Walk 60: The Sculpture Trail

An easy 1km loop with 17m total ascent

 

The Sculpture Trail in Broxbourne Woods is ideal for children and those who are finding long walks and lots of ups and downs too much. It's a gentle walk, with lots to see and plenty of benches for rests. Ideal for the young and old of heart.

Directions

Map for Walk 60: The Sculpture Walk
Created on Map Hub by Hertfordshire Walker
Elements © Thunderforest © OpenStreetMap contributors
There is an interactive map at the end of these directions

Those with GPS devices can download GPX or KML files for this walk. We've added What3Words location references for those who use that system. If you print these walks you might want to use the green PrintFriendly icon at the bottom of these directions to delete elements such as photographs.

Park in the east car park in Broxbourne Wood (location - https://w3w.co/deaf.palms.acute) and go through the arch at the entrance to the Sculpture Trail (see picture above) and follow the trail round to the left for 1km before returning to the starting point. As you walk, look out for the nine sculptures, listed below. The descriptions of the sculptures is taken from the official guide for the walk which is embedded below.

 

1: Roman Soldier - A life-size Roman soldier standing guard close to Ermine Street, an ancient Roman road built to link London to York.

 

2: Acorn Seat - This seat in the shape of acorns and lobed leaves is carved from local oak. This bold sculpture invites you to sit and connect with the wood from the mighty oak, a tree of power, strength and safety.

 

3: Stag - As you continue look out for the parts of the stag that, when you reach a certain point line up to show the complete sculpture.

 

4: Charcoal Burner - A blackened figure standing alone with his tools. His job was to build and fire a clamp. The clamp was a large carefully piled mound of harvested wood, which was then lit and covered with earth. This was how charcoal was produced from the hornbeam trees still found here.

 

5: Pulley Seat - This curved seat represents one of the uses for hornbeam wood. The hardwearing timber would have been harvested from these woodlands during WW2 to make rifle butts and pulleys.

 

6: Wild Boar - Not as pretty as the domestic pig, these hairy and horned beasts once roamed our woodlands, grubbing around for acorns and other tasty nibbles.The boar would have been hunted and later farmed for its pork-like meat.

 

7: Hornbeam Fruit - Hornbeams, along with oaks, are native to these woods. This carving depicts the distinctive winged fruits, having blown from the tree and settled, hoping to start its journey of life as a hornbeam.

 

8: Peasant Woman and child - A life-size carving of a peasant woman and child foraging for wild fruits, berries and nuts.This free source of food would have been an important supplement to a peasant’s diet.

 

 

9: Herder - A life-size carving of a herder, looking for his cattle amongst the woodland foliage. Boundary ditches still remain in the area as evidence that the land was at one time used to graze cattle.

The nearest pub to The Sculpture Trail is The Farmer’s Boy in Brickenden.

Interactive map

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