Museum and visitor information: closed today. Next open , 10.00–15.30

The Vengerberg TrustVengerberg Museum and Visitor Information

The Lilac Walk

A short, step-free walk from the museum to the statue and up Church Walk under the lilacs to the churchyard and Almshouse Row. Best in the second and third weeks of May.

Distance0.6 miles (0.9 km)
TimeAbout 40 minutes
Start and finishVengerberg Museum, Sheep Street. Finish at Almshouse Row and return the same way.
TerrainPavements throughout. Church Walk climbs gently for about 150 metres.
AccessStep-free throughout, with benches on Church Walk and in the churchyard. Suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Toilets and refreshmentsToilets at the museum. Cafés on High Street and in the Market Square.
Map of The Lilac WalkThe route of The Lilac Walk, with its 5 stops numbered in order. The stops are described below the map.PPHigh StreetHigh StreetBridge StreetSheep StreetChurch WalkAlmshouse RowMill LaneTanners LaneWater LaneStation RoadRiver PontarRiver PontarPontar Way (footpath)12345N0200 m
The route is shown in violet, with the stops numbered. Drawn by the Trust’s walks group; not to be relied on for navigation beyond the town centre.

Open the map full size (SVG image, for zooming or printing)

The stops

  1. The Lilac Room

    Before you set out, the Lilac Room on the first floor of the museum has the posters of every Lilac Fair since 1899 that survive, the cordial committee’s bottles from 1953 onwards, and the plaster model for the statue. The room is up fourteen stairs; there is a virtual tour on the ground floor.

  2. The statue and its lilacs

    The two lilacs either side of the statue’s steps are the Trust’s. They were last replaced in 2011 and are pruned each June, after the fair. The lilac wreath is laid on the plinth on the Saturday of the fair.

  3. Church Walk

    The lilacs along Church Walk are said by the town to have come up the spring after the great flood of 1648. The oldest trees here are about a hundred years old, but the stock is older: new trees are grown from suckers of the old ones. Twelve were planted in November 2024 to replace trees lost in the 2022 drought.

  4. The lych gate and the churchyard

    The two white lilacs by the lych gate are the only white ones on the walk, and have been white for as long as anyone remembers. In the churchyard, the largest lilac stands by the north aisle, under the window with the violet glass.

  5. Almshouse Row

    The garden wall of Corbet’s Almshouses is lined with lilacs planted by the residents. The flowers for the cordial are picked here, in the churchyard and in gardens across the town in the week before the fair. Return the same way.

A large-print version of this walk is free from the museum desk. Please keep to public paths and respect the privacy of residents, particularly at the almshouses. If you find something on the route that has changed, please tell us at the museum desk.