Coleshill purple walk
Splendid views of the White Horse Hill and Uffington Castle are a highlight of this gentle trail through the traditionally farmed estate land at Coleshill. Ramblers can also take a short detour to visit the magnificent Great Coxwell Barn and the nearby 12th century village church. Route is marked with purple way markers.
Map
Start:
The Cuckoopen Plantation, Coleshill, grid ref: SU 243 939
1
Park at the Cuckoopen Plantation. Follow road towards Faringdon and cross the road to Ashen Copse Farm drive. Continue straight on to the farm. From here you will find the best views of White Horse Hill.
White Horse Hill
When the light is right this enigmatic creature can be seen perpetually leaping across the distant Ridgeway escarpment. Close by, the Iron Age hill fort, Uffington Castle crowns the landscape. Mystery surrounds the Bronze Age figure that has been cut out of the chalk downland. Initially, it was thought to be Iron Age or Anglo-Saxon possibly built to celebrate King Alfred's victory over the Danes. But new testing methods on soil samples showed that the white horse was much older and about 3,000 years old.
2
A shorter walk can be taken by turning right at Ashen Copse Farm and following directions back to Coleshill across the park as described in Coleshill's red or green walks.
3
Turn left immediately before the farm and keep the farm buildings to your right. Turn right into a field.
4
Walk diagonally across the field, through two gates and continue diagonally across a second field and through another gate before entering into a small wood. Turn left and over a footbridge and a stile.
5
Bear right, then left and walk around field following hedge. Follow a track which bends to the right until you reach a gate. Go through the gate and cross three fields through gates and over a stile until you reach Great Coxwell village.
6
Turn left through a kissing gate and cross a gravelled driveway past some private houses following the footpath past "Cedar Lodge". Go through a gate into a paddock. Bear right through two gates where you will continue around edge of field to the left of a white house.
7
To continue the walk, turn left at the track. (To make a detour to visit the Great Barn and the 12th century Church turn right onto Puddleduck Lane and into the village, then return to this point). Continue along the track, cross open fields with ridge and furrow until you reach a farm track. Turn right through Colleymore Farm.
Great Coxwell Barn
Step inside and wonder at the magnificent wooden structure of this striking Cotswold rubble stone and slate building. The Barn is the sole surviving part of a thriving 13th century grange that once provided vital income to Beaulieu Abbey. Standing alone on the edge of the village, it is a place of tranquillity and peace. It was a favourite of William Morris who would regularly bring his guests to wonder at the structure. Morris called it 'unapproachable in its dignity'.
8
Cross the road and follow Brimstone Farm drive. Turn left before the right hand bend. Cross a field, a stile and footbridge passing Fern Copse on your right and walk uphill to Cuckoopen Plantation. Turn left at the woods and follow the perimeter to return to the car park, or turn right, skirt around the wood. Enter the wood and follow path to left through woods back to the car park.
Badbury Hill and farm views
Take time to savour the views of the traditionally worked farmland crested by Badbury Hill to the west.
End:
The Cuckoopen Plantation, Coleshill, grid ref: SU 243 939
