Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Berkshire

Buscot Red Walk

Wooden lock gates with picturesque lockkeepers hut to one side — Buscot Lock, Oxfordshire | © National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole

Discover Buscot village and the surrounding countryside on this circular riverside walk. One of the prettiest stretches of the 180-mile Thames Path, it's an easygoing route that mixes bucolic scenery with plenty of historical titbits. Follow it round to find the smallest lock currently on the River Thames at Buscot Weir, two Second World War bunkers and the remarkable remnants of a Victorian-era industrial farm.

Near to

Buscot and Coleshill Estates

Start point

Buscot Village National Trust car park, grid ref: SU23098

Trail information

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Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 3 (km: 4.8)

Duration1 hour 15 mins to 1 hour 45 mins

Dog friendly***

*A largely flat riverside walk with some gentle slopes in the latter stages. For further details, please see Terrain section.
**Access difficult due to uneven ground, narrow paths in places, and gated areas. For further details, please see section marked Access.
***Dogs welcome. For further details, please see section marked Facilities.

Total stages: 9
Total stages: 9
Start point
Buscot Village National Trust car park, grid ref: SU23098
Stage 1
Park in the National Trust visitors car park in Buscot, which is on the right-hand side as you drive through the village. Once parked, turn right out of the car park and walk down the the road to Buscot Lock.
Buscot village
Buscot village was originally developed around the church. The degeneration of this earlier site probably began in the 14th century with the Black Death and the enclosure of land for sheep. The village as it is today has its origins in the mid-19th century, when housing was required for a growing estate workforce. The cottages, the oldest of which lie at the village's northern end, were constructed of bricks which were made on the estate using locally sourced raw materials. Some stone-built cottages are clustered around the southern end of the village; these were built to provide better quality housing for estate workers, compared to the earlier brick-built dwellings.
Stage 2
Cross the lock gates and turn right onto the Thames Path.
Stage 3
Follow this path over a bridge and continue with the river to your right. You will pass a Second World War bunker.
WWII pillbox by the River Thames at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire | © National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole
Stage 4
Eventually enter a willow spinney through a gate. Continue and cross a wooden bridge over the Thames to the right.
Stage 5
Pass through the Anchor Boat Club onto a farm track. Bear right diagonally across field to the opposite corner (sometimes the farmer moves the path slightly further up the track and along the hedgerow to avoid livestock).
Stage 6
Turn right through a gate and follow the hedge. Cross a footbridge and cross two fields to a gate beside the road. Turn right onto the track.
Stage 7
Turn left through a gate before reaching the house and follow the hedge on your right around to the right by the house and pond. Go through the gate and turn left following the edge of the field along to Buscot Wharf.
Stage 8
Head through the kissing gate and over the footbridge back into the Weir field.
Stage 9
Turn left at the road to return to the car park.
End point
Buscot Village National Trust car park, grid ref: SU23098
Trail map
Buscot Red Walk, Oxfordshire | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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