Walk 60: The Sculpture Trail

0.6 miles (1 km) with 17m of total ascent

 

The Sculpture Trail is ideal for children and those who are finding long walks and lots of ups and downs too much. It's a gentle walk, with lots to see and plenty of benches for rests. Ideal for the young and old of heart.

Fly through preview of walk

If you want to check what sort of landscape you will be crossing before you set off on this walk you can view a short 3D video of the route below. It's created using the free version of Relive.

Directions

Map for Walk 60: The Sculpture Walk
Click on the map for a larger version
Created on Map Hub by Hertfordshire Walker
Elements © Thunderforest © OpenStreetMap contributors
There is an interactive map at the end of these directions

Those with GPS devices can download GPX or KML files for this walk. We've added What3Words location references for those who use that system. If you print these walks you might want to use the green PrintFriendly icon at the bottom of these directions to delete elements such as photographs.

1: Park in the east car park in Broxbourne Wood (location - https://w3w.co/deaf.palms.acute) then go through the arch at the entrance to the Sculpture Trail (see picture at the top of these directions).

Follow the trail round to the left for 1km before returning to the starting point.

As you walk, look out for the nine sculptures, listed below. The descriptions of the sculptures is taken from the official guide for the walk which you can download here.

Sadly, over the years, some of the sculptures have become weather-worn and damaged. The pictures below were taken in 2018.

Roman soldier

2: Roman soldier - A life-size Roman soldier standing guard close to Ermine Street, an ancient Roman road built to link London to York.

Acorn seat

3: Acorn seat - This seat in the shape of acorns and lobed leaves is carved from local oak. This bold sculpture invites you to sit and connect with the wood from the mighty oak, a tree of power, strength and safety.

Stag

4: Stag - As you continue look out for the parts of the stag that, when you reach a certain point line up to show the complete sculpture.

Charcoal burner

5: Charcoal burner - A blackened figure standing alone with his tools. His job was to build and fire a clamp. The clamp was a large carefully piled mound of harvested wood, which was then lit and covered with earth. This was how charcoal was produced from the hornbeam trees still found here.

Pulley seat

6: Pulley seat - This curved seat represents one of the uses for hornbeam wood. The hardwearing timber would have been harvested from these woodlands during WW2 to make rifle butts and pulleys.

Wild boar

7: Wild boar - Not as pretty as the domestic pig, these hairy and horned beasts once roamed our woodlands, grubbing around for acorns and other tasty nibbles.The boar would have been hunted and later farmed for its pork-like meat.

Hornbeam fruit

8: Hornbeam fruit - Hornbeams, along with oaks, are native to these woods. This carving depicts the distinctive winged fruits, having blown from the tree and settled, hoping to start its journey of life as a hornbeam.

Peasant woman and child

9: Peasant woman and child - A life-size carving of a peasant woman and child foraging for wild fruits, berries and nuts.This free source of food would have been an important supplement to a peasant’s diet.

10: After leaving the Sculpture Trail at Broxbourne Woods West Car Park (location - https://w3w.co/object.move.entry), turn left then head ESE for 215m to reach the next sculpture, which is in two parts and is of a herder looking for their cattle.

Herder looking for their cattle

Cattle amongst the woodland foliage

11: Herder - A life-size carving of a herder, looking for his cattle amongst the woodland foliage. Boundary ditches still remain in the area as evidence that the land was at one time used to graze cattle.

The nearest pub to The Sculpture Trail is The Farmer’s Boy in Brickendon (location - https://w3w.co/glory.chained.speak).

Interactive map

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