholmley Turner added other Grade I listed buildings, the most notable being the Turner Mausoleum, in memory of his son, and adjoining the Church of St Cuthbert. It is a Grade I listed building on Kirkleatham Lane. The mausoleum was built in 1739–40 by James Gibbs, and restored with added internal cladding in 1839. Entered from the church, it is of Baroque style and of an octagonal plan with south and south-west sides that adjoin the church. It is a single storey with a basement burial chamber. The exterior is heavily rusticated, with an unusually large area vermiculated. It contains the inscription, "This mausoleum was erected 1740 to the memory of Marwood William Turner Esquire the best of sons." Cholmley Turner also retained the architect James Gibbs for building of the chapel at the almshouses.

Cholmley Turner's nephew Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet, of Kirkleatham, MP for York from 1768 to 1783, continued building upon the estate. His achievement included remodelling Kirkleatham Hall, as well as providing for the further development of the hospital, school, and a library. He also built the adjoining village of Yearby.

In 1894 Kirkleatham became an urban district, but was annexed by Redcar in 1899, after just five years as an independent authority. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 403. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Guisborough.

In 1918, Kirkleatham was the location of a mooring-out station (a secondary base) for airships protecting the east coast based out of RNAS Howden. The site was only used during the latter half of 1918 and was closed permanently after the Armistice.