Please Remember the Country Code:

• Leave no litter.
• Guard against all risk of fire.
• Fasten all gates.
• Keep dogs under proper control.
• Avoid damaging fences, hedges and keep to paths across farmland.
• Safeguard water supplies.
• Protect wildlife plants and trees.
• Respect the countryside. 

There are three points of access to Hoad Hill and the Monument, two from the Town Centre and a third from the A 590 on its approach to Ulverston.  Of the two walks approached from the town Walk 1 is for those with a little more time to spare.  Walk 2 is for those requiring a shorter, more direct approach.  Both walks require a degree of fitness, as Hoad Hill summit is 430 feet above sea level.  Walk leaflets are available from the Ulverston Tourist Office. 

WALK 1

2 MILES (round trip) / 1 1/4 HOURS APPROX

SOME STEEP PATHS (see map)

UP HILL

1) Turn right out of the Tourist Information Centre situated in the Coronation Hall on County Square and go down New Market Street. Turn left into the cobbled Market Street then right at the war memorial at the top of the street into King Street.  Walk towards the King's Arms Hotel, take the road to the right of the pub and walk up Soutergate one of the oldest parts of the town, with buildings dating back to the seventeenth century, passing the Old Friends pub on your left. 

2) Walk up the slight hill along Soutergate, which becomes Town Bank Road and turn right up Chittery Lane. Follow the tarmac path until it ends. This brings you to a grassy hillside known as Little Hoad. Take five minutes to enjoy the view over Ulverston. 

3) Walk up the grass to a kissing gate leading on to “China Wall” which is a path with a wall on either side.  At the top go through another kissing gate and bear right to follow a stony path along the incline at the back of Hoad Hill and up to the Sir John Barrow Monument. The monument is a copy of the Eddystone Lighthouse and is open when the flag at the foot of the monument is flying. Sir John Barrow was born at Dragley Beck in Ulverston, he was second secretary to the Admiralty and, a founder member of the Royal Geographical Society. He died in 1848 and the town built this famous Landmark in his honour in 1850. Rest awhile at the summit on a squirrel seat and take in the view of the Canal, Morecambe Bay and the Lakeland Fells.

One of the 50 Squirrel Seats to be found in Ulverston & on Hoad Hill

DOWN HILL

4) There are several paths down the front of Hoad Hill some of which are rather steep.  A gentle way down can be found if you look out from the monument doorway then turn left and retrace your steps back along the grass path until it forks (after about 100 yards).  You should now see the main road out of Ulverston ahead of you. Take the right hand branch of this fork and look for a small group of rocks which

marks the beginning of a concrete path that starts with a few steps. Follow the path down to the main kissing gate at the bottom right hand side of the hill where you will pass a squirrel seat, and come out onto Hoad Lane. 

(If you should wish to continue on to the Canal Walk, turn left down Hoad Lane then right at the main road.    Cross at the roundabout, taking care of the busy traffic on the A590, walk along the road, past the supermarket.  Approximately 200 yards from here turn left to reach Canal Head, adjacent to the main road.) 

5) Just outside the main kissing gate of Hoad Hill is a large standing stone in the middle of the Ladies Walk path. To return to the town turn right along this path beyond this piece of limestone, passing the gates of St Mary's Hospice on the right, and into Saint Mary and Holy Trinity Parish churchyard. The church was founded in 1111A.D. and is an ancient listed monument.  Sir John Barrow's parents’ grave is near the church gates, just beyond a holly tree by the lower path. Sir John Barrow himself is buried in London. 

6) Leave the churchyard by the main gates and walk along Church Walk with its elegant Victorian and Edwardian villas to return to town. 

WALK 2 

The bottom of Hoad Hill is reached in about ten minutes walk from the town centre, going down Market St., left to Union St., right to Hart St., and left onto Ford Park Crescent.  A level pathway runs around the bottom of the hill to the kissing gate and standing stone on Ladies Walk, mentioned in Walk 1 (section 5).  From here, turn left up the footpath to the Monument or continue along the footpath round the base of Hoad Hill, where you have an option of taking the Canal Walk (see Walk 1, section 4).