This lovely walk from Sue Aldis starts and finishes in Wingfield, a small village in North Suffolk not far from the Norfolk border. It is a scattered community centred round a large green.

In the middle ages, Wingfield was one of the wealthiest villages in the country, due mainly to the wool trade, and the historic buildings in the village bear testimony to this wealth.

Magnificent St Andrew's Church and its secular Wingfield College were established in 1362 though the latter now has a Georgian facade.

Nearby is the moated, feudal fortress of Wingfield Castle built in 1384. The castle, now privately owned, was for many centuries the seat of the powerful Wingfield family and the De La Poles, the Earls and Dukes of Suffolk, who had family ties with the monarchs of the time.

Near the church is Wingfield Barn, which is now run as an artistic and educational centre.

Refreshments can be obtained from the De La Pole Arms, which is open at lunchtime daily and all day at the weekends.

? The walk starts by the main gates into the churchyard. Follow the finger post sign near the gates and walk through the churchyard and on along a footpath straight ahead. Turn right along the field edge path and then go left by the wooden gate onto a grassy track. At the end of the track turn right and follow the field edge path downhill. The path turns left and continues ahead for about half a mile or so along the valley, running parallel with the stream that is a little way over to the right. Ignore paths off to the left and to the right. On reaching a lane, turn right to a junction. Turn left along the road towards Fressingfield.

? Follow the road for about a quarter of a mile. At the top of the hill, and just before the right hand bend, turn left at a finger post along a field edge path. Go through the barrier, cross the field and climb the stile opposite.

Follow the path downhill through a small wood and along a field edge. Turn left at the bottom to a wooden bridge over a stream. Cross the bridge and go up the steps. Turn leftwards for a few metres, and then go right uphill, crossing the field to a gap in the hedge and on to a lane.

? Turn left along the lane and, after a short distance, turn right at the finger post and cross a plank bridge.

Climb the stile into a meadow (where there may be horses). Cross the meadow to a stile opposite. Go through the trees and across the track to another stile immediately opposite. Climb the stile into a meadow. Go straight ahead and then leftwards across the meadow, and cross the stile in the corner. Follow the field edge path ahead to reach a lane with Hill Farm on the left. Turn right along the lane, passing a lane on the right signposted to Fressingfield, and continue into Earsham Street.

? Walk past Gables Farm on the right. At the next junction turn left along a lane signposted to Syleham. Walk past Syleham Hall Cottages on the right and, just before the bend, climb the stile on the left. Follow the direction of the finger post along the field edge path, which soon goes through a small metal gate. Keep on this path, which bends right, then left, then right again. After a few metres, at a marker post, cross the field straight ahead to the end of the hedgerow and another marker post. Turn left and follow the path, keeping the hedgerow on the left, as far as a solitary oak tree and a marker post pointing across the field. Cross the field diagonally: (the path had not been reinstated at the time of the walk) aiming for the nearest corner of a small copse in the centre of the field.

? Walk along the edge of the copse, keeping the bushes and the pond on the right, to the end of the trees. Cross the field diagonally again aiming for the end of a post-and-rail fence and the start of the hedgerow along the edge of the field. From here there is a good view of historic Wingfield Castle. Turn right along the field edge to a stile just before the cottages. Climb the stile and turn right along the track keeping the green on the left.

Turn left along the road and turn left again at the junction on the green. Follow the road across the green, passing the entrance to Castle Farm. Continue along the road, past the village sign, to the end of the houses. Turn right into Church Road and walk back to the church.

•This article was first published in January 2012.