The Wool Towns Walk

This long distance circular walk of some 50 miles in total length links the five West and Mid Suffolk wool towns of Clare, Hadleigh, Lavenham, Long Melford and Sudbury. The walk can be undertaken in four days of steady walking, or in up to eight separate stages as detailed in the four individual guides below.

The Wool Towns of West Suffolk provide a rich heritage founded on the medieval wool and cloth trades. Their rural situation, in roughly a circle that also includes parts of the Stour, Box and Brett valleys, makes them ideal walking country.

Guide 1

Clare to Sudbury

This part of the Wool Towns Walk starts and finishes next to the river Stour in Suffolk but most of the route, which is waymarked throughout, is in Essex and is away from the river! The route climbs from the valley floor before traversing the three Belchamp villages of St Paul, Otten and Walter and then descending back to the Stour by following the Belchamp Brook to the water meadows in Sudbury. The route passes through pleasant, gently rolling countryside and mostly-arable farmland.

Distance: 12 miles

Guide 2

Sudbury to Hadleigh

This is the longest leg of the Wool Towns Walk. It starts by following the River Stour to Great Cornard before climbing the valley on the Suffolk (north) side to Little Cornard and then, via ‘Assington Thicks’ wood, to the village of Assington. From there it crosses an area of open farmland to Boxford. The final stretch takes you close to Polstead Heath before arriving at Hadleigh.

Distance: 14.5 miles

Guide 3

Hadleigh to Lavenham

This leg starts in the centre of the historic Suffolk town of Hadleigh and journeys across rolling countryside and wooded valleys through the delightful villages of Kersey, Lindsey and Monks Eleigh before reaching Lavenham, renowned as one of the finest medieval country towns in the country.

Distance: 12 miles

Guide 4

Lavenham to Clare

This leg of the walk takes you firstly to Long Melford, before joining the Stour Valley Path to Clare. It connects three of the five Wool Towns. The distance between Lavenham and Long Melford is only some 5 miles, and so it was decided to create a full day’s walk between Lavenham and Clare. The route passes through the villages of Glemsford and Cavendish, both heavily involved in the wool industry in former times, the latter often described as one of the prettiest villages in Suffolk.

Distance: 13 miles

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A group aiming to further walks and walking in and around Clare, Suffolk’s smallest town which is situated in the Stour Valley on the border with Essex.