The Monk's Way - Strelley
Broad Oak
This page
was added to the site on 06 June 2004
So far in this project we have had a fairly lengthy
introduction and preamble and interesting as it was, we now turn
to the "main feature". We will be following in some
detail the route as described in Broxtowe Borough Council's leaflet
entitled "The Stones Of The Monk's Way" between Strelley
and Ilkeston. The leaflet contains a map of the route and can
be seen here on the council's site whilst the pictures
on Ilkeston Cam will show some of the sights to be seen along
the way.
Having journeyed north from the site of Lenton Priory
to view the areas around Beauvale and Felley, with just a passing
mention of Newstead Abbey, we now return to the very edge of
the city of Nottingham and the village of Strelley. It is here
that we get our first view of the stones incorporated as they
are into the footpath on Main Street at Strelley.
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Although only four miles from the city centre, Strelley
is a world away from the hustle and bustle of city life and much
of the village is designated a conservation area. One of the
busiest places in the village, especially in the summer months
is the Broad Oak Public House where these picnic tables are often
full of people enjoying the pleasant surroundings.
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The Broad Oak pub with its low ceilings and beams
has an olde worlde feel to it but is a popular meeting place
offering good food at reasonable prices catering for small and
large parties. The building dates back to around 1650 and has
retained many original features and that tree has been there
some time too.
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Across the road old cottages peep from behind hedges
and fences over small flower filled gardens. The whole village
contains listed buildings with many of them dating back to the
seventeenth century.
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Further along Main Street the gardens are bigger
and the buildings are more exposed but still exhibit their own
charm. All the buildings along Main Street overlook the route
of the stones on the Monk's Way although sadly the stones do
not run the whole length. The Kennels' is a late 18th Century
cottage and was formerly the dog keeper's cottage on the Strelley
Estate.
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The romantics among us can visualise monks leading
mules carrying stone slabs and laying them one by one each time
they used the path to aid the passage of their fellow travellers.
The more sceptical are likely to believe the stones were laid
in the eighteenth century to aid the transport of coal by packhorses.
Whatever the truth of the stone's origin we are now well into
the conservation area, where Main Street veers to the right.
This is at the site of a medieval moat and fishpond which together
are classified as a scheduled monument. The moat was probably
more of a status symbol than a defence but when this photograph
was taken in April, the birds who regard the area as home seemed
more interested in each other and doing what comes naturally
than the waters of the moat.
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