St Peter's Way
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St Peter's Way is a long-distance footpath in Essex, England. The path leads from
Chipping Ongar Chipping Ongar () is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ongar, in the Epping Forest District of the county of Essex, England. It is located east of Epping, southeast of Harlow and northwest of Brentwood. In 2020 ...
to the 7th-century
Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell-on-Sea, is a Christian church dating from the years 660–662 and among the oldest largely intact churches in England. It is in regular use by the nearby Othona Community, in addition to Church of En ...
at
Bradwell-on-Sea Bradwell-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in Essex, England; it is on the Dengie peninsula. It is located north-north-east of Southminster and is east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the District of Maldon and in th ...
. It is waymarked, and shown on
Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
mapping.


The path

St Peter's Way was conceived by members of the
Ramblers Association The Ramblers' Association, branded simply as the Ramblers, is Great Britain's walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path network. T ...
in 1970, and has been "adopted" by
Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...
. The trail starts in Chipping Ongar (), in the west of the county, and goes almost due east across rural Essex. It goes through fields and woodland, over commons, through historic villages, past Hanningfield Reservoir, to coastal marshes and along the seawall at the eastern end of the Dengie Peninsula and finishes at the
chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell-on-Sea, is a Christian church dating from the years 660–662 and among the oldest largely intact churches in England. It is in regular use by the nearby Othona Community, in addition to Church of En ...
() in
Bradwell-on-Sea Bradwell-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in Essex, England; it is on the Dengie peninsula. It is located north-north-east of Southminster and is east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the District of Maldon and in th ...
. The term "on the wall" refers to the location of the chapel built on the wall of the Roman fort of Othona. The walk can be extended westward along the Essex Way from Chipping Ongar for about a mile to
Greensted Church Greensted Church, in the small village of Greensted, near Chipping Ongar in Essex, England, has been claimed to be the oldest wooden church in the world, and probably the oldest wooden building in Europe still standing, albeit only in part, sinc ...
; the walk then both starts and finishes at a Saxon church. The trail is waymarked in both directions by a circular red marker with cross keys and inverted crucifix (symbols of
Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...
), the text "St. Peter's Way" and the "Essex County Council" logo. There are no railway stations on the route, except for the preserved
Epping Ongar Railway The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway in south-west Essex, England, run by a small number of paid staff and a team of volunteers. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway branch line, later the London Underground's Centra ...
. There are some rural bus services.


Route

St Peter's Way passes through the following locations:
Chipping Ongar Chipping Ongar () is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ongar, in the Epping Forest District of the county of Essex, England. It is located east of Epping, southeast of Harlow and northwest of Brentwood. In 2020 ...
(start),
High Ongar High Ongar is a village and civil parish in the County of Essex, England. It is located a mile (1½ km) north-east of Chipping Ongar, 8 miles (13 km) west of Chelmsford and 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Brentwood. The village o ...
, Paslow Wood Common, Blackmore, Mill Green, Margaretting Tye,
Stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...
, West Hanningfield, East Hanningfield,
Bicknacre Bicknacre is a village in the civil parish of Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre, in the county of Essex, England. It is approximately north of South Woodham Ferrers and southeast of the city of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Chelmsfor ...
, Cock Clarks,
Purleigh Purleigh is a village on the Dengie peninsula about south of Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Purleigh ward of the Maldon district. The place-name 'Purleigh' is first attested in a charter of 998, where it a ...
, Mundon,
Maylandsea Maylandsea, and the adjacent Mayland, are villages on the Dengie Peninsula in the English county of Essex. They are part of the Althorne ward of the Maldon district, and have a parish council that covers both villages. Governance Mayland is ...
,
Steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...
,
St Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...
,
Tillingham Tillingham is a small village and civil parish with 1,015 inhabitants in 2001, increasing to 1,058 at the 2011 Census. Located from Burnham-on-Crouch and from Bradwell-on-Sea, on the Dengie Peninsula which is a Maldon District part of the ...
, the
Dengie Dengie is a scattered village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex, England, with a population of 119 at the 2011 census. It is about 4 km NE of the nearest town (and railway station), Southminster, on the slightly higher ground ...
seawall, and the chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall (finish). The length of the trail is said to be (British Pilgrimage Trust), (
Long Distance Walkers Association The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) is a British not for profit, volunteer-led association whose aim is "to further the common interests of those who enjoy Long Distance Walking" in rural, urban, mountainous, coastal and moorland areas. ...
, or (Essex County Council). The highest point of the walk is 104 m (341 feet) near Mill Green. The lowest points are along the seawalls.


Adjoining paths

St Peter's Way adjoins several long-distance paths:
Essex Way The Essex Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath long, along footpaths and roads in Essex, England. The trail starts in Epping in the southwest, crosses Dedham Vale and Constable country to finish at the port of Harwich on the Stour est ...
(an east to west walk from Epping to
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...
) intersects at Chipping Ongar; the
Saffron Trail The Saffron Trail is a long-distance footpath in Essex, England. The 71-mile (114 km) path leads from the pier in Southend-on-Sea to St Mary's church in Saffron Walden. It is waymarked, and shown on Ordnance Survey mapping. The path The Sa ...
(a south-east to north-west walk from
Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
to
Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. Th ...
) intersects at East Hanningfield; and the
Three Forests Way The Three Forests Way is a long-distance footpath in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. The 59-mile (95 km) circular path passes through three forests in west Essex. It is waymarked, and named on Ordnance Survey mapping. The path The Three ...
(a circular walk linking Epping, Hatfield and
Hainault Forest Hainault Forest was a large wooded area in the English counties of Essex and Greater London which was mostly destroyed after 1851. Popular outrage at the destruction of most of the forest was an important catalyst for the creation of the modern ...
s) intersects at Chipping Ongar.


References

{{authority control Footpaths in Essex Long-distance footpaths in England