Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 38 : Hanborough to Charlbury
Blenheim Palace & Cornbury Park
| Length | 21km (13 miles), 6 hours 30 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 12 hours. |
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| OS Landranger Map | No.164. Hanborough, map reference SP 433 142, is in Oxfordshire, 7km north-west of Oxford. |
| Toughness | 6 out of 10. |
| Features | The River Evenlode and its soft, easy hills and fertile countryside inspired Tolkien's Hobbit Shire. At lunchtime you could take a dip in the river and picnic in the meadow by the Stonesfield Ford and the old slate quarries. Before lunch, there are the 2,000 acres of the Great Park leading to Blenheim Palace and its lake, and the Column of Victory that the first Duke of Marlborough had placed on the horizon so that he could see it from his bedroom. Once over the wall out of the park, the route is along Akeman Street, the old Roman road from Alchester to Cirencester, with big stone slabs from the old road still visible in places. Stonesfield, Finstock and Charlbury are the delightful stone villages on this walk, with every front garden seemingly competing for some award. The walk enters Charlbury along a footpath beside Lord Rotherwick's deer park, Cornbury Park - a newish footpath for which the county council paid Lord Rotherwick some £350,000 for his 'loss of amenity'. |
| Shortening the Walk | At point [7] in the book'swalk directions, you can, if you are tired, turn right to go directly into Stonesfield for lunch, without going down to the riverbank. After lunch, you can walk straight along the Oxfordshire Way into Charlbury (see the double asterisk [**] in the book's walk directions). Alternatively, you could take a bus into Charlbury (or Banbury) from outside the Lunch pub. Buses are infrequent, so make sure to check the times before you have lunch. |
| History |
The royal estate of Woodstock was granted to the first Duke of Marlborough in 1704. The old medieval palace had been the birthplace of the Black Prince in 1330, and Elizabeth I was imprisoned there during Queen Mary's reign. It was extensively damaged by the Parliamentary army in the Civil War. Blenheim Palace was built for the first Duke in recognition of his victory over the French at the battle of Blenheim in 1704 - the Column of Victory has some 6,000 words engraved on it in honour of the Duke. Designed by Vanbrugh, the palace is a fine example of English Baroque, set in parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown. The palace was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill in 1874, and there is a permanent exhibition of Churchilliana. It is open mid-March to October 31st, and visitors are admitted between 10.30am and 4.45pm daily. Admission £8 (tel 01993 811 091/recorded information 01993 811 325). The village of Stonesfield is the home of Stonesfield slates: the stone roof tiles which are characteristic of villages and towns in Oxfordshire and of many of the Oxford colleges. The tiles are no longer mined, so only second-hand tiles can be obtained at great expense. Cornbury Park is a private estate, whose deer park was carved out of the Wychwood Forest (as was Blenheim). Wychwood Forest was once a vast royal hunting ground that extended over much of western Oxfordshire; in pre-Norman times, it extended all the way to London. Now, the sole surviving remnant of the forest lies within the Cornbury Park estate. The imposing seventeenth-century mansion was built for Edward Hyde, who was Viscount Cornbury and the first Earl of Clarendon. As one of Charles II's chief advisors, and Lord Chancellor, he became the virtual head of the government in 1660. |
| Lunch | A possible lunch stop (for those not picnicking by the river) is the Black Head pub in Church Street, Stonesfield. There is a small garden for the summer months. As of SEP 01, the White Horse pub in Stonesfield was closed. |
| Major Updates | Lunch: the White Horse has closed, use the Black Head (or a picnic) instead. Older red cover editions only: short detour around the Column of Victory. [details] |
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| Warning | This text was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk. |
Walking Instructions
For a map and detailed walking instruction, please see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
