The Cole and its Landscape

Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Berkshire

An aerial view of the green English countryside with fields, trees and newly created dry ponds — Newly created ponds and scrapes at Buscot and Coleshill Estate, Oxfordshire | © National Trust Images / James Dobson

A circular walk following a section of the river Cole and its surrounding wetland, as well as the landscape which gives the Cole its beautiful setting.

Near to

Buscot and Coleshill Estates

Start point

Main visitor car-park at Coleshill

Trail information

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Difficulty

Accessibility*

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 4.5 (km: 7.2)

Duration1 hour 30 mins

Dog friendly**

*Walk covers various rights of way across the estate with a range of surfaces, including dirt tracks, grass paths and woodland floor. There is a short flight of steps to access Cuckoopen wood and several kissing gates along the route.
**Dogs are welcome, but must be under effective control or on a lead. Please follow signs for further information.

Check weather conditions

After periods of heavy rain the track near Waterloo lodge can become flooded and may become impassable.

Dogs
Dogs are welcome under effective control, or on a lead. Free grazing cattle are often present between March-October. Please be responsible when walking near livestock, especially those with young. Try not to get too close and keep your dog on a lead under close control. If approached by cows, move away as carefully and quietly as possible, and if necessary let go of your dog's lead and let it run free, the dog will outrun the cows.
Toilet
Toilets, including an accessible toilet, can be found in the Carpenters’ Yard of Home Farm at the start/end of the walk.
Café
The nearest café is in the Carpenters’ Yard at Home Farm, the start and end point of the walk. In Coleshill village, a short walk from the start/end point, there is also the Radnor Arms pub.
Total stages: 6
Total stages: 6
Start point
Main visitor car-park at Coleshill
Stage 1
Turn left out of the Parkland and walk towards the village green. Cross the main road and turn right, following the pavement through the village, heading uphill.
Stage 2
Just after the pavement runs out there is a short flight of steps into the bottom of Cuckoopen Wood. Follow the waymarkers through the wood, exiting in the car park follow the verge to a track on the right. Turn right down the track.
Stage 3
Follow this track for approximately two kilometres, before you get to Tithe Farm, turn right along a track, following the field edge.
Stage 4
Continue along this track, passing Pea Pits Copse. When you are in front of Strattenborough Castle farm, turn right and follow the track, passing Waterloo Lodge and entering Waterloo Copse.
Stage 5
Shortly after entering Waterloo Copse look for a gate entering the Parkland on your left. Pass through the gate and following the field edge initially and then the mill leat.
Stage 6
Continue to follow the mill leet until you pass through a metal kissing gate. Follow the path around the edge of the parkland, and exit the parkland via the cattle grid. Turn right and return to the car park where you started the walk.
Wetlands
The floodplain of the river Cole has a rich history of habitat creation. In the 1990s the river Cole was chosen for a pioneering restoration scheme that restored the original course of the river by recreating meanders and backwaters. More recently work has been carried out to improve the wider floodplain, with a mosaic of ponds, giants’ graves and scrapes holding more water in the landscape, creating habitats for rare wetland plants and birds such as Lapwing and Snipe.
End point
Main Car Park, Coleshill
Trail map
The Cole and its Landscape Walk Map | © Bronwen Thomas
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Get in touch

Coleshill, near Swindon, Wiltshire, SN6 7PT

01793762209

buscotandcoleshill@nationaltrust.org.uk

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The Cole and its Landscape

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