Wykeham & Hutton Buscel ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 4.5 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

A fantastic walk especially in the Autumn when a carpet of leaves replaces the woodland paths. Starting at Ruston, walk through two lovely villages, Wykeham with its church and abandoned railway station platform and Hutton Buscel with its church graveyard and out in the surrounding countryside and then following an old railway line trail back to Ruston.

General Safety Tips: Take extra care crossing the busy A171 at the start of the walk and in Wykeham and also on the road returning to Ruston.

The Wykeham & Hutton Buscel Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough head on the B1257 towards Stokesley and then towards Helmsley. Leave Helmsley on the A170 passing through Pickering and Ruston is shortly after on your left. Park on the roadside in Ruston.

Maps of the Wykeham & Hutton Buscel Walk 

The Walk

From the roadside head over the bridge in the middle of Ruston.

Head along the pavement and turn right up Burton Terrace.

Head to the left side of Black Smiths Barn and carefully cross the A170 to some steps on the other side.

The Walk

From the car park turn right and head past the small church on your right.

Climb the steps and turn left and follow the fingerposted path signed to Wykeham.

Climb over a stile and head over another directly opposite.

Head along the path until you come to a fingerpost directed right to Abbots Meadow.

Follow the path until it veers left and follow the path to a kissing gate.

Go through the kissing gate and head right and cross the road to another gate.

                                        

                                                        

     

Follow the fenced path as it bends left and left again until you arrive at the road into Wykeham.

Head up the road to the church steeple and cross the road over to the church.

Follow the path right signposted to the Ice House passing behind the church.

Head through the woods until you come to a right turn signposted to Hutton Buscel.

Follow the path until you arrive at the old station platform.

Pass the station platform and follow the grass path ahead.

Go over a hummock and cross the road and head on the track opposite.

Head to the left on the track and through a gap in a stone wall into Hutton Buscel.

Follow the pavement into Hutton Buscel until you come to St Matthews church on your right.

Head through the gate and follow the path to the left.

Keep on the path as it heads through the graveyard and then to another church entrance.

Go through the gate and look for a path immediately on your left which is a cobbled path above the road.

                                     

At the junction turn right and then look for a left turn towards a red telephone box.

Follow the lane down until it peters out to a track and go through a gate on your left.

Follow the path with the hedge on your right and go through a gate onto a road.

Turn left and follow the road and shortly after look for a path on your right between two stones.

Follow the path until it enters some woods and then go over a footbridge.

After the footbridge emerge onto a clearing and go through a gap in the wall and follow the path to the right of the wall.

Follow the path as it bends keeping the wall on your left and emerge onto a road.

Follow the road carefully and just before the railway bridge head down some steps to the old railway path below.

Follow the path to your right and head through a gate.

Head through another gate and down left to another gate back into Ruston. The bridge at the start of the walk is on your left.

Ruston

Ruston is a small village in the former Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England, forming part of the civil parish of Wykeham. The village is situated just off the A170 road, and approximately 7 miles (11 km) south-west from Scarborough. Ruston is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having ploughlands and woodlands, though the derivation of the name is unknown; it could possibly stem from Hrōst, which is Old English for roof-beam.

Wykeham

Wykeham is a small village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England, on the outskirts of Scarborough and the southern boundary of the North York Moors National Park.

It consists of a main street adjacent to the only pub; The Downe Arms. It lies around 7 miles (11 km) away from Scarborough and surrounding villages include: East Ayton, West Ayton, Snainton, Hutton Buscel, Brompton and Ruston. It has a cricket ground also which is hidden away in a small turning off the main road. To the north of the village is Wykeham Forest, which covers over 1,114 acres (451 ha).

According to the 2011 UK census, Wykeham parish had a population of 280, a decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 290. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated that population had remained static at 280.

A nunnery was established at Wykeham between 1140 and 1160 that was located to the south east of the village. The Anglican church in the village is a grade II* listed building. St Helen's and All Saints Parish Church was built between 1853 and 1855 by William Butterfield. A primary school is tied to the church. Wykeham Church of England Primary School, which has a nominal capacity of 60 pupils, was rated Good by Ofsted in 2016.

Charm Park, a Point-to-point racecourse is close by the village, as are the Wykeham Lakes.

Hutton Buscel

Hutton-Buscel derives its name from it having been the "High town of the Buscel or Bushel family" whose ancestors arrived following the Norman conquest.

St Matthew's Church

The parish church of St Matthew is a Grade I listed building. It was built in the 12th century with additions in the 13th and 15th centuries and it underwent restoration by William Butterfield in 1855. Among the monuments in the church is one dedicated to Richard Osbaldeston, Bishop of London, who died in 1764.

Edward Baines, in his 1823 directory, lists the village as Hutton Bushel and gives the population as 419. The manor of Hutton-Buscel was purchased from the Osbaldeston family in 1839, by Marmaduke Langley. By 1848 the population had increased to 506 in the township and 811 in the parish.