Lovely walk around the pretty Kedleston Hall Estate. Combines the official trails across the estate into one longer walk. There are fine views of the Hall, the lakes and the weirs. Opportunity to pay a visit to a hermitage. There are plenty of birds on the lakes to keep the birders entertained. Enjoyable woodland and parkland walking. Combine the walk with a tour around Kedleston Hall itself.
Click on the above map for an interactive map of the route.
The Trails Map (dropdown, top right) is the best free map for displaying footpaths and topography. Expand to full screen (cross arrows, top right) to see route detail. Ordnance Survey maps can be used with a small subscription to Plotaroute.
Clicking on the above map gives access to various downloads (e.g. GPX and PDF).
Date: 06/10/2025
Length: 6.288 miles
Height Gain: 108m
Terrain: Parkland trails, woodland trails, stone tracks, grassy tracks, lightly used roads.
Navigation: Map, gps and compass required. The signage on the Long Walk is good; less so on the Wilderness Walk. The Lakeside Walk is obvious.
Start: Kedleston Hall Carpark. It is free to enter the carpark in the Estate. There is a fee to enter the Parkland (free for NT members). There is an additional fee if you want to take a tour around the Hall (free for NT members)...although on my visit they didn't check passes as I entered the Hall.
Route: Kedleston Hall Carpark, Long Walk, Wilderness Walk, Lakeside Walk
Map: OS259 - Derby
Weather: Sunshine
Walkers: Nun
The Hermitage
Great View Across To Kedleston Hall From The Long Walk
Fine Views Across The East Midlands
The Long Walk started off through woodland on a well made trail. Within a minute or two, all the cortisol that I’d stored up during this morning's hectic rush south, started to dissipate. It felt light and airy walking amongst the trees. I came across a couple of benches away from the trail on my right. They provided a wonderful elevated view across a green landscape. Further along I reached the hermitage which had recently been renovated. I tried the front door, but the hermit must have been out. Some Estates used to employ hermits to stay in their hermitage. I suppose it would have been a better job than working in the pit or a mill. In fact I wouldn’t have minded applying for the role for this particular hermitage since it looked like a nice, cosy setup.
Watch Out For The Little Egrets Near The Lake
Weir At The Splash Pool
The trail turned to the southeast through a narrow band of woodland. Gates on the left allowed access to a large, open grassy area. Superb views opened up to Kedleston Hall that nestled in the low valley. Those doing the Short Walk could use one of these gates to cross the open area to the Hall. There were plenty of squirrels in the woodland. There were also plenty of acorns dropping from the trees in my direction and I wasn’t sure whether it was the squirrels throwing them. The trail changed direction to the north east and after making a gradual descent, I followed a sign to the Splash Pool. This turned out to be quite a nice pool with water from a weir running into it. A Mute Swan patrolled the top of the weir making sure no smaller birds got swept over it. The Estate had a series of lakes running from northeast to southeast with weirs separating them. I followed the Long Walk trail alongside the lowest lake. At the next weir, I spotted a couple of Little Egrets sitting in a tree on the other side of the water. The birds needed to keep their head down since they shared the ground with club-swingers who were busily driving around their course in buggies chasing their golf balls.
Club Swingers Having 'Fun'
Grade I Listed Bridge Across The Lake
I’d lost the woodland now and the views opened up to Kedleston Hall. It was certainly an impressive, long building. The lakeside path brought me to the Grade I listed bridge over the lake. I walked to the centre of the bridge and got a superb view of the neoclassical style fishing pavilion/boathouse further along the lake. I’d take a closer look at that later on in the walk. That was the Long Walk completed; I would now start the Wilderness Walk.
Views Opened Up Towards Kedleston Hall
I crossed the bridge and started walking along the lakeside. Whereas the Long Walk had been a purpose made trail, the Wilderness Walk was more basic. Some cows and calves had congregated around one of the gates and I thought I might be in for a spot of trouble, but they let me pass without a second look. There were three other weirs along this stretch. On one of them I could see some steelwork which I expect had supported some sort of footbridge across the weir at some point in history.
I did go beyond the third weir, but turned around when I reached a road and some houses. I retraced my steps back to the woodland and followed the Wilderness Walk deeper into the trees, away from the lake. The trail was pleasant enough and meandered through the trees until it reached a road. I crossed it and went past a Saw Mill (as labelled on the OS map). The trail then went around the perimeter of a large open area. The mushrooms seemed to be doing pretty well around there. The trail brought me to the road that I’d driven along this morning as I’d entered the Estate and I followed this back to the bridge.
Mushrooms On The Wilderness Trail
There Was A Great View Of Kedleston Hall On The Approach Drive
Fishing Pavillion/Boathouse
I crossed the bridge and then followed the Lakeside Walk along the lake to the fishing pavilion/boathouse. It was an impressive little building. Most distinctive were two carved stone roundels of putti riding sea monsters. Obviously the seafarers at the boathouse had some tall tales to tell about their watery experiences. I followed the Lakeside Walk up to the third weir and then retraced my steps back to the bridge.
That was all the official walks done and so I started plodding up the drive towards the Hall. It was midday and time to get some grub at the restaurant/café. It had been a pleasant walk around the Estate. There had been plenty of birds to look at on the lake. There were also some fine views of the Hall and lakes. The Wilderness Walk wasn’t quite a wilderness in a ‘Cairngorm’ sense, but it did add a nice variety to the walk. Stretching my legs had set me up for a potter around the Hall this afternoon (see NT - Kedleston Hall).
Fishing Pavillion/Boathouse