Maltby Dike Circular Walk

Michael Palmer
Apr 9
7 min read

Updated: Aug 4

Maltby Dike Circular Walk – 3.1 Easy Miles via Roche Abbey, South Yorkshire

Looking for a nice easy circular walk in South Yorkshire? This 3.1-mile Maltby Dike Circular Walk explores the beautiful wooded valley around Roche Abbey near Maltby, combining an easy countryside walk with one of South Yorkshire's most fascinating medieval sites.

Lyn and I personally walked, photographed and GPS recorded this route for The White Shire. We found it to be a nice, easy and enjoyable walk, and at just over three miles it's a good choice if you're looking for a shorter route without anything too demanding.

The real highlight is Roche Abbey. The ruins sit in a secluded valley shaped by Maltby Dike, the same watercourse that played an important role in the lives of the Cistercian monks who settled here more than 850 years ago.

Discover more South Yorkshire circular walks

Maltby Dike Circular Walk at a Glance

Distance: 3.1 miles

Route type: Circular

Difficulty: Easy

Location: Maltby Dike and Roche Abbey

County: South Yorkshire

Area: Maltby / Rotherham

Terrain: Woodland and countryside paths and tracks

Highlights: Roche Abbey, Maltby Dike, woodland, historic monastic landscape and South Yorkshire countryside

Walked and photographed by: Michael and Lyn Palmer, The White Shire

About the Maltby Dike Circular Walk

At 3.1 miles, this is one of our shorter White Shire walks.

Lyn and I found it nice and easy, but what makes this route particularly interesting isn't the distance or difficulty – it's where you're walking.

The route explores the valley surrounding Roche Abbey, one of Yorkshire's great medieval Cistercian ruins.

Maltby Dike flows through the site and has done so since long before the monks arrived here during the 12th century.

Today the combination of woodland, flowing water, countryside and the ruins creates a lovely setting for a relatively short walk.

It's exactly the sort of place we enjoy discovering together.

Roche Abbey

Roche Abbey was founded in 1147 when Cistercian monks came to this secluded South Yorkshire valley.

The location wasn't chosen simply because it was peaceful.

Water was essential to a medieval monastery.

The intersection of Maltby Dike and Hooton Dike provided the monks with two reliable water supplies, and the natural shape of the valley helped determine how the monastery was laid out.

At its height, Roche Abbey was home to a substantial religious community, with monks, lay brothers and servants living and working within the precinct.

Today only part of the original complex survives above ground, but the remaining ruins give you an idea of just how impressive Roche Abbey must once have been.

If you enjoy discovering places with stories like this, explore South Yorkshire attractions and historic places to visit.

Maltby Dike and the Medieval Monastery

Maltby Dike is much more than a picturesque stream running beside the ruins.

It was an essential part of Roche Abbey.

The watercourse runs through the monastic precinct and provided one of the abbey's two principal water supplies.

The monks designed parts of the monastery around the natural flow of the water.

Water was important for everyday life, sanitation and the functioning of a large medieval community.

When you're walking beside Maltby Dike today, you're therefore looking at one of the reasons Roche Abbey was built in this particular valley in the first place.

Life at Roche Abbey

It's easy to look at ruined abbeys today and think of them simply as peaceful religious retreats.

In reality, they were busy communities.

At its peak, Roche Abbey had around 50 monks together with roughly 100 lay brothers and servants.

The monastery required dormitories, dining areas, kitchens, infirmaries, workshops and sanitation facilities.

The monks occupied one part of the cloister complex while the lay brothers had their own areas.

Water from the dikes was crucial to keeping such a large community functioning.

Walking through the valley today, with woodland and countryside surrounding the ruins, it's fascinating to imagine how busy the site would once have been.

The Dissolution of Roche Abbey

Roche Abbey's monastic life came to an end in 1538 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The monastery was suppressed and its buildings were stripped of valuable materials.

Stone, timber, lead and other materials were removed and reused elsewhere.

Over time, the once impressive monastic complex became the ruins we see today.

Maltby Dike, however, continued flowing through the valley.

It's one of the few features of the medieval landscape that has remained constant throughout the centuries.

Capability Brown and Roche Abbey

Roche Abbey entered another interesting chapter during the 18th century.

In the 1770s, the famous landscape designer Lancelot "Capability" Brown redesigned the valley for the Earls of Scarbrough.

Rather than rebuilding the abbey, the romantic ruins became part of a deliberately designed landscape.

Trees, water and views were used to create a picturesque setting around the medieval remains.

So when you're walking around Roche Abbey today, you're experiencing several different layers of history at once – the natural valley, the medieval monastery and an 18th-century designed landscape.

Walking Through the Roche Abbey Valley

For Lyn and me, this is what makes the walk particularly enjoyable.

You're not simply walking through countryside.

The landscape itself tells a story.

The dike influenced where the monks built their monastery. The ruins tell the story of medieval religious life and the Dissolution. The wider landscape reflects the changes introduced centuries later by Capability Brown.

And today, it's somewhere we can simply put our walking shoes on and explore.

That's one of the things we enjoy most about our White Shire walks.

You often start out thinking you're going for a three-mile walk and end up discovering hundreds of years of Yorkshire history along the way.

Is the Maltby Dike Circular Walk Difficult?

No.

Lyn and I found the Maltby Dike Circular Walk to be an easy walk.

At only 3.1 miles, it's also one of our shorter routes.

That makes it a good option if you're looking for an easy South Yorkshire walk without committing yourself to a long distance.

As with any woodland and countryside route, conditions underfoot can change following wet weather.

Paths can become muddy or slippery, so we'd still recommend sensible walking footwear.

Overall, though, we'd definitely put this amongst our easier White Shire walks.

How Long is the Maltby Dike Circular Walk?

Our GPS-recorded Maltby Dike Circular Walk is approximately 3.1 miles.

How long you'll need depends on your walking pace and how much time you spend exploring Roche Abbey.

We wouldn't rush this one.

The abbey is a major part of the experience, so we'd allow time to stop, take photographs and appreciate the ruins and surrounding landscape.

For us, that's much more enjoyable than simply concentrating on completing the mileage.

Where is Maltby Dike?

Maltby Dike flows through the valley containing Roche Abbey near Maltby in South Yorkshire.

The area lies within the Rotherham district, east of Sheffield and south of Doncaster.

That makes this a useful option if you're searching for easy circular walks near Rotherham, Maltby, Sheffield or Doncaster.

Is Roche Abbey Worth Visiting?

Yes – we certainly think so.

Roche Abbey is what turns this from a pleasant three-mile countryside walk into something much more interesting.

The surviving ruins, Maltby Dike and wooded valley create a beautiful setting, but understanding the history makes the experience even better.

You're walking through a landscape occupied by Cistercian monks from the 12th century and later transformed by one of Britain's most famous landscape designers.

For such a relatively short walk, there's a lot to discover.

Is Maltby Dike Important to Roche Abbey?

Very much so.

Maltby Dike was one of the two watercourses that helped determine where Roche Abbey was constructed.

It flowed through the monastic precinct and provided an essential water supply for the community.

The monks incorporated the natural watercourse into the design of the monastery rather than attempting to separate themselves from it.

More than 850 years later, the dike still runs through the ruins.

When is the Best Time to Walk Around Roche Abbey?

This is somewhere we'd consider walking throughout much of the year.

Spring brings new woodland growth, summer gives you longer daylight hours, and autumn should be particularly attractive as the trees around the valley change colour.

Wet weather can naturally affect the paths, so we'd check the forecast and choose appropriate footwear.

The amount of water flowing through Maltby Dike can also change considerably depending on recent rainfall.

Explore More of South Yorkshire

If you've enjoyed discovering Maltby Dike and Roche Abbey, there are plenty more places to explore with us around South Yorkshire.

Discover more South Yorkshire circular walks and find another route personally walked, photographed and GPS recorded by Michael and Lyn.

Or explore our complete collection of Yorkshire circular walks, covering routes across South, West, North and East Yorkshire.

If Roche Abbey has given you a taste for Yorkshire history, discover more South Yorkshire attractions and interesting places to visit.

You can also see what's on in South Yorkshire for events, shows, festivals and ideas for another day out.

About Michael and Lyn

Michael and Lyn Palmer explore Yorkshire together on foot, personally walking, photographing and GPS recording the routes featured on The White Shire.

Our walking guides combine first-hand experience with practical route information, local history and the character of the towns, villages and countryside we discover along the way.

We're not professional hikers – we simply enjoy getting out together, finding somewhere interesting to walk and discovering more of Yorkshire as we go.

Maltby Dike is a perfect example – a nice, easy three-mile walk that also takes you through more than 850 years of South Yorkshire history.

Maltby Dike Circular Walk

View our GPS-recorded 3.1-mile Maltby Dike Circular Walk on Komoot and use the route to help plan your own walk around Maltby Dike and Roche Abbey.

Take your time around the abbey.

For us, this isn't a walk where the aim should be to complete three miles as quickly as possible. Roche Abbey and its beautiful valley are a big part of the experience, so leave yourself enough time to stop, explore and imagine what life here must have been like more than eight centuries ago.

A Brief History of Maltby Dike, Near Roche Abbey