Easy hikes and walks around Ettington

There are great views of 'Compton Pools' from many vantage points along this route. The pools are really lakes as they were turned into a single expanse of water by Lancelot Capability Brown circa 1769. The hills, the house and the bridges provide a beautiful backdrop to the lakes.

"Combroke Village is also known as Combrook and, less frequently, as Combrooke. Its history is closely linked with that of the nearby Compton Verney estate, for which it once served as the estate village, providing living accommodation for a number of the servants. The village dates from at least the time of Henry I, circa 1086, when a small medieval church was built in the village. There is, however, no separate reference to it in the Domesday book. By 1279, following a stocktaking by Edward I known as the Hundred Rolls, Combrook was identified as located in the Kineton hundred. It remained part of the Kineton parish until 1858, when it was separated from Kineton and united with the ecclesiastical parish of Compton Verney. A number of the buildings in the village have a similar style, most easily seen in the church. The original church was modified in Tudor times, with the chancel being rebuilt again in 1831. The present building was erected in 1866, to a design by John Gibson, paid for by the Dowager Lady Margaret Willoughby de Brook of Compton Verney, keeping the existing chancel. John Gibson went on to design the Victorian neo-Elizabethan estate houses and the horse drinking troughs in the village in the same style as that of the church. A number of the other houses in the village are thatched, with clear signs of original thatched roofs visible on several other dwellings. Until the sale of the Compton Verney estate in 1929, Combrook was a "closed" village, entirely owned by the Lord of the Manor, who could determine who lived there, and Combrook today is still considered to be one of the best-preserved estate villages in the country. The largest house in Combrook once served as the school, and there has been a school on the site since at least 1641. The building which now serves as the village hall was built as the village school in 1855, and seems to have served as a design template for John Gibson's style for the church and estate houses. The village school was closed in 1966." Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combrook

"The church of St Mary & St Margaret at Combrook is an entirely 19th century creation but one of considerable charm and eccentricity. Most of it dates from 1866 to the design of John Gibson, though the chancel remains from a simpler structure of 1831. The church is unusual in both it's shape and detailing, from the wide but low-pitched facade to the multi-gabled aisle walls. The west door and bell turret above are adorned with somewhat over-large demi-figures of angels. The stonework attractively blends white stone with rich golden-brown ironstone details. The interior is dark and largely brick-lined with some small stained glass windows by Willement, Powells and Burlison & Grylls." Source: https://warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/combrook---ss-mary--margaret.html

Great, just great. Awesome food, dedicated off road bike parking, e-bike charging.

Great food and dedicated spaces for bike off the Main Street. Also has charger for e-bikes.

Great value for money £3 for coffee and cake. Owner very nice and polite.

Pop up cafe since 2020. Family run business. Reasonable prices. Good for a break in your walk.

The church of ST. EDMUND, which stands on the east side of the Stratford road, between it and the River Stour, consists of a chancel 27½ ft. by 19 ft., a north chapel 15½ ft. square, a vestry to the north of this 12 ft. by 9½ ft., south chapel 15½ ft. by 12½ ft., nave 71 ft. long and of similar width to the chancel, north aisle 15½ ft. wide, south aisle 17 ft. wide, south porch and a western tower 9½ ft. by 8¾ ft., all these measurements being taken within the walls. The whole of the church, except the 15th-century tower, was rebuilt in 1855 in the style of the 14th century. Beyond the tower there are now no old remains. From notes made by Prattinton in 1812 the former church appears to have been of early date, consisting of a chancel and chapel and a nave separated from a north aisle by a round-arched arcade. The font, however, was of 1707. Habington mentions two raised tombs in the churchyard to John White, who died in 1632, and Thomas White his son, who died in 1631. The present chancel has an east window of five lights with a traceried head and a single light on the south. The sedile in the same wall has a segmental head, while on the north side is a flat pointed arch. On either side of the chancel are arches opening to the chapels, and that opening to the nave is of one order. The nave has arcades on both sides of five bays, and each of the chapels has a western cross arch and is lighted by a four-light traceried east window. Both aisles have four two-light traceried windows in their side walls, with north and south entrances at the west ends. The west window of the north aisle is of two lights and the corresponding window of the south aisle of four lights, both with traceried heads. The tower arch is old and two orders, the outer of which is continuous and the inner interrupted by a moulded capital of late form. The tower is two stages high, and is supported on its west face by diagonal buttresses which rise to about half its height. It has a western window of three lights with modern tracery and arch, but with an old two-centred rear arch. Over the west window, and also on the north side, are small rectangular lights of a single chamfered order. The belfry is lighted on each side by a two-light window with a plain spandrel in the pointed head. The parapet of the tower is embattled, and at each corner is a small square pinnacle rising from the coping only, and surmounted by a crocketed finial. There are also intermediate pinnacles set diagonally and rising from grotesque heads in the parapet string. Grotesques project likewise from the western angles at the same level. The pulpit and the font are modern and both of stone. There are six bells in the tower, all by Matthew Bagley, and of 1754, except the third, which is of 1774. The plate consists of a communion cup inscribed 1824 with the hall mark for 1822, a salver of 1823 and a flagon of the same date.