Draughton: Walking Routes and Architectural History

Circular walks and historic buildings offer two different ways to plan a trip to Draughton. When looking for hotels in Draughton, it may help to first decide whether you would rather spend your time on a waymarked route or exploring the village’s architectural history. The village guide from May 2020 lists seven signposted circular walks, ranging in length from approximately 4.4 to 13 kilometres. Two of the routes described there offer specific points of comparison.

Circular walks: distance and landscape

The 4.4-kilometre Draughton–Holywell Bridge–Lumb Gill circular walk crosses fields and follows a grassy path through woodland alongside a stream. The 8.6-kilometre Draughton–Bolton Bridge–Halton East–Draughton loop follows a steeply descending grassy path and offers good views of Bolton Priory, Beamsley Beacon and Simon’s Seat. Comparing the two is therefore about more than distance: the shorter route goes through fields and woodland and alongside a stream, while the longer route is characterised by the descending path and the three named viewpoints. If you make your choice based on the landscapes described, these give you two different options.

Historic buildings and their features

Draughton’s Guide Post is on Height Lane at NGR SE 03995109 and is a Grade II listed building. The post dates from around 1740, is made of millstone grit and is approximately 1.2 metres tall. This structure brings together a specific location, approximate age, material and height. It offers a concise introduction to Draughton’s architectural history.

Manor House and Manor Cottage date from 1659. Their history also includes alterations from the late 17th and 20th centuries. The shared date is therefore not the only timeframe associated with these buildings: later alterations are also part of their history. Anyone interested in how historic buildings have developed will find a different point of reference here than at the Guide Post or the lime kiln.

Wheelam Kiln is a lime kiln dating from around 1830, made of dressed millstone grit rubble. It is approximately eight metres wide and five metres high. Its features include a pair of stoke holes with segmental arches made from rubble voussoirs, as well as two pits measuring approximately 2 × 4 × 2 metres. The openings, arch shape and pits make its construction easy to visualise; here, construction and scale matter as well as the date.

The dates can be considered side by side: Manor House and Manor Cottage, dating from 1659, are followed by the Guide Post from around 1740 and Wheelam Kiln from around 1830. The alterations to the Manor buildings also extend into later periods. This lets you explore Draughton’s historic buildings through both their materials and features and their different construction periods.

Discover more destinations: Castleton, Carperby, Otterburn, Lothersdale, Scalby, Threshfield, Birstwith, Skipton.

For the wider travel overview: North Yorkshire.