Farnborough parkland walk
This circular 5.5 mile-walk follows the Grade I-listed parkland of Farnborough Hall, enjoying views of churches with tall steeples and the mile-long terrace along the route.
Near to
Farnborough HallStart point
National Trust car park, Farnborough Hall, Farnborough Village, OX17 1DU, grid reference: 429495Trail information
Total stages: 8
Total stages: 8
Start point
National Trust car park, Farnborough Hall, Farnborough Village, OX17 1DU, grid reference: 429495
Stage 1
Turn right out of the car park towards Sourlands Pool, then turn sharp left over the bridge and past the lower weir. Walk along the side of the pool until you reach the end, then turn left next to the second weir. Walk down the steps and follow the woodland track through the narrow belt of trees to the road.
Stage 2
Turn right and walk along the road for 437yd (400m) until you reach the public footpath sign on the right and an overgrown stile. Walk diagonally to the left across the arable land to reach the top of the hill, heading for a hidden stile, which is located past the trees halfway along the fence line.
Stage 3
Continue straight on across the arable land to reach the next stile and the gorse field beyond. Keeping tight to the upper tree line, walk straight on until you reach the next stile in the corner of the field. Looking right, follow the obvious path to an obsolete stile before reaching a metal gate. Follow the pathway through the long grass and towards the back of a metal shed, turn left and then right to walk alongside the shed and then left again, to walk down the track reaching the road through the village of Avon.
Stage 4
Turn right at the road and head up the hill in the village towards the church, taking care to keep to the footpath. Walk up to the church and take the small public footpath on the right, directly after the graveyard. Carry on uphill until you reach the end of the hidden pathway and reach the small back road. Turn right and climb the stile over the gate into the field.
Avon Dasset Church | © Pete Cox Stage 5
Turn left in the field and walk along the fence line to a hidden gateway in the far left corner. Walk straight on along the track and through the next gate into the pasture. Continue straight on, passing a small overgrown quarry on the left, to the next stile to the right of the house at the boundary hedge. Cross the road with care and join the permissive footpath across the next arable field and through the obvious gap in the hedgerow, then walk uphill diagonally to the left through the field, until you reach the hedgerow. Turn right along the field boundary, walking uphill to reach a viewpoint looking down towards Fenny Compton on the left and Priors Marston to the right, in the distance.
Pick up the way markers and follow the directions to Farnborough Village | © Pete Cox Stage 6
Carry on down the hill crossing two arable fields, turn sharp right at the boundary next to a small bridge. Turn right and walk back diagonally across the second field, reaching a small bridge next to a large oak tree, halfway along the field set in the hedge row marked with a public footpath sign. Turn left, walking diagonally until you reach the far right corner of the field. Go through the gap in the hedgerow and walk up the field until you reach the grass field hedgerow, turn left and walk along the boundary to the corner of the field and cross over the bridge into the field.
Stage 7
Leave the bridge and walk straight ahead towards the rear side of the waterhole. Turn left and follow the boundary hedge, passing by the obvious dry bridge and towards the stile in the right corner of the field with Windmill hill ahead. Continue to the brow of the hill, passing gorse on the right and a small plantation of trees on the left. Farnborough village will appear as you reach the top of the hill. Walk down the hill and through the metal gate, passing to the right of the waterhole, before reaching another stile at the bottom of the field. Follow the small hidden pathway to the village.
Stage 8
Turn right in the village and make your way past the village pub and along the quiet road out of the village, keeping to the right. Pass Farnborough Hall on the left and then with care, follow a narrow road around to the right with high walls on both sides, before arriving back at Sourlands Pool and the car park.
End point
National Trust car park, Farnborough Hall, Farnborough Village, OX17 1DU, grid reference: 429495
Trail map
Trail map route for Farnborough parkland walk | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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Farnborough Hall
Honey-coloured stone house with exquisite plasterwork and fine landscaped garden
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