Woodhouse Eaves

The whole of Charnwood is a walker’s paradise, with pretty Woodhouse Eaves perfectly located on a slope rising towards Beacon Hill.

This is the gateway to the National Forest, with Broombriggs Farm and Windmill Hill on its doorstep, and a 3km tree trail to follow. However, simply strolling around this former slate quarrying village offers equally beautiful views, with buildings made from this local slate and stone, including an historic terrace of slate workers’ cottages.

The Slate Splitters Arms is where those workers met in the 18th century, and today, as The Wheatsheaf Inn, it’s still a welcome stop for refreshments. The Pear Tree Inn is another landmark building, opening in 1884, and serving American GIs stationed at nearby Quorn prior to the D-Day Landings.
A grassy pathway close by leads to a vast wall of rock, a former quarry owned by the Herrick family, of Beaumanor Hall. Known as Forest Rock, with Stone Hole below, its distinctive deep-purple stone is a unique feature of buildings including St Paul’s Church, perched above, and the Grade II-listed Herrick Almshouses.

Perched atop this disused quarry and built using rocks excavated from it, is St Paul’s Church. Award-winning breakfasts and afternoon teas are the norm at The Café Next Door, and for something different, The Curzon Arms gives diners an unforgettable inside/outside experience in its Garden Bubbles. Stop to shop and you’ll find The Home of Handmade more than lives up to its name, with this stone-built boutique selling unique hand-crafted items. If you stroll into Old Woodhouse, you’ll discover Pestilence Cottage. This thatched Tudor dwelling has intriguing links to the Great Plague of London, and despite its name, is pretty as a picture.