Saturday Walkers' Club

Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1

Walk 33 : Mortimer to Aldermaston or Theale



The Roman town of Calleva

Length 13.1km (8.2 miles), 4 hours. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 7 hours.
Map OS Landranger No. 175. OS Explorer No. 159. Mortimer, map reference SU 673 641, is in Berkshire, 10km south-west of Reading. Aldermaston is also in Berkshire. Silchester and the Roman town of Calleva are in Hampshire.
Toughness 3 out of 10.
Features From St Mary's Church in Stratfield Mortimer, the route follows a clear stream - Foundry Brook - eventually to the amphitheatre and the 2.5km of Roman walls surrounding the 107-acre site of the Roman town of Calleva, and the whitewashed twelfth-century church at its entrance. The lunch stop is at a pub on Silchester Common, and the afternoon route is mainly through woods of Scots pine, and commons of gorse and birch trees. Aldermaston, the teatime destination, is reached over the weirs of the River Kennet. Trains back are approximately every hour on Saturdays and every two hours on Sundays. If your group faces a long wait for a train in winter, when the tea place is closed, you may wish to call for a minibus size taxi (carrying 8 people) on 01635 862 002
Shortening the Walk There are buses about every hour on Saturdays from near the lunchtime pub in Silchester, going to Mortimer (15 mins) or Reading (50 mins).
Lengthening the walk The walk can be extended by just under 4 miles to Theale, via an enjoyable canalside path, making a total of 19.3km (12 miles). This is useful on Sunday when Aldermaston station (at the end of the walk) has a limited train service - there are more trains from Theale. If doing this longer walk in winter, start early so you have enough daylight.
History

The layout of the Roman town of Calleva has survived intact, having been completely abandoned when the Romans withdrew from Britain (the Saxons hated walled towns). However, all the buildings, carefully excavated, have now been reburied to protect them from vandals and the elements. Only the town walls and the amphitheatre are visible. The amphitheatre was built in about 50AD, with space for up to perhaps 9,000 spectators. It would have been used for public executions and shows with wild animals, but only sparingly for gladiatorial contests, since gladiators, dead or alive, were expensive. The town walls required some 160,000 wagon-loads of flint and bonding stones, and were built about 260AD as part of a general move to protect the Roman Empire from mounting unrest. Many of the exhibits from Calleva are on display in Reading Museum. The tiny Calleva Museum, half a kilometre beyond the site, closed in 2006.

The earliest part of St Mary the Virgin Church, Silchester, dates from about 1125. The walls were built with reused Roman bricks. There are two Roman temples underneath the church and graveyard. It has been suggested that John Bluett may have contributed to the building of the church, as the price of escaping a vow to join the crusades. Records show that the church had half a dozen rectors in 1349. Most of them were probably killed by the plague, although one was removed for 'trespass of vert' (taking timber from Pamber Forest).

Lunch The suggested lunchstop is the Calleva Arms (tel. 0118 970 0305) on Silchester Common. It is open weekdays 11am–3pm & 5.30–11pm, Sat 11am–11.30pm and Sun 12noon–11pm; food is served 12noon–2pm; staff appreciate having advance warning of groups.
Tea From February to November the suggested tea place is Kennet & Avon Canal Vistors’ Centre (tel. 0118 971 2868; open Sat 10–4, Sun 11–5; closed Dec and Jan). From 6pm the Butt Inn in Aldermaston (tel. 0118 971 2129; open Sat 12–3 & 6–11, Sun 12–3 & 6.30–9; food from 7pm) is an alternative. It is possible to visit the pub or buffet on the platform at Reading Station while waiting for a connection on the return journey.
Travel by Train
  • Out:
  • Back:
Travel by Car

Start: Mortimer Station is near : RG7 3NY [gmap]

Finish: Aldermaston Station is near : RG7 4JJ [gmap]

Return to your car by train:

  • (park at the start) at 4pm
  • (park at the end) at 10am
OS Explorer Map

159 : Reading, Wokingham & Pangbourne [Amazon]
Revised

This walk was fully revised in : Dec-08

For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Other Thames Valley Walks Henley (round walk), Pangbourne (round walk), Shiplake to Henley, Oxford round walk, Sunningdale to Windsor, Cookham (round walk), Henley to Pangbourne, Henley via Stonor Circular, Henley via Hambleden Circular, Marlow Circular, Goring Circular, Newbury Racecourse to Woolhampton, Appleford Circular, Cholsey to Goring, Maidenhead to Marlow, Thames Path : Reading to Henley, Thames Path : Marlow via Cookham Circular,

Walking Instructions 

[Numbers refer to the map in Time Out Country Walks volume 1]
  1. Coming off the London train on platform 1 at Mortimer Station go over the footbridge to exit the station. Turn right and in 50 metres, at a junction (where to go right takes you over the railway bridge), go left, your direction 315°. In 70 metres follow the road over Foundry Brook and bear left at roundabout, to head up towards the church.
  2. In 70 metres you pass the Cinammon Tree Indian restaurant on your right-hand side. In 165 metres, by a two-armed byway sign, turn left, your direction 210°.
  3. In 75 metres you pass the lychgate entrance to St Mary’s Church, Stratfield Mortimer (probably locked), on your right-hand side. In 25 metres you cross Foundry Brook again and go straight on, with a tarmac drive on your right.
  4. In 35 metres go through a gap in the fence (with a metal fieldgate to its left-hand side) and turn right, following a yellow arrow footpath sign, your direction 235°, with the field fence – and soon the banks of the brook – on your right-hand side. Stay on the path following the yellow arrow signs.
  5. In 400 metres turn right, crossing the brook by a footbridge with metal railings and then immediately left the other side, now on a path with the brook on your left-hand side. In 200 metres you pass a wooden platform bridge on your left.
  6. In 230 metres turn left over a stile (with footpath markers on the far side) your initial direction south, then follow the path along the left-hand side of the field by the edge of the brook. In 365 metres go through a gate and over a wooden planked bridge (going ahead through a hedge and over a ditch) and on planks over a stream.
  7. In 100 metres do not go through a gate on your left, but turn right, following the yellow arrow to the right, still with the brook on your left-hand side, your direction 310°. Follow the path as it curves gradually to the right, following the sweep of the brook for 320 metres. Go through a kissing gate in the far corner of the field and onto a path through a copse. In 35 metres you come to a tarmac road [2] where you turn left, over a bridge, your direction 230°.
  8. In 400 metres ignore a road to the right and keep straight on, past Brocas Lands Farm (as marked on the OS map).
  9. In 100 metres leave the tarmac road (which veers left) and go straight on, along an earth road, your direction 250°. In 200 metres, where this earth road bears left, follow the footpath sign straight across a large field towards pylons, your direction 275°.
  10. 400 metres along this path, and 85 metres before going under the pylon cables, there is a cross paths where you turn left, towards a stile in the hedge, 55 metres away, due south. Go over the stile, and follow a path downhill towards a stile in the valley (which may initially be obscured by crops), your direction 190°. (You are heading towards the left of a timber-framed house on the hillside opposite.) In 45 metres you pass under pylons.
  11. In 80 metres go on a two-plank bridge over a stream and over the stile the other side. Once over the stile, follow a path straight across the field, aiming about 100 metres to the left of the timber-framed house, your direction 190°.
  12. In 175 metres, the other side of the field, go through a V-shaped wooden exit from the field (which has the number 26 and a public footpath sign on the reverse of a post), onto a path where you turn right uphill, your direction 205°. [If you miss this exit, continue up the left-hand side of the field and join the footpath at the top left-hand corner of the field.]
  13. In 85 metres you pass the entrance driveway to a thatched cottage called The Mount. Keep forward and in 90 metres, although your onward route is straight on, detour right on Wall Lane, your direction 340°, and immediately go through the wooden kissing gate on your right-hand side, to visit the Calleva amphitheatre (next to The Mount).
  14. Retrace your steps and continue on the tarmac road you were on previously, southwards. In 100 metres ignore a road to the left and carry straight on, your direction 215°, on Church Lane. In 80 metres you come to the Roman walls of Calleva and a pond on your right-hand side. Beyond it is St Mary the Virgin church in Silchester [3]. Before visiting the church, you might like to go along the Roman walls for 30 metres or so to the rather bedraggled notice about the history of the site.
  15. After visiting the church, return to the church’s wooden swing gate and, just before it, turn right along the top of the walls, your direction 190°, through the churchyard. In 40 metres turn right for 20 metres, to exit the churchyard between two wooden sheds and through a wooden swing gate. Continue on the path along the top of the Roman walls.
  16. In 85 metres go down steps, but at the next gap in the wall go back on top again.
  17. In 265 metres, you have a choice.
    1. Come down off the walls and continue below them. In 300 metres the contours of the old Iron Age ramparts are visible on your left-hand side and you pass a notice with information about the South Gate. The path winds through woodland with the Roman walls on your right-hand side. In 350 metres you go through a wooden swing gate (with an abandoned notice about the site implanted in the trunk of an old tree ahead on your right).
    2. Keep going on the higher level if you wish.
  18. Go left here (ignoring a gate to a field on the left), through a wooden swing gate with a pink arrow on the far side, your direction 285°, with a hedge on the left and fence on your right.
  19. In 135 metres ignore a stile on your right-hand side. In a further 200 metres, go over a stile (a wooden fieldgate on its left-hand side) and onwards. In a further 350 metres you go past a small, green wooden hut, which was the Calleva Museum. It is now closed and its contents are in Reading Museum. Continue for 5 metres, then cross a tarmac lane and go on along a gravel road.
  20. In 60 metres you come to another tarmac road and cross over it to continue on a path. In a further 120 metres, you come to a gravel path, with Silchester Primary School on your right-hand side. Turn left up the path and in 20 metres keep left, your direction 190°, and cross the common. In 250 metres you reach the Calleva Arms, the suggested lunchtime stop.
  21. After lunch, retrace your steps across the common, your direction due north from the pub. You pass a pavilion on your left-hand side. Turn left onto the car park beyond the pavilion and take the exit at the far end leading into a copse (ignore a turning left into playing fields) and in 30 metres you are back at Silchester Primary School. Turn left, with the school fence on your right-hand side, your direction due west.
  22. In 30 metres, at the end of the school fence, do not take the forest track to the right of the fence, but fork left on a more substantial bridleway, your direction 265°. In 135 metres [!] follow the fork to the right, into a landscape of gorse and silver birch. Maintain direction following a faint path. In 80 metres your way is joined by another path from behind, on your left-hand side. Continue forward, your direction 30°.
  23. In 100 metres, you come to a tarmac road. Cross the road and continue on an earth car-wide road, past a wooden field gate, into Aldermaston Soke woods (as marked on the OS map), your direction 5°. Heather Brae House is on your right-hand side. Go straight on through these woods, mainly of Scots pine, ignoring all ways off.
  24. In 1.6km [4] you come out onto a tarmac road. Cross the road and turn left along it, your direction 265°. In 40 metres you pass an electricity substation. In a further 35 metres, you pass under mini-pylons.
  25. 5 metres beyond these pylons you have a choice.
    1. You can avoid walking along the road by taking a footpath to the right, then immediately turning left by the side of a redundant stile, following a yellow arrow. Walk along a path parallel to the road with a wire fence and embankment to its right and trees on the left. In 400 metres, at the far end of the field, with a road gate to the left, cross a stile and turn right
    2. However, this path is often very overgrown and in any case is riddled with rabbit warrens, so you may prefer to stay on the road for 400 metres until you reach a house and gate, where you turn right
  26. Follow a car-wide path with a fence on your right-hand side, your direction due north. In 300 metres follow the fence to the right, your direction 70°. After a while the path turns slightly left through gorse on both sides. Continue and in about 200 metres you emerge into a large field.
  27. Turn left towards pylons, with gorse on your left-hand side. In 120 metres go under the pylons and continue in the same direction, with gorse on the left and soon entering light woodland, maintaining direction at 70°.
  28. In 260 metres, cross a stile and fence on your left-hand side, and in 2 metres go on three planks over a ditch. Direction is marked by a yellow arrow over the ditch. 2 metres beyond the ditch, bear right, your direction 20°, and follow a winding path across open land for 200 metres, ignoring ways off. The path enters a birch copse. When you meet a cross path with a house (Birch Cottage) on the right, continue forward on the path, which then swings to the left, and cross planks over a ditch to join a road.
  29. Turn left. In 35 metres [5] take a sign-posted bridleway to the right, marked ‘The Croft’, your direction 350°, along a rough road.
  30. In 50 metres ignore a turn to the left (to The Croft, House & Stables). In a further 80 metres you pass the thatched Yew Tree Cottage. In 300 metres, with a pond on your left-hand side, ignore a drive to the right and keep left. In 35 metres you pass The Croft Cottage on your left-hand side and continue straight on. In 45 metres fork right with the main path, your direction 345°, keeping a hedge on the right.
  31. In 270 metres your way is joined by a path from the right. Keep straight on, slightly to your left, your direction 320°. (Ignore a path back to the left.) In 30 metres a high fence of barbed wire starts on your right-hand side, guarding a buried BP petrol depot.
  32. In 340 metres you come to a tarmac road where you turn left, your direction 235°, uphill. In 65 metres you pass the entrance drive to the Jubilee Day Nursery on your left-hand side.
    [Note: at this point, the original walk had an option to "turn right onto a footpath that runs parallel to the road with a wire mesh fence on the right-hand side" to avoid walking along the road. We have since learnt that this footpath may be private, so have reinstated the original route. Local reports welcome.]
  33. In 240 metres, by Upper Lodge Farm [6], turn right on an earth road, your direction 345°. In 20 metres you pass a public footpath sign on your right-hand side. Keep straight on, your direction due north. In 35 metres keep forward through a faded white metal fieldgate onto a grassy track between a fence on your left and woodland on your right.
  34. In 300 metres you go over a stile by a wooden fieldgate to come out onto a tarmac road, opposite Padworth College. Turn left on this road, your direction 225°.
  35. In 80 metres turn right onto an earth road, which is a signposted footpath to Padworth Church, your direction 315°. In 80 metres, in front of the lychgate, follow a path to the left, your direction 280°.
  36. In 50 metres you come to a tarmac road where you turn right and continue forward with fields on both sides, your direction 300°. In 60 metres turn left onto an earth road, your direction 250°, towards five concrete mushrooms. By these mushrooms, turn right, on a signposted footpath, your direction 335°.
  37. In 65 metres go over a stile (a wooden fieldgate on its right-hand side) and through a potentially very muddy, horse-churned field, with the fence on your right-hand side. In 190 metres you pass a redundant stile and take the left fork, your direction 290°.
  38. In 210 metres go over a bridge with metal railings and onwards, your direction 295°. In 160 metres, by a four-armed footpath sign, go on three planks over a stream and straight on.
  39. In 100 metres go through a dilapidated fence and onto a bridge over River Kennet Weir. You then cross several other bridges in quick succession (passing a notice about the Salmon Pass Project, which allows fish to get past the weirs) and continue on a path between fencing.
  40. You come out onto an earth car road, by a three-armed footpath sign where you go left, your direction 310°. In 400 metres you pass the Rudolf Steiner Alder Bridge centre. In 130 metres you come to a lock and the main road.
  41. At this point you can stop for tea at a pub, or in the Canal Visitor's centre.
    1. If going to the Butt Inn for tea (open from 6pm), you go left, your direction 210°. In 120 metres you come to the Butt Inn.
    2. If going to Aldermaston Wharf Visitors’ Centre for tea (open February to November), take the road over the bridge, your direction 355°, and turn right on the path to the left of the canal, signposted to Padworth Bridge. In 80 metres you reach the Kennet & Avon Canal Vistors’ Centre.
  42. To finish at nearby Aldermaston Station
    1. If you’re going directly to Aldermaston station, take the road over the bridge and turn left onto Station Road, your direction 320°. In 60 metres fork right, signposted Aldermaston Station. In 120 metres you need to cross over the footbridge to platform 1 for trains to Reading (where you can get a cup of tea while changing trains) and onwards back to London.
  43. To continue along the canal to Theale (which has more trains)
    1. After approx 1.5 miles on the towpath on the northern side of the canal you reach Ufton Bridge where you swap to the southern side of the canal.
    2. Thence you continue along the towpath or paths across fields beside the canal for another 2 plus miles passing a number of locks, including Sulhamstead swing bridge and lock.
    3. When you reach Sheffield Bottom swing bridge, turn left over the bridge into Station Road. Do not overshoot: there are some white cottages immediately in front of you when you reach this bridge.
    4. Proceed down Station Road. Theale station is over the bridge on your right.
    5. If time permits a tea stop, go past the station and on over the bridge, over a roundabout and under the A4 bridge until you reach the Crown Inn pub, or use the convenience store almost opposite (about 400 metres from the station).