Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Berkshire

Hambleden Valley, Turville and Fingest

View of village lying in valley surrounded by wooded hills and fields — View of Fingest village, Chilterns | © National Trust / Hugh Mothersole

This 10.2 mile circular walk starts from the village of Hambleden. It crosses the Hamble Brook chalk stream before climbing into the lovely hills and woods to the west of the Hambleden Valley. The walk then descends to the picturesque villages of Turville and Fingest and then climbs a hill to give a magnificent view over Fingest before turning south for a gentle return to Hambleden along the valley floor. The villages and countryside you see on the walk have proved irresistible to film and television companies. And this walk has another bonus: it takes you past four highly rated pubs.

Near to

Chilterns Countryside

Start point

Pay & Display public car park at Hambleden Village, grid ref: SU785865

Trail information

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Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 10.2 (km: 16.32)

Short trail

DistanceMiles: 9.5 (km: 15.2)

Duration4 hours to 5 hours

Dog friendly***

*A long walk along mostly flat (but rough) ground with a few moderate climbs. For further details, please see Terrain section.
**Uneven woodland and farmland paths, with some stiles. For further details, please see section marked Access.
***Dogs welcome under close control. For further details, please see section marked Facilities.

Hazards

Please note that none of the route is on National Trust land. As such, the National Trust does not check for hazards on the walk. Walkers therefore follow this route at their own risk.

Address
Car park, Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, RG9 6SE
Directions via Google Maps
By bus
Arriva and Carousel Buses run regular services between High Wycombe and Reading (Route 800, 850 and 80X) which stop at Mill End, Hambleden.
Cycling
The route itself is not suitable for bicycles, but it is within easy cycling distance of Reading, Wargrave, Marlow, Twyford or High Wycombe.
By road
From Marlow: follow the A4155 towards Henley-on-Thames for 4.7 miles. At Mill End turn right towards Hambleden. Head north for just under a mile and then turn right into Hambleden Village. Go past the church yard, and where the road turns sharp left, go straight ahead towards the Stag and Huntsman. The public car park is just after the pub.
From Henley-on-Thames: Follow the A4155 towards Marlow for 2.8 miles. At Mill End turn right towards Hambleden. Head north for just under a mile and then turn right into Hambleden Village. Go past the church yard, and where the road turns sharp left, go straight ahead towards the Stag and Huntsman. The public car park is just after the pub.
Dogs
Dogs are welcome but should be kept under strict control to protect wildlife and livestock. Game birds are reared in some stretches near Hambleden. Dogs must be kept on a lead here.
Toilet
Free public toilets at the Mill End car park in Skirmett Road, half a mile south of Hambleden (grid ref: SU785854).
Shop
Village store and post office in Hambleden, with snacks, drinks and a small café.
Pub
The Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden, The Bull and Butcher in Turville, The Chequers Inn in Fingest, The Frog in Skirmett.
Total stages: 11
Total stages: 11
Start point
Pay & Display public car park at Hambleden Village, grid ref: SU785865
Stage 1
Turn left from the car park entrance then walk back through the village centre towards the Henley road, passing the church and then the store on your right. Cross the small bridge over the Hamble Brook to meet a road T-junction. Take care crossing the road then join a footpath heading uphill beside metal railings. Go through a kissing gate and continue uphill, ignoring two level paths to the left. When the path starts to turn downhill you meet a sign-posted junction of bridleways.
The Hamble Brook
The Hamble Brook is a chalk stream that flows into the River Thames at Mill End. The volume of water flowing in the Brook is heavily dependent on the amount of rain that has fallen on the chalk aquifer in the surrounding hills; it can completely dry up after long dry periods. The Chilterns Conservation Board has a delightful short film, 'The Hamble Brook: a Chalkstream Reborn' that you can watch on YouTube. It shows the Brook in full spate in February 2013 after very heavy rainfall during the previous year.
Stage 2
Turn right uphill, then after about 50m turn right again when you meet a crossing path. The path soon heads downhill through mixed woodland with views of Hambleden village below on the right. You pass through an avenue of Wellingtonia trees (an American giant redwood) aligned with the Manor House in the village. Eventually the path approaches the valley floor at a junction of paths with an open field ahead.
Stage 3
Turn sharply left uphill on a path inside the woodland edge. Leave the woodland and follow the footpath sign left across an open field. Some 60m after re-entering woodland you come to a crossroad of paths. Turn right here onto a surfaced track. After about 250m you will see a signposted footpath on the left.
Stage 4
Turn left off the surfaced track through trees. After 150m bear left to join a track coming from the right. The path eventually goes down into a dip where you meet another surfaced track. Cross this and head uphill. After about 200m bear right at the junction with a path joining from the left. After a while this path becomes indented into the hillside in places, a sign of its ancient use. This section of the walk also follows Shakespeare’s Way. The path leaves woodland and levels off to follow a hedge line with open fields on either side. About 400m after leaving the woodland you meet a crossing footpath.
Shakespeare's Way, Chilterns Countryside | © David Ellis
Stage 5
Turn right over a stile then follow a fenced path across the field. Go through a gate then bear left and follow another fenced path along the edge of another field. Go over another stile to re-enter the woodland. Continue through woodland until you pass through a blue-grey gate then meet a road where you turn left. As the road leaves the woodland it meets another road coming from the left. Turn right here over a stile into a field. At another stile the path re-enters woodland. Bear left then head downhill to meet a woodland track in a dip.
Stage 6
Turn right downhill along the track. The track winds through mixed woodland and through an area that has been cleared of conifer trees and partially replanted. Turn right when the track emerges from the woodland onto a road. About 150m along the road you come to a lay-by on the right with a field gate.
Stage 7
Turn left opposite the field gate through a narrow opening in the hedge, then bear diagonally right uphill across a field. Bear right when you meet a path running next to a hedge. Continue ahead through a gate and join a small road to pass the school on your left as you enter Turville village. The road brings you to the village centre with St Mary Church immediately on your left.
Turville
Turville is arguably the most attractive village in the Chilterns. It has a long history: records first mention it in 9th century, the church of St Mary The Virgin dates back 12th century, and several of the picturesque cottages and the pub date from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Many films and television programmes have been recorded here. The Vicar of Dibley is the best known, but possibly the first is the 1942 propaganda film Went The Day Well?, which shows plucky English villagers fighting an invasion by German fifth columnists. Cobstone Wildmill nearby featured in the 1968 children’s film, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Stage 8
Bear right across the small village centre, with The Bull and Butcher pub on your right, and over the road to join a small lane with a Cobstones marker sign, Follow it uphill between houses and towards the Cobstone Windmill on the hill. Go through a small gate then immediately right through another. Bear right diagonally uphill across a field, then go through another gate onto woodland path. Cross the road then continue ahead, ignoring a path to the left, and go downhill between a fence and a wall until you emerge onto a road. Bear left along the road into Fingest, with St Bartholomew Church on your left and The Chequers pub on your right.
Fingest
Like Turville, Fingest has Anglo-Saxon origins. The parish church of St Bartholemew is Norman, originally built in the early 12th century. Its west tower is very unusual in having a double gable saddleback roof, one of only two English churches with this design. Another unusual feature is that the tower is larger than the nave, as in pre-Conquest churches. There is an old custom after a wedding at the church. During the wedding ceremony the gates are tied together with white rope or ribbon. The groom then lifts his bride over the gates and out of the churchyard, cheered on by the wedding guests.
Stage 9
FULL TRAIL (see below for the slightly shorter and less hilly Short Trail option.) Continue on the road past the Chequers Inn for 100m then turn right into a field through a small gate beside a larger metal gate. Follow the Chiltern Way path uphill. Pause towards the top by a bench to enjoy the view back down to Fingest and beyond. Continue through a wood and across a field, then through a gate to join a woodland track. After 50m, as the track bends to the left, turn right downhill through a gap besides the gate at the entrance to the Woodland Trust’s Adam’s Wood. Continue on the track. After 170m, at a junction of paths just past a bench, fork left downhill in the same direction. After about 400m the path emerges from woodland then continues down a track to meet a road on a sharp bend. Just before the road turn right through a gate into a field. Go straight downhill across fields towards the housing of Skirmett. Turn left and continue along the road through the village, past The Frog pub until the road turns sharply to the right. SHORT TRAIL (dashed line on map) Retrace your steps and go back along the road away from the church. Where this road bends left turn right uphill on the road marked to Turville and Ibstone. After 200m, at the junction of a road turning right to Ibstone, turn left onto a footpath. Continue across fields until the path rejoins the Fingest to Hambleden road. Continue on the road towards Hambleden, passing through the hamlet of Skirmett and past The Frog at Skirmett pub. Continue through the village until the road bends sharply right at a junction.FULL TRAIL (see below for the slightly shorter and less hilly Short Trail option.) Continue on the road past the Chequers Inn for 100m then turn right into a field through a small gate beside a larger metal gate. Follow the Chiltern Way path uphill. Pause towards the top by a bench to enjoy the view back down to Fingest and beyond. Continue through a wood and across a field, then through a gate to join a woodland track. After 50m, as the track bends to the left, turn right downhill through a gap besides the gate at the entrance to the Woodland Trust’s Adam’s Wood. Continue on the track. After 170m, at a junction of paths just past a bench, fork left downhill in the same direction. After about 400m the path emerges from woodland then continues down a track to meet a road on a sharp bend. Just before the road turn right through a gate into a field. Go straight downhill across fields towards the housing of Skirmett. Turn left and continue along the road through the village, past The Frog pub until the road turns sharply to the right. SHORT TRAIL (dashed line on map) Retrace your steps and go back along the road away from the church. Where this road bends left turn right uphill on the road marked to Turville and Ibstone. After 200m, at the junction of a road turning right to Ibstone, turn left onto a footpath. Continue across fields until the path rejoins the Fingest to Hambleden road. Continue on the road towards Hambleden, passing through the hamlet of Skirmett and past The Frog at Skirmett pub. Continue through the village until the road bends sharply right at a junction.
Stage 10
Turn left up the road signposted to Frieth and Lane End. After 30m turn right off the road onto a footpath signposting the Chiltern Way. This path now extends south in a more or less straight line for some 2 miles/3.5km to take you back to Hambleden along the floor of the Hambleden Valley. The path does a slight left/right dogleg then continues to the right of a hedge. Later the path briefly joins a small road near Colstrope Farm. After crossing some open fields you reach the small village of Pheasants Hill. Cross over a small lane and continue along a narrow footpath between high hedges, until you reach open farmland again. Continue straight ahead following the Chiltern Way footpath. As you approach Hambleden, the path bends right to meet a road.
Hambleden Valley
The Hambleden valley extends north from the River Thames and, like most Chilterns valleys, was largely sculpted by glacial meltwaters during the recent Ice Age. The surrounding chalk hillsides have poor, thin soils and are heavily wooded. The thicker soils on the valley floor support crop growing and become water meadows for cattle grazing towards the Thames. This area was a focus for early settlement: the remains of two Roman villas have been found between Hambleden and Mill End, with further Roman remains found at Skirmett.
The Hambleden Valley on the approach to Pheasant's Hill | © National Trust/Davis Ellis
Stage 11
Turn left along the road then, after 100m, turn left to enter the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin church. You leave the churchyard through the main entrance to return to the village centre. The car park where you started the walk is 100m on your left.
Hambleden
Hambleden is another very pretty Chilterns village, with brick-and-flint cottages clustered around the St Mary the Virgin church, which dates from the 12th century. The Hambleden Estate includes most of these cottages, the village store and the pub, together with some 1600 acres of surrounding woodland and farmland. The estate was owned from the 1870s by the Smith family of W H Smith fame. Today much of its income comes from farming, pheasant shooting and from film and TV companies.
End point
Pay & Display public car park at Hambleden Village, grid ref: SU785865
Trail map
Hambleden Valley, Turville and Fingest walk | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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