Park Walks
Hatfield House is the centre of a large agricultural estate with an extensive parkland. There are three walks or varying lengths marked in the Park:
- The Blue Walk (2 miles / 3.2 kilometres / 50 minutes)
- The Red Walk (3.2 miles / 5.2 kilometres / 90 minutes)
- The Green Walk (1.1 mile / 1.8 kilometres / 30 minutes)
There is a map available from the Gift Shop or Kiosk showing the routes.
We hope that you have enjoyed your visit to Hatfield Park. Please come again, as there is always something different to experience through the seasons.
Green Walk (1.1 mile / 1.8 kilometres / 30 minutes)
Please respect the ‘country code’, keep dogs under strict control and use the waste bins provided. Walking shoes or boots are recommended. The paths and adjacent trees are inspected on a regular basis, and it is therefore important that you stick to the waymarked route for your own safety.
START: The walks start at the illustrated board near the entrance to the Stable Yard where you can also find the restaurant, gift shop and lavatories. Walk down the Carriage Drive (the exit route) and around the horse chestnut tree at the bottom, cutting across the grass to the corner of the wood. The numbers refer to stops marked on the route map.
1: The three walks are signed by coloured arrows from the two 500 year old oaks known as the Sentinels of the Woods. The path descends into the Black Ditch.
2: The charred shell of the veteran oak nearby is retained, as are many on the Estate, as a habitat for specialist insects that favour standing deadwood. You will see many similar (veteran) trees on the route; these are retained and afforded special protection as they have many ecological benefits as well as historical importance.
3: This is naturally regenerated woodland of broad-leaved species of trees – a good contrast with the next area of commercial timber.
4: On the left is a mixed plantation of Scots pine, oak and beech planted in 1967. The western hemlocks on the right were planted in 1978.
5: This 1955 plantation has been well thinned to give the better trees room for development. The largest conifers are the Corsican pines, which are popular in the Southeast of England for softwood timber production.
6: The North Avenue is of lime and beech. The limes are hosts to some very fine mistletoe.
The short green walk follows the avenue back to the house.
We hope that you have enjoyed your visit to Hatfield Park. Please come again, as there is always something different to experience through the seasons.
Blue Walk (2 miles / 3.2 kilometres / 50 minutes)
Please respect the ‘country code’, keep dogs under strict control and use the waste bins provided. Walking shoes or boots are recommended. The paths are inspected on a regular basis, and it is therefore important that you stick to the waymarked route for your own safety.
7: The 16-acre Broadwater was formed by a dam in the River Lee (or Lea) to power the now redundant water mill at the far end of the lake. The area was landscaped and replanted after the 1987 storm with a number of ornamental trees. The island opposite has recently been planted with twenty different species of oak.
8: Although the castle folly dates from the 1780s the wall around the secret garden (once the Vineyard) beyond was built in 1633.
9: This is said to be the place where Queen Elizabeth I learned of her accession to the throne of England in 1558. Queen Elizabeth II planted this oak in 1985 to replace the original.
The walk crosses the field to the road by the new formal hedged plantation called Wake Wood.
10: Wake Wood was planted in 2000 to commemorate the end of an era when most of the hereditary peers were expelled from the House of Lords. There are about 25 different tree species within the hornbeam hedge. The limestone megalith in the centre, a gift of Lord Shrewsbury, came from Cauldon Low Quarries in Staffordshire. The open area of grass stretching down to the avenue is used regularly for large events.
11: The wooded area ahead and towards the house is the Elephant Dell.
12: The Elephant Oak has a remarkable resemblance to an elephant’s head in its trunk and branches.
13: The stream flows from the Valley along the Black Ditch to Town Bottom. To the left and through the trees is the dam of the New Pond which dates to the 17th Century.
We hope that you have enjoyed your visit to Hatfield Park. Please come again, as there is always something different to experience through the seasons.
Red Walk (3.2 miles / 5.2 kilometres / 90 minutes)
Please respect the ‘country code’, keep dogs under strict control and use the waste bins provided. Walking shoes or boots are recommended. The paths are inspected on a regular basis, and it is therefore important that you stick to the waymarked route for your own safety.
14: The Vineyard, extending to the other side of the Broadwater, was created in 1611 with 30,000 vines, some the gift of the Queen of France, planted and managed by Frenchmen. Despite this specialist input there are no records of a single bottle of wine ever being produced!
15: The Red Bridge was built in 1864. Below the mill pool is the former Estate sawmill – originally a corn mill. In 1881 the mill wheel was adapted to drive dynamos for Hatfield House, one of the first houses in the country to have electric light.
16: Daffodil Ride is particularly beautiful in the springtime when the native wild daffodils are at their best. A few oak trees in the park have been dated, using reliable modern techniques, to over 700 years old. Their longevity is due to the old practice of pollarding, which allowed a crop of wood to be taken at regular intervals. Cutting the branches high enough above the ground prevented browsing animals from impeding regrowth from the stumps.
17: The path now leaves the Home Park. Ahead and slightly left is Brick Kiln Wood stretching over the hill beyond. Deep pits still remain in the wood, from which clay was dug for centuries for making bricks. Some of them were used for building Hatfield House.
18: The vast open Showground field on the left is where the Hatfield Country Show and other events are held. In Victorian times it was used as a racecourse by the South Herts Yeomanry.
We hope that you have enjoyed your visit to Hatfield Park. Please come again, as there is always something different to experience through the seasons.