Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Berkshire

Watlington Hill circular walk

Chiltern Escarpment | © National Trust / Hugh Mothersole

This 7-mile walk takes you across Watlington Hill, dropping down onto the Oxfordshire Plain following the ancient Icknield Way, before ascending the Chiltern Escarpment through Greenfield Copse. Continuing across several small valleys on the dip slope of the Chilterns, the route returns to Christmas Common and to Watlington Hill via an ancient Saxon lane that was once the spinal route of a Chiltern strip parish.

Near to

Chilterns Countryside

Start point

National Trust car park at Watlington Hill. Grid ref: SU710935.

Trail information

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Difficulty*

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 7 (km: 11.2)

Duration3 hours 30 mins

Dog friendly**

*The walk is mainly on soft footpaths with several short but steep descents and ascents. For further details, please see Terrain section.
**Dogs are welcome. For further details, please see section marked Facilities.

Map of the area

We strongly recommend using the local 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map (OS Explorer 171) in addition to these instructions.

Address
Watlington Hill car park, Hill Rd, Watlington, Oxfordshire, OX49 5HS
Directions via Google Maps
On foot
Watlington Hill is a short walk from Watlington town centre. Please see OS map 171.
By bus
There are local bus services to Watlington from Thame, Reading, Oxford, Henley-on-Thames and Wallingford. Please contact local bus companies for details.
Cycling
Please see OS map 171. The path is just off the Chilterns Cycleway, very close to Christmas Common. From Christmas Common, turn down Hill Road (signposted to Watlington). The National Trust car park is 470m on the left.
By road
Leave the M40 at junction 6 and take the B4009 south-west into Watlington. Take the first turning left uphill towards Christmas Common. The National Trust car park on Watlington Hill is on the right. Satnav: the nearest postcode is OX49 5HS.
Dogs
Dogs are welcome, but must be kept under strict control to protect the wildlife and the livestock that may be encountered along the walk route. On some paths, the landowners require all dogs to be kept on a lead at all times.
Car park
Parking is available at Watlington Hill – pay and display, or free to National Trust members. Grid ref: SU709935.
Picnic area
Benches and other places to picnic can be found on Watlington Hill. Please take your litter home with you.
Pub
The Fox and Hounds in Christmas Common.
The walk is mainly on soft footpaths. There are several short but steep descents and ascents. Some paths, especially Hollandridge Lane, can be muddy and slippery after prolonged or heavy rain. There are a number of stiles and gates on the route and you will need to cross some country roads that can be busy at peak times. There is a short stretch on-road at Christmas Common. Stout walking shoes or walking boots are recommended in wet conditions or after heavy rain.

Please note that parts of the route from point 4 onwards are not on land we look after. As such, we don't check for hazards on these sections of the walk. Walkers follow this route at their own risk.
Total stages: 13
Total stages: 13
Start point
National Trust car park at Watlington Hill. Grid ref: SU710935.
Stage 1
Leave the car park on the path to the left of the large signboard and parking meter into an area of woodland. Cross a track to a private property and then continue straight ahead on the wide path through scrubland to a gate.
Watlington Hill
The hill is a nationally important home to rare wild flowers, butterflies, birds, mosses, lichens and fungi. The short chalk grassland turf was created by centuries of sheep grazing, but is now maintained by rabbits and deer. Reducing the level of tree and scrub cover, which grew rapidly when the rabbit population was decimated by myxomatosis in the 1950s, maintains the delicate chalk habitat that is vital for the survival of rare species of fauna and invertebrates.
Stage 2
Go through the gate to an area of open, closely cropped grassland. Continue on the grassy path ahead. You will soon see views on your right towards Pyrton Hill and Shirburn Hill further to the north-east along the Chiltern Escarpment. Continue straight ahead along the ridge of Watlington Hill. 400m beyond the gate the path heads more steeply downhill and slightly to the right. Keeping to the right, head downhill towards Watlington. About halfway down you reach the Watlington White Mark on your left.
The Watlington Hill White Mark
In 1764, the local squire Edward Horne gave Watlington a more unusual talking point. He felt that the Norman parish church of St Leonard, when viewed from his home, would be more impressive if it had a spire. To create the illusion, he designed the 82m steeple-shaped Watlington White Mark, which he had cut into the chalk escarpment of Watlington Hill, perfectly placed to complete his view.
The Watlington Hill White Mark | © National Trust / Hugh Mothersole
Stage 3
From the White Mark, continue steeply downhill heading for a gate in the lower right-hand corner of the Watlington Hill site. From the gate head down a short track to meet a road, then continue down the roadside path for a further 20m, and then turn left onto the Ridgeway long distance footpath, which at this point follows the route of the ancient Icknield Way.
The Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England between Norfolk and Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. It is thought to be one of the oldest traceable routes in Britain, although this has been disputed. The earliest mentions of the Icknield Way are in Anglo-Saxon charters from the year 903 onwards. The charters refer to several locations that span a distance of 40 miles from Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire.
The Icknield Way | © National Trust / Hugh Mothersole
Stage 4
After 30m at a fork bear right and continue on the Ridgeway for 850m until you reach the B480 road. Cross the road. Almost immediately on your left you will see a gap by a metal gate leading into a field. Go through the gap and follow the public bridleway parallel to a hedge and lane. To your left are views back towards Watlington Hill and the Chiltern Escarpment. Just after a bench near the corner of the field, pass through a gap by a metal gate. Here turn immediately left onto a lane, ignoring the track that leads to a gate.
Stage 5
The lane takes you past Dame Alice Farm on your right and a barn and cottages on your left. Note the cottage on your left, which is built from chalk stone. This is exceptional as chalk, although it is widely available, is rarely strong enough to make a good building stone.
Stage 6
About 130m after the cottage turn left onto footpath W11 running between a copse on the left and a hedge on the right. Follow this path for another 720m until you reach the B480 road. Taking great care, turn right along the road for 60m on the narrow grass verge until you reach the gateway to the house named Dumble Dore.
Stage 7
When safe, cross the road and then cross a stile to the right of the gate. On the stile is a white arrow for path W10. Bear right on this path gently uphill along the edge of a field with a hedge on your right. At the corner of the field, pass through a gap to the left of a gate into a woodland. The path now rises quite steeply and then descends to reach two sets of gates at a junction of paths and tracks. Go straight ahead, following the arrow marked W9. As you start climbing and 60m past the second gate, take the left fork, following path W15. You will pass a No Riding sign. Continue uphill through Greenfield Copse. The path will eventually level out and lead you to a gate in a wall.
Greenfield Copse
The copse stands behind the long brick estate wall that borders the lane to Christmas Common. Like many Chilterns beechwoods, the beech trees in Greenfield Copse have been managed for timber production. As the path levels out, to your right you will see the remains of ancient earthworks, possibly part of an Iron Age enclosure for habitation or for livestock. They’ve never been investigated by archaeologists. The upper part of Greenfield Copse has a carpet of bluebells each spring.
Stage 8
Take care as you go through the gate, leading directly onto a road. Cross the road into the entrance to Greenfield Farm (the Tree Barn) opposite. Follow the lane ahead that skirts to the left of a large barn. It eventually becomes a rough track between low hedges. When the main track bears right, continue straight ahead downhill towards woodland. On entering the woodland, continue straight ahead. This track then curves to the left and drops down to a valley bottom, where there is a junction of tracks. Here turn left downhill then continue for 450m until you meet another junction.
Stage 9
At the crossing of paths turn left on path W21. You will soon meet a second junction of paths but continue straight ahead and uphill following the blue Chiltern Way marker on a post. The path rises and falls through a variety of woodland landscapes until it drops down to yet another junction of paths and tracks in a small clearing.
Stage 10
Go across the clearing, bearing slightly left, and follow path PS8 (also the Chiltern Way – CW), ignoring two sets of vehicle tracks to the left. This rises steeply on the right side of a small valley. At the top turn left to join path PS5 then at the edge of the woodland go through a gate into a field. The path heads slightly right uphill following the field edge on your right until you come to a gate at the top right corner of the field.
Stage 11
Go through the gate and turn left into an unsurfaced lane. You are now on Hollandridge Lane. Follow the lane between fields and woodlands for 1.6 km (1 mile), ignoring any side paths or tracks. 170m after the lane becomes surfaced and leaves the woodland, look out for a signpost pointing left to the Oxfordshire Way bridleway
Hollandridge Lane
This is a Saxon road that formed part of the spine road of the 12-mile long ancient strip parish of Pyrton. Strip parishes had narrow elongated shapes, generally established during the Anglo-Saxon and early medieval period. In the Chiltern Hills, settlements were established in the lowland areas along the more sheltered base of the Chiltern Escarpment, with parish territories extending onto the largely uninhabited hillside areas to exploit scarce resources such as woodland and upland summer pastures.
Hollandridge Lane | © National Trust / Hugh Mothersole
Stage 12
Turn left onto the Oxfordshire Way bridleway, then immediately right onto footpath PS1/OW, which heads diagonally across Queen Wood. Look out for white arrows on the trees to guide your way. On reaching a crossing path, keep straight ahead between buildings passing the churchyard on your left. You will soon emerge onto a road where you turn right
Stage 13
After 100m you pass the Fox and Hounds pub on your left. After another 300m turn left into a lane signposted to Watlington. Follow Hill Lane for 420m, ignoring the first footpath sign on your left, until you reach a second footpath sign. Turn left and then immediately right to return to the car park at Watlington Hill.
End point
National Trust car park at Watlington Hill. Grid ref: SU710935.
Trail map
Watlington Hill circular walking map | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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