The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Offchurch

This impressive railway viaduct crosses diagonally over the canal, positioned above the lock, and it currently has as a very nice section of a footpath and cycling route. This stands as a remarkable demonstration of Victorian engineering excellence and constitutes a significant component of the landscape corridor.

The reign of Offa, the King of Mercia, lasted from 757 until his death in July 796, and it is believed that he established the church at Offchurch, since he had a hunting lodge or fortified residence nearby this area.

Not a hint but here's some History you might find interesting. 😁 The Grand Union Canal is a waterway in England that was originally built to connect London and Birmingham. It was constructed in several phases over a period of more than 100 years, beginning in the late 18th century. Radford Road Bridge, also known as Bridge Number 35, is located on the canal in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The section of the Grand Union Canal that includes Radford Road Bridge was first opened in 1799, as part of the Warwick and Napton Canal. This canal was designed to connect the town of Warwick with the Oxford Canal, which in turn provided a link to the rest of the country's canal network. In 1929, the Warwick and Napton Canal was purchased by the Grand Union Canal Company, which had been formed through the amalgamation of several smaller canal companies. The Grand Union Canal Company set about modernizing and upgrading the canal network, including widening the canal and constructing new bridges and locks. Radford Road Bridge was one of the structures that was rebuilt during this period of modernization. The original bridge was a narrow brick structure, but it was replaced in the early 1930s with a wider, steel-trussed bridge that could accommodate larger boats and barges. The new bridge was completed in 1932, and it still stands today as a testament to the engineering ingenuity of the time. Since its construction, Radford Road Bridge has been an important landmark on the Grand Union Canal, providing a crossing point for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. It is also a popular spot for boating enthusiasts, who can navigate the canal through the bridge's arches and enjoy the scenic surroundings of Leamington Spa.

Great Breakfast or Lunch stop

The Church of ST. MARGARET is situated on the east bank of the river Itchen, north of the village. It is a small church consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, vestry, south porch, and a timber bell-cote on the west gable. It dates from the latter part of the 13th century, when it consisted of a nave and chancel, and appears to have been repaired at the end of the 14th century, and re-roofed at the end of the 16th century; in modern times a north aisle, vestry, and south porch were added and the whole church drastically restored. All the roofs are covered with tiles. The chancel, except parts of the north and south walls adjoining the nave, has been entirely rebuilt with a light-coloured sandstone ashlar, the old portions being red sandstone coursed rubble. The east end has angle buttresses and is lighted by a plain tracery window of two pointed lights with a pointed arch. On the south side at the west end is a rectangular low-side window of two splayed orders, and a modern central buttress dividing the old walling from the modern. On the north side a modern vestry has been built, which incloses a blocked low-side window corresponding with the one on the south. The south wall of the nave has three windows of two trefoil lights with tracery under square heads, all modern but perhaps copies of the previously existing 14th-century windows. Between the last two is a four-centred doorway, with a single splay, covered by a modern timber porch. The west gable of the nave is the most interesting and unaltered part of the building and is built of red sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. In the centre there is a buttresslike projection which reaches to the apex of the gable, where it is weathered off. It contains a long chamfered lancet window with a simple label moulding. On the top of the gable is a small square weather-boarded bell-cote for two bells, with a pyramid roof terminating in a weather vane representing a cock. Between this and the angle buttress at the south-west angle there is a massive buttress in four weathered stages built of lightcoloured sandstone with a moulded plinth, probably part of the 14th-century repairs. In the west gable of the modern north aisle are two lancet windows of one splay with a hood-moulding continued over both, and on the north side, which has three shallow buttresses, are three windows with trefoil heads, one a single light, one of two, and the other of three lights. Built into this wall is a round-headed 13th-century doorway, now blocked with masonry, taken from the north wall of the nave when it was destroyed. At the eastern end is the modern vestry, with a single-light window on the north and a doorway in the east with a chamfered pointed arch. The aisle and vestry are built of hammerdressed ashlar. The chancel (18 ft. 8 in. by 12 ft.) has a modern tiled floor, plastered walls, two steps up from the nave and one to the modern altar. The roof, which is of the queen-post type, is modern, but constructed with old timbers, probably members of the earlier roof, re-used. In the south wall the low-side window has a splayed recess with a flat head; the corresponding one on the north is plastered over and is only visible inside the vestry. On this wall there is a marble monument to James Enyon, died 1623, and Constance his wife, died 1610; also on an oak board is a small brass representing seven figures, with an inscription, 'This brass, circa 1485, was found in the churchyard in 1906 and fixed in the church in 1946'. The figures appear to be gazing upwards and may have formed part of an Assumption group. The nave (33 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 10 in.) has a modern tiled floor and plastered walls. On the south side the window recesses are square with flat heads, and that in the west has deeply splayed jambs. The chancel arch has been destroyed and its jambs cut away and a plain modern segmental arch inserted, which carries the modern gable above and stops abruptly on the walls at both ends. The late-16th-century roof is a form of queen-post truss, with carved central bosses on the undersides of the stop-chamfered tie-beams, and plastered between the rafters. The modern north arcade is in three bays with pointed arches of two splayed orders which continue uninterrupted down to moulded stops forming square bases. Opposite the south door is a late-14th-century font of white sandstone, which has a circular basin with eight round shafts projecting from its face, dividing it into as many panels, which are decorated with foliated designs of different patterns, the rim moulding being carried round the shafts to form capitals. The underside of the basin is moulded, the stem circular on a base of three graduated splays. It stands on an octagonal step with a square one on the west side. The pulpit placed on the south side of the chancel arch is modern; also the seating. The north aisle (33 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 3 in.) has a modern tiled floor, ashlar walls, and an open roof of king-post type with curved brackets and plastered between the rafters. The window recesses are splayed, with pointed arches. Standing against the west wall there is the deep basin of a plain font with part of its rim broken away. Of the two bells, (fn. 97) one is medieval, of c. 1350, the other was probably cast by Thomas Bullisdon of London, c. 1510. The registers begin in 1718.

The Fosse is part of the roman infrastructure going north to join the Watling Street. The wharf here had sheep pens for washing sheep at the east end. Stone and sand were loaded here and there was a granary for corn. Wheat was loaded here by local farmers Staites and others, to be taken to Kenches Mill at Emscote for Milling.

The middle lock is 320 metres further eastward from the bottom Lock and is followed by the wharf at the Fosse.

This is the bottom of the three Fosse locks. The bottom Lock, 22, originally had a house and stabling until demolished.