Epping to Ingatestone via Chipping Ongar Walk

The Essex Way and the St. Peter's Way through mildly undulating landscape with plenty of woodlands and historical buildings.

St. Andrew's Church, Greensted-juxta-Ongar SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)
St. Andrew's Church, Greensted-juxta-Ongar

SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)

Nov-22 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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St. Laurence Church, Blackmore SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)
St. Laurence Church, Blackmore

SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)

Dec-22 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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Ancient hornbeam pollards in Gernon Bushes SSI SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)
Ancient hornbeam pollards in Gernon Bushes SSI

SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)

Nov-22 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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Essex Way marker high up on tree, Birching Coppice SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)
Essex Way marker high up on tree, Birching Coppice

SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)

Nov-22 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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A Weather Front passing fields approaching Greensted SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)
A Weather Front passing fields approaching Greensted

SWC 276 - Epping to Ingatestone (via Chipping Ongar)

Nov-22 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

swcwalks swcwalk276 walkicon 52579628400

Length 26.9 km (16.7 mi), with 209/232m ascent/descent. For a shorter walk, see below Walk Options.
Toughness 4 out of 10, with 5 ¾ hours walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 8 hours.
Walk Notes

This walk leads through the mildly undulating area to the east of the northerly end of Epping Forest, initially through the Roding River catchment area, later that of the River Wid. It is an area dotted with ancient woods, historic villages, old churches, plentiful pubs and inns and large manor houses, reflecting the wealth generated by the richness of the soil and the existence of important trading routes leading through it.
The outstanding historic features and buildings are Chipping Ongar’s Motte-and-Double-Bailey, Greensted’s oldest wooden church in the world and Blackmore’s former priory church with its rare wooden bell tower.
The first half of the walk follows the Essex Way and shadows the now closed stretch of the Central Line from Epping to Ongar. This continues the route of two other SWC Walks along the line (SWC 241 and 197).
The second half of the walk broadly follows the St. Peter’s Way to near Ingatestone.
The route passes through many woods and with the subsoil being London Clay, some mud can be expected after rain. There are also a handful of arable field crossings, all along usually well-cleared paths though.

Hourly buses to/from Chipping Ongar and Blackmore enable half-length walks or early finishes.
Plenty of pubs and cafés en route enable flexible start times.

Walk Options

Combine the first half of this walk with #SWC.197 Loughton to Epping, for a 26.9 km/16.7 mi walk. Lunch would be in Coopersale at the Theydon Oak or earlier in Epping via a diversion along the High Street.
Finish immediately upon reaching Chipping Ongar, without a loop through the village and past the impressive Motte & Baileys site, and take the bus back to Epping or on to Brentwood (Crossrail), from the Banson’s Lane or Rail Station stops respectively (12.3 km/7.6 mi with 109m ascent; 1/10 rating).
Finish in Chipping Ongar Village or at Ongar Rail Station and take the bus back to Epping or on to Brentwood (Crossrail), from the Banson’s Lane or Rail Station stops respectively. This cuts 13.5 km and 90m ascent (1/10 rating). Both these short routes loop past all the lunch/tea stops in Chipping Ongar and past the impressive Motte & Baileys site, but in different directions.
Start the walk in Chipping Ongar, using bus lines 420 from Epping or 21 from Brentwood to get there.
Bus Lines 61/61A/61C connect Blackmore (19.6 km/12.3 mi into the walk) to Brentwood Station (Crossrail): hourly Mon-Sat.

Maps OS Landranger: 167 (Chelmsford)
OS Explorer: 174 (Epping Forest & Lee Valley), 175 (Southend-on-Sea & Basildon) and 183 (Chelmsford & The Rodings)
Travel

Epping Underground Station is the north eastern terminus of the Central Line and in Zone 6, with a journey time of 35 minutes from Liverpool Street.
Ongar bus stations are served by several lines, with the 420 (Ongar – Epping – Harlow) linking back to Epping (at least hourly on weekdays, hourly on Saturdays, two-hourly on Sundays; journey time 23 minutes) and the 21 on to Brentwood (Crossrail, hourly Mon-Sat; journey time 25 minutes).
Ingatestone is on the Great Eastern Main Line from Liverpool Street to Norwich (half-hourly service, hourly on Sundays); journey time 29 minutes.

Saturday Walkers’ Club: Start the walk no later than 10.00 hours.

Lunch and Tea Plenty of cafés and pubs are passed at regular intervals, enabling early or late starts. Check page 2 of the pdf for details.
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By Train

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Start Map Directions

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National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Version

Jan-23

Copyright © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml

Walk Directions

Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.

This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk