Gawsworth isn’t like any other Cheshire village I know. The main part of the village (sometimes distinguished as ‘Warren’) lies conventionally alongside the A536 south between Macclesfield and Congleton, but in a quiet exclave half a mile away, three great houses and a historic church overlook a line of ornamental fishponds. As Pevsner says in the Buildings of England series: ‘There is nothing in Cheshire to compare with the loveliness of Gawsworth.’
The houses in question are the New Hall, built in brick in the early 18th century; the Old Rectory, a stunning half-timbered house from three centuries earlier; and the famous Gawsworth Old Hall, another glorious building in 15th-century black and white. All three are private dwellings, though the house and gardens of the Old Hall are open to the public during the summer for day visits and garden concerts. However, September is its wedding season, so for the time being you’ll probably have to make do with glimpses of the Old Hall across the lake and come back another day: it’s worth a trip in its own right.
St James’s Church also dates from the 1400s. Inside there are striking tombs of members of the Fitton family, the one-time holders of the manor and residents of the Old Hall. The sandstone exterior is ornamented with grotesques and gargoyles, including endearing carvings of medieval musicians and a mystical green man. Pevsner, reverting to dismissive type, describes the building as ‘pretty, but odd’.
Another gem is Danes Moss. Its 23 hectares include the largest area of lowland bog in Cheshire. Happily, a large residential development proposed in recent years on former landfill to the north was resisted and the whole area survives as a sanctuary for wildlife and quiet recreation. A boardwalk across the open area of the bog, extended by Cheshire Wildlife Trust since 2019 through adjoining damp woodland, provides intimate and easy access to most of the key habitats. On Indian-Summer days, look out for common lizards basking on its boards and for the uncommon and diminutive black darter, Britain’s smallest dragonfly. Adult males sport a striking livery of glossy black, whereas females and juveniles wear a less Gothic brownish yellow. The moss was once exploited commercially for its peat and a short section of the tramway survives along the central footpath. The Macclesfield Canal runs along its eastern edge beyond and parallel to the West Coast Mainline and offers another point of interest on this fabulous but relatively undemanding Cheshire walk.
THE WALK
1. From the Harrington Arms, walk towards Gawsworth village along Church Lane, ignoring the turning towards the A536. When the road bends left by the (‘new’) rectory, climb the steps ahead into the churchyard. Look left for the best view of the Old Rectory. Beyond the church building, exit via the skull-decorated gateposts and walk back out to the road between two of Gawsworth’s ponds and through the lych gate. Turn right then follow the road round to the left at the entrance to the Old Hall. Pass the entrance to the New Hall on your right.
2. Shortly after the road emerges from trees, turn right over a stile onto a public footpath. Follow it along the field edge over a slight rise and beyond to a road junction. Cross straight over into Lowes Lane and follow it for about 300 metres. Beyond some bends and a couple of houses, turn right over a stile by a gate. Follow the end of the garden on your right to a second stile. In the next field, beyond a wet spot to your left, head obliquely up the slope, aiming past a telegraph pole and to the left of the house. To the left of a gate, go through a kissing gate into a lane.
3. Turn left along the road for a short distance. Beyond a house, turn left over a stile and walk round the left-hand edges of an arable field along a fenced-off path. Beyond a stile, descend to a junction of sunken paths. Take the path opposite, which leads shortly to the edge of Danes Moss. Follow the public footpath beyond the noticeboard and interpretation panel. After 100 metres, turn right onto a boardwalk across the open bog. Enter the trees and follow the boardwalk round to the left, before long crossing an open area below power lines then winding through trees alongside the West Coast Mainline. When you reach a T-junction of paths, turn right to a footbridge and cross the railway. You’ll soon reach the Macclesfield Canal.
4. Ignoring the swing-bridge ahead of you, turn right along the towpath. Follow it for a little over half a mile, latterly in company with the A523 on the opposite bank. Pass under a footbridge (bridge 48A) and pass a house before turning right onto a footpath that heads down steps and over a footbridge into a field. Cross a further ditch and then follow the field uphill towards the buildings of Woodhouse Green Farm. At the top of the slope, go through a hand-gate next to the field gate in the top left-hand corner, then turn right and right again into the farmyard. Turn left in front of the farmhouse and follow the drive out to Woodhouse End Road.
5. Turn right along the road and follow it past residences on either side and over the railway line, ignoring the turning (Cowbrook Lane) on the left. Pass another farm on the right and before the road bends right, turn left down a short, grassy track to a gate.
6. Follow the footpath beyond along the field edge. After two fields, cross a farm track near an isolated barn and continue in the same direction and in the same vein for a few more fields to meet a track on the edge of Gawsworth. Beyond a gate, continue along the drive with a lake on your right and the walls and houses of the Gawsworth Old Hall estate on your left. Turn right at the entrance of the hall between two of the lakes. On meeting the road turn left, and retrace your steps past the church back to the Harrington Arms..
COMPASS POINTS
Area of walk: Gawsworth
Start point: Harrington Arms SK11 9RJ
Distance: 4¾ miles
Time to allow: 2½ hours
Map: OS Explorer 268 Wilmslow, Macclesfield & Congleton
Refreshments: Harrington Arms, robinsonsbrewery.com/pubs/harrington-arms-gawsworth
Practicalities: Minor ascents and descents, with a few stiles. Field paths may be muddy after rain. Livestock likely. The hourly 38 Macclesfield–Crewe bus stops on the A536 near the Harrington Arms. Old Hall closed during September.
WATERING HOLE
The Harrington Arms
The Harrington Arms in Gawsworth is housed in a Grade-II-listed building and also appears in CAMRA’s Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. As befits a former farmhouse, the interior is a charming muddle of snugs and parlours radiating from the central bar, with open fires and even a kitchen range in one room. On warmer days, the patio and gardens are a delightful sun trap beneath the creeper-strewn red-brick side wing, built in the 19th century and adjoining the earlier three-storey farmhouse. Historic England describe the building as ‘a rare example of an unspoilt 19th-century rural public house’.
The pub is leased by the Cheshire Pub Company from Robinsons Brewery, and serves the latter’s standard selection of hand-pulled beers, including Unicorn best bitter, named after the pub where the Stockport-based brewing empire started and Dizzy Blonde pale ale. I’m not usually one for keg beers, but I do like its floral Hopnik brew, flavoured with aromatic Citra and Centennial hops.
The food menu generally offers a gastropub take on familiar pub classics such as grilled gammon, lasagne or cod and chips, plus specials that change every few days. From noon until 5pm there are well-made sandwiches with a pot of fries and there is a children’s menu and a reasonable choice of vegetarian options. Parking is limited to a few spaces on the cobbles at the front of the building (patrons only) and nearby street parking. Dogs on leads are welcome throughout.
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