Discover Pocklington

When planning a trip to Pocklington, you can choose different focuses, from garden design and waterways to architectural history and cultural events. Highlights include an extensive collection of water lilies, opportunities for scenic walks along the canal, historic church features, and a programme of music, theatre and cinema. You can shape your trip around your interests: botanical details, outdoor routes and cultural history each offer a different perspective on your stay.

Gardens and collections

Burnby Hall Gardens & Museum is home to a National Collection of over 100 varieties of hardy water lilies. Alongside this distinctive plant collection, paths and a variety of garden features shape the grounds. Paths run around the lakes, and there is also an ornamental bridge, a modern walled garden and an aviary garden. The grounds also include a rock garden designed by Edwardian Backhouse, a stumpery garden and a birch walk. If you are interested in gardens, you can take in both the water lilies and the various styles of garden design.

The Stewart Museum houses artefacts collected by Major Stewart on eight world tours between 1906 and 1926. The collection adds a distinct historical perspective to the garden themes: its timeframe spans the early 20th-century travels and the objects Major Stewart gathered along the way.

The Pocklington Canal and planning your walks

The Pocklington Canal runs for 9.5 miles between East Cottingwith and Canal Head in Pocklington. It offers opportunities for scenic walks. Most of the canal is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its value to wildlife. This brings the waterway’s nature conservation value and walking opportunities into focus as two distinct aspects. At Canal Head, there is a car park, a picnic area and an information board.

There are five locks on the Pocklington Canal within a 1.5-mile stretch. This shorter distance can be distinguished from the canal’s full 9.5-mile route and gives the lock section its own scale. The two endpoints, East Cottingwith and Canal Head, also help with orientation: they frame the canal’s route, while the facilities at Canal Head provide a specific point of arrival.

You can start the Pocklington Circuit in the town centre. This offers a different kind of guidance for planning a walk from the canal’s endpoints: for the Circuit, a possible starting point in the centre is given, while for the waterway, the route between two places is specified. You can use these details to plan according to the activity you have in mind.

Architectural history and cultural events

The Church of All Saints features architectural elements from several centuries. The nave dates from the 12th century or earlier, the transepts from the 13th century, and the west tower and chancel from the 15th century. The late 12th-century north arcade has capitals with human, animal and plant motifs. The dates place the architectural elements in chronological order; the capitals’ motifs also offer a specific glimpse into the church’s design.

Pocklington Arts Centre offers a varied programme of music, comedy, theatre productions and cinema. This range provides a distinct focus for cultural planning alongside gardens, the canal and architectural history: the listed types of events offer different ways to include culture in your stay.

Discover more destinations: Withernwick, Preston, Withernsea, Tickton, Skipsea, Hutton Cranswick, Swanland, Brandesburton.

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