Saturday Walkers' Club

Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1

Walk 38 : Hanborough to Charlbury

Blenheim Palace & Cornbury Park

Length 21km (13 miles), 6 hours. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 11 hours.
OS Landranger Map No.164. Hanborough, map reference SP 433 142, is in Oxfordshire, 7 km north-west of Oxford.
OS Explorer Map No.180.
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 2,100 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. This is now part of the Oxfordshire Way, and the leg of over a mile to Stonesfield is through open farmland and progress can be hard work if into the wind. In such conditions it is better to reverse the walk and do it “Backwards”.

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. This is a newish footpath for which Lord Rotherwick lost his claim for £1 Million in compensation from the Oxfordshire County Council – the claim included loss of shooting rights calculated at £ 10 per duck.
Shortening the walk At point [7] in the Directions, you can 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 Directions. Alternatively, you could take an infrequent bus from Stonesfield to Charlbury or Oxford, or ‘phone for a taxi.
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 1 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 in the Palace.

The Palace and Gardens are open to the public from 10-30 am to 5-30 pm – from mid-February to mid- December, daily from mid-February to 01 November, and Wed­nesday to Sunday inclusive from November to mid- December. Entry costs (2009) – High season (April to November) – to Palace, Park and Gardens: £ 17-50: to Park and Gardens - £ 10-00. Low season (November and December) – £ 14-50 and £ 7-70. Family tickets and concessions also available.

The SWC walk through the Park is on public footpaths or permissive paths and there are no admission charges if you keep to the walks directions. For further information, and for information on what’s on, ‘phone 08700-602080.

The village of Stonesfield is the home of Stonesfield slates: the stone roof tiles that are characteristic of villages and towns in Oxfordshire and many of the Oxford Colleges. The slates 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 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.
Saturday Walkers Club

Take the train nearest to 9- 00 am from London Pad­dington Station to Hanborough. Journey time about 1 hr 20 minutes. Trains back from Charlbury to Paddington can be as much as two hours apart. Journey time 1 hr 25 minutes.

Rail ticket: buy a cheap day return to Charlbury.

This walk comes up in the Book One walk schedule each year in mid-September, but it makes for an excellent walk at other times of the year, particularly Spring, and late autumn when leaf colour in the Great Park can be stunning.
Lunch

If not picnicking beside the River Evenlode or in the village of Stonesfield, you have a choice of two pubs in Stonesfield for your lunch stop. The Black Head Inn (tel 01993-891387) on Church Street reopened under new ownership in 2008 after a period of closure. It opens from 4pm to 11 pm on Monday through Friday (ie not lunchtime) and between 12 noon and 11 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Food is sometimes served on Sundays (a roast) but not usually on Saturdays.

At the other end of the village is The White Horse (tel 01993-891063) on The Ridings, reopened in August 2009 after six months of closure. It serves sand­wiches, starters, lighter meals and main courses in formal and informal (lounge) areas between 12 noon and 2 pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and between 12 noon and 2-30 pm on Sundays (closed Mondays). This pub has had a number of incarnations over the years, with often lengthy periods of closure in between. Most recently its format has been that of a bistro-cum-gastro pub.

As both hostelries have a somewhat chequered history, best to ‘phone ahead to see if they are still in business /open/ serving food. Alternatively, choose the picnic option: there is a convenience store in the village for those who belatedly choose this option.
Tea

At walk end the Bell Hotel (tel 01608-810278) on Church Street, Charlbury, makes for a comfortable and pleasant tea stop. There are also four pubs in Charlbury awaiting your custom: The Bull (tel 01608 81068900, Ye Olde Three Horseshoes, and The Farmers, all on Sheep Street, and the Rose & Crown (tel 01608 810103) on Market Street.

Earlier in the walk, when passing through the village of Finstock, you can drop in to the Crown pub (tel 01993-868434) for a drink all day Saturday or Sunday (but closes 3pm Monday to Friday, to reopen at 5-30 pm).
Travel by Train
  • Out:
  • Back:
Travel by Car

Start: Hanborough Station is near : OX8 8LA [gmap]

Finish: Charlbury Station is near : OX7 3HH [gmap]

Return to your car by train:

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

180 : Oxford [Amazon]
Revised

This walk was fully revised in : Aug-09

For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Updates

Lunch: the White Horse is now a gastro-pub and the Black Head has re-opened. Older red/blue cover editions only: short detour around the Column of Victory. [details]
Other The Cotswolds Walks None.

Walking Instructions 

[Numbers refer to the map]

  1. [1] Coming out of Hanborough Station, walk the 100 metres up the access road to the A4095, dead ahead. Cross over the road by the pedestrian traffic lights and turn left along the pavement. Down in the valley on your right-hand side you can just make out the River Glyme. In 100 metres you cross over a bridge over the railway line. Continue along the road, uphill, towards the village of Hanborough.
  2. In 300 metres you pass a large stone cottage (No 153) on your right-hand side. 100 metres beyond that, you come to a turning on your right-hand side (Park Lane), which is a dead end [2].
  3. Turn right into Park Lane, your direction 345 degrees, gently downhill. In 200 metres, you come to the end of the houses. Continue straight on along the path ahead, indicated by a bridleway sign, your direction initially 325 degrees, with a stone wall on your right-hand side.
  4. In 20 metres you pass on your left the entrance to High Thatch. Over the wall, ahead on your right-hand side, you can see the tower of Combe Church.
  5. In 100 metres the path brings you out into a field and you follow the path along the right-hand edge of the field, going downhill in the same direction as you were just previously.
  6. In 150 metres, on approaching a wide gap in the hedge ahead, turn right through a narrow gap in the hedge to your right and immediately turn left along the left-hand edge of that field, still downhill.
  7. In 300 metres you come to the far corner of this field, with a metal fieldgate on your left-hand side. Turn left through the gap to the left of the fieldgate (where there used to be a wooden swing gate) to go down the car-wide track with a stone wall on your left-hand side, your direction 250 degrees. The River Evenlode runs alongside the track, down below on your right-hand side.
  8. In 115 metres you come up to a road. Turn right along this road, in 15 metres crossing the river on a stone bridge. In a further 125 metres you pass Blenheim Palace Sawmills Eco-Business Centre on your left-hand side.
  9. In 90 metres pass under the railway bridge and keep straight on, steadily uphill, ignoring ways off – and with Combe Church visible on the horizon ahead on your left-hand side. In 450 metres you come to the top of the hill, where there is a house on your right.
  10. In a further 200 metres (and 25 metres after another house on your right-hand side), there are footpath signs pointing off to the left and right. [3] Turn right off the road, over a stile, following the footpath sign (“East End half a mile”), your direction 85 degrees initially, along a grassy path.
  11. In 200 metres you come to the far left-hand corner of the field. Cross over the stile in the hedge and turn right, walking along the right-hand side of the next field, with the hedge on your right, towards a house in the distance, your direction 110 degrees initially.
  12. In 300 metres you come to the far side of the field. Cross a stile and continue straight across the next field, to cross a stile 50 metres away, next to a stone building. Turn left up the drive for 30 metres to the road.
  13. Turn left along the road, your direction 340 degrees initially. In 225 metres you come to the Combe Gate entrance to the Blenheim Estate. Turn right, following the footpath sign through the high wooden kissing gate, to the left of the main gate, to go straight ahead up the estate road. In 50 metres you come to a T-junction and turn left. Follow the road as it bends around to the right, and down the hill through the trees. The road then swings left then right.
  14. In 350 metres you come to a clearing; if you stop just before the treeline and look to the right, you may just be able to see the top of Blenheim Palace through the trees. The road now swings to the left then right downhill, through some conifers.
  15. 300 metres further on, you come [4] to the edge of the trees on the right-hand side, where the road ahead goes around to the left and down to a cattle grid. Straight ahead on the hillside opposite are half a dozen copper beeches in two clusters. On your right-hand side here, there is a green and white public footpath sign. Turn off the road and walk around the tree line on your right, following the grassy path as it (initially) parallels the wooden fence on the left, your direction 55 degrees. Keep ahead as the path converges with the fence on your left.
  16. In 200 metres you come down near to the edge of the lake – with a “Private – No Public Access” sign over to your right. Follow the path left to go over the stile on your left or go through the wooden swing gate 5 metres to its right. Beyond the stile /gate, keep ahead along the edge of the lake, your direction 70 degrees initially. In 70 metres you come to a junction in the track and follow the wide track around to the right, along the side of the lake, gently uphill.
  17. In 600 metres the path curves sharply to the left and up a rise. From this point, you have a fine view over to your right across the lake to the Great Bridge and your first real view of Blenheim Palace – a view that will slowly unfold as you continue along this path, around the lake towards the bridge.
  18. Keep to this path for the next 600 metres, mostly uphill, ignoring ways off down to your right to the lake, until the path brings you down to a wooden swing gate at a T-junction with a tarmac drive. Turn right down the drive and in 85 metres, at a junction in the drive, go through a wooden swing gate in the electric cattle fence on your left-hand side.
  19. If you want to visit Blenheim Palace, which is highly recommended, instead of turning left through this gate, continue ahead down the drive to cross over the Great Bridge and keep ahead for the Palace. But to continue the walk: having gone through the swing gate, head across the grass, gently uphill, towards the Column of Victory, your direction 325 degrees. In 500 metres, at the Column, pass it and continue ahead across the grass in the same direction as before, and in 70 metres cross the wooden fencing ahead at a part lowered for walkers.
  20. [!] The suggested way ahead may not be an official public footpath, but it is well used and appears to be permitted by the Blenheim Estate. [!] Keep ahead across the grass, your direction 325 degrees, keeping parallel to the wooden field fence 150 metres over to your left. In 400 metres the path across the grass comes down to a tarmac estate road, coming in from your right. There is a public footpath down this estate road.
  21. You can now either continue along this estate road for 300 metres, in the same direction as before, then make your way left across the grass to the stile in the wooden fence over to your left, or – to ensure you don’t miss this stile - turn left on immediately joining the estate road, and make for the farm gate in the wooden fence now ahead of you.
  22. On reaching the farm gate, turn right along the fenceline and keep ahead beside the fence on your left-hand side. In 300 metres the fence turns half left (45 degrees) and in a further 70 metres [!] you turn left over the stile in the fence, marked with a yellow footpath arrow [5].
  23. Continue ahead beside the wooden fence on your left-hand side, your direction 210 degrees. In 250 metres you come to a copse of trees surrounded by a wooden fence. Turn right and follow the fence around the trees in a circle.
  24. After walking around the circle of the fence for some 75 metres, [!] you head half right across the field, aiming for the wooden kissing gate in the fence ahead of you, with a copse of copper beech trees ahead, slightly left, on the far side of this fence, your direction 235 degrees.
  25. In 110 metres go through this wooden kissing gate and follow the direction indicated by the Blenheim Park footpath arrow (white on a black background). You are now aiming for a gate in the wooden fence on the far side of this field, to the right of a second clump of copper beech trees in the middle of the field, your direction 320 degrees.
  26. In 130 metres you pass the clump of trees on your left-hand side and in a further 200 metres you go through the wooden kissing gate in the fence ahead. You now bear half-left across a paddock to go through another wooden kissing gate, coming out on to a car-wide track, with a double wooden fieldgate opposite. Turn right along this track and in 50 metres go through a narrow band of trees at a field boundary.
  27. On the far side [!] turn sharp left, following the yellow arrow along a car-wide track, your direction 235 degrees, with a hedge and tree line on your left and an open field to your right. The track (muddy in winter) curves to the right and then begins to swing left.
  28. [!] In 200 metres you come to a post on your right-hand side marked with multiple Blenheim Park footpath arrows. Here turn right and pass through a wooden swing gate, keeping ahead beside a wooden fence on your left-hand side, your direction 305 degrees, between large fields.
  29. In 400 metres, as the wooden fence on your left ends and before an electric cattle fence starts on your right, go through the wooden fieldgate ahead of you, marked with Blenheim Park footpath arrows. 15 metres ahead at the edge of the wood is a footpath post with a yellow arrow. Follow the direction of the arrow along a narrow path between the edge of the wood on your left and the electric cattle fence on your right.
  30. In 60 metres [!] you turn left through the trees on an unmarked but clear path, into the wooded area: in a further 40 metres follow a yellow footpath arrow on a wooden bridge with wooden railings to cross over this bridge. 20 metres further on, you come to a stony car-wide track. Turn right, your direction 350 degrees, though the wood.
  31. In 200 metres you come to another track at a crossroads. Turn left on to a footpath and, in 25 metres, go up wooden steps over a high stone wall [6], and leave the Great Park down the steps on the far side, into the large field beyond.
  32. Walk straight ahead with a very ancient hedge­row (at least 500 years old) on your left-hand side, your direction 260 degrees, along a path that was once the Roman Akeman Street.
  33. You are now on the Oxfordshire Way, which you will follow straight ahead for the next 2 km. But in more detail:
  34. In 500 metres you go straight over a road and continue along the footpath on the opposite side, still with the hedgerow on your left-hand side. Soon you can see the rooftops of the village of Stonesfield, the suggested stopping place for lunch. In about 800 metres the path switches to the other side of the hedgerow and you continue ahead, now with the hedge on your right-hand side.
  35. In 700 metres you come to another road [7]. If you do not intend to picnic beside the River Evenlode, you can head direct to your lunchtime pub by turning right along this road (Combe Road), to rejoin the “picnic route” at the asterisk [*] below (para 40). The direct route: head up Combe Road and in 475 metres you come to a T-junction with Woodstock Road by Stonesfield’s War Memorial. Here turn left, and in 100 metres you come to the junction with Pond Hill, on your right. The Black Head pub is 45 metres down the road on your left.
  36. To head for the River Evenlode: cross over the road and continue straight on, keeping a hedge and valley on your left, your initial direction 240 degrees. At the end of the first field, pass through the field boundary with a stone wall on your right and turn right, then immediately left to continue ahead, still following the hedge and valley on your left, in the same direction as before, but now with a vast field on your right.
  37. Continue along the Oxfordshire Way, ignoring all ways off, for a distance of 650 metres from Combe Road, and then go through a metal kissing gate to the Stonesfield Ford meadows by old stone quarries, to swing right on a wide grassy path down to the River Evenlode. In 100 metres go through a metal kissing gate and turn right – where to go left takes you over the Evenlode footbridge. (30 metres further along the river, on this side and right of the footbridge, is a good spot to swim. This whole area is good for a picnic).
  38. Having turned right, your onward path into Stonesfield is relatively steeply upwards, away from Stonesfield Ford, initially in a cutting, your direction 10 degrees. Go up some steps in the path and after 200 metres up this path go through concrete bollards. In a further 25 metres pass on your left-hand side an Oxfordshire Geology Trust notice about Stonesfield’s fossils and slates. Here the Oxfordshire Way branches off to the left on a grassy path, but your route is directly ahead. The path soon levels out and becomes a track (Brook Lane) between hedges, as you come into the outskirts of Stonesfield.
  39. In 200 metres you come to a churchyard on your left-hand side. The track is now a surfaced road (Church Street). Keep ahead and in a further 175 metres the road swings to the right at the junction with High Street on your left.
  40. In 30 metres you pass the Black Head pub, a possible lunchtime refresh­ment stop (liquid only), on your right-hand side. In 45 metres you come to a T-junction where you continue more or less straight on, slightly to the left, along Pond Hill [*].
  41. Continue down Pond Hill and ignore all roads off to the left and right. You soon pass on your right-hand side “Best One” Convenience Store, a possible stop for basic picnic provisions. Some 400 metres along Pond Hill from the junction with Church Street, you come to a T-junction with the Ridings. Opposite, slightly to your right, is the White Horse bistro pub-restaurant, another possible lunchtime stop.
  42. At the T-junction turn left, downhill, following the sign to Fawler and Charlbury. In 160 metres ignore the Boot Street fork, uphill to the left, and 125 metres further on down the hill, you pass a 1722 house called Clockcase on your right-hand side. 30 metres further on [!] turn right off the road up a car-wide track, rejoining the Oxfordshire Way, your direction 330 degrees initially. Note the traditional slates on the building on your right-hand side, at the start of the track, and looking back, on other buildings in the village.
  43. In 350 metres you come to the top of the hill next to a barn (Highfield Farm). 100 metres further on, you come to a cross roads where you can look back for a panoramic view of the village of Stonesfield. Take the tarmac lane going straight ahead, on the Oxfordshire Way, heading in the same direction as before, initially with a hedge on your left and open fields to your right. Once over the brow of the hill you have open fields on both sides of you.
  44. In 500 metres you come to a building on the right-hand side, where the lane curves sharply around to the right ahead. Turn left off the track. In 15 metres you pass Hill Barn Switchgear Station on your right, with a wooden fieldgate on its left. Turn right through the wooden swing gate next to the fieldgate, with a blue (faded) Oxfordshire Way arrow on it. Continue straight ahead, downhill, along the left-hand edge of the field, following a hedge and fenceline, your direction 290 degrees initially.
  45. In 150 metres you come to the bottom, left-hand corner of the field. Go through the (missing) wooden gate and turn right up the car-wide track, following the sign for the Oxfordshire Way. The track heads down into a dip then up the other side, before levelling out, with a hedge on your left and open fields to your right.
  46. After 750 metres along this track you come to a cross roads, opposite a clump of trees [8] where the Oxfordshire Way goes straight ahead through the trees [**] To take the short cut, continue straight on at this point, along the Oxfordshire Way, all the way into Charlbury. In 1.45 km the path comes out on to a road, turn left along the road into the village, and follow the instructions below for getting to the suggested tea stop or to the railway station via the churchyard.
  47. The main route is to turn left on to the car-wide track going into a field on your left, with a footpath post with multiple blue arrows on your right. Walk along the right-hand edge of the field, initially with a hedgerow and later a stone wall on your right-hand side, your direction 220 degrees. Ahead, on the hillside opposite, you can see the village of Finstock, which is on the route of the walk (and further to the right, on the horizon, the Wychwood Forest).
  48. In 900 metres you come to a T-junction with the main road (do not turn right and head for Finstock station – as there are no trains at weekends and only one a day in each direction on weekdays). Instead, turn left at this T-junction, to go down the hill into the village. In 70 metres you pass Manor Barn, a restored farm building, on your right-hand side.
  49. 200 metres further on, you pass a postbox on your right-hand side. 40 metres beyond the postbox, as the road starts to go uphill, and opposite a bus stop, turn right down a tarmac lane, going past Corner Cottage on your left-hand side, your direction 160 degrees.
  50. In 100 metres at the end of the tarmac keep ahead, slightly right, and in 80 metres go over a stile to the right of a padlocked wooden swing gate. Cross the field ahead towards the ironstone railway bridge and in 55 metres you go over a stile or through the wooden swing gate to its right, to go under the archway beneath the railway. 10 metres beyond the archway, turn left and cross the footbridge over the River Evenlode. On its far side, turn right along the riverbank, your direction 245 degrees (in summer the first 75 metres of this path are often overgrown).
  51. After 150 metres along the riverbank, go through a metal kissing gate. 15 metres further on, follow the path as it bends sharp left, away from the river, your direction 240 degrees.
  52. Walk along the bottom of the valley on a grassy way and in 250 metres you come up a gentle incline to go through a metal kissing gate. 8 metres further on you come up to a meeting of paths, with a footpath post ahead. Turn left for 5 metres and then at a T-junction turn right on to a valley path going gently uphill, in the same direction you were going in before (245 degrees), between hedges and barbed wire fences. The path can be muddy in winter.
  53. After 400 metres along this rutted path with an uneven bed (unpleasant to walk along), you pass under mini-pylons, and 10 metres beyond you pass a metal fieldgate on your right-hand side. In a further 20 metres by a footpath post with a yellow Circular Walk arrow [9] [!] you turn right through a gap into a field. Follow the path up the left-hand edge of the field, your direction 315 degrees, steeply uphill. In 70 metres pass through bushes, bear right, then left, and keep ahead now with the hedgerow on your left-hand side and a vast field to your right, your direction 300 degrees. (Note: if you stay on the path straight ahead between hedgerows you will find it very overgrown in places).
  54. In 140 metres you come up to a white farmgate on your left-hand side. Pass through a gap to its left and follow the path around to the left as it becomes a car-wide track (Wards Lane), with allotments on your left and properties on your right, heading into the village of Finstock, your direction 255 degrees.
  55. In 50 metres you pass a cottage on your right called Madeleine. 200 metres further on, you come to a T-junction with the main street going through the village. Turn right into School Road, your direction 5 degrees, in 20 metres passing a Parish Council & Village Notice Board on your right-hand side. In a further 100 metres you pass the Village Shop and Post Office on your right-hand side.
  56. Next door to the shop and post office is the Crown pub (a possible refreshment stop), and 20 metres beyond the pub, you pass the village War Memorial on your right-hand side and come out to a T-junction with the B4022 road. On the opposite side of the road is Manor House. Turn right, following the sign for Charlbury and Chipping Norton, your direction 45 degrees.
  57. 50 metres down this busy and sometimes dangerous road [!] turn left over the unusual stone stile, marked by a footpath sign “To Charlbury”. Go through the hedge archway beyond, across to the far right-hand corner of the lawn. Go through the leftmost of the two fieldgates ahead, to walk straight down the track ahead, your direction 315 degrees, ignoring all ways off.
  58. In 650 metres you come out to a car-wide track with a stone wall to the right. Here bear right, your direction 30 degrees.
  59. In 60 metres you join a main track coming in from the left. Here turn half left off the track, heading across the grass to a footpath post with a yellow arrow, your direction due north. In 60 metres you pass the post to go straight on down the avenue of trees ahead of you.
  60. Head down the avenue of trees, passing a footpath post on your left-hand side. In 440 metres you come down through the trees to bear right on to a tarmac road [10]. Turn left on this road, opposite Southill Business Park, along the side of a trout lake, your direction 340 degrees.
  61. In 115 metres you come to a green coloured metal gate into Cornbury Park. Go through the green coloured metal swing gate on its right, marked “Footpath gate”. Keep ahead, uphill along the path, your direction 350 degrees, and in 90 metres bear left to go through a metal kissing gate.
  62. Now follow the footpath ahead going between a high metal railing (deer protection fence) on your left and a lightly wooded area on your right.
  63. In 450 metres the wooded area on your right-hand side ends and you keep ahead along the path, still beside the high metal railing on your left-hand side, in the same direction as before. Deer can sometimes be seen in the park on your left-hand side. On your right-hand side, as you walk along, you will see the village of Charlbury.
  64. In 350 metres you come to the end of the path, and in the top left-hand corner of the field go through a metal kissing gate. Now walk along a flagstoned path for 25 metres, to exit the park through a high wooden gate, which brings you out by the main entrance to Cornbury Park. To your left you have a view of the house. Turn right down the drive, towards the village, your direction 40 degrees.
  65. In 90 metres you cross a stone bridge over the River Evenlode, way below. 150 metres further on, the drive crosses over the railway line. On the left you can see the tower of Charlbury Church. 100 metres further on, you come up on to the road. Cross over to the pavement on the far side and turn left towards the village, your direction 330 degrees.
  66. In 550 metres you come up past St Mary the Virgin Church, Charlbury, where the road curves sharply round to the right. You can take a short cut through the churchyard down to the railway station, or (for tea) turn right up Church Street.
  67. In 80 metres you come to the suggested tea place, the Bell Hotel, on your right-hand side. To get to the railway station after tea, coming out of the Hotel, retrace your steps to the churchyard, enter the churchyard and follow the tarmac path around the back of the church to the right. Follow the path straight out the other side of the churchyard, through a metal swing gate, past the Old Rectory on your left-hand side, and down the road ahead. In 150 metres you come to a T-junction with the main road. Turn left down the hill towards the railway station.
  68. In 130 metres the road crosses over the river. 85 metres further on, turn left on the station approach road for the train back to London. Charlbury Station is a listed building designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.