Hamstead Marshall lies in the North Wessex PLEASE BE AWARE THAT Walking in Hamstead Marshall Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its Some fields may contain livestock landscape of mixed farming, woodland, river Some walk areas may be muddy and canal supports a diverse range of flora and Most walks include stiles IrishIrish HillHill WWalkalk fauna. Care needs to be taken when walking on and The woods contain many broad-leaf species village roads with no pavements and including mature oaks, hazel coppices and some fine Sensible walking footwear is advisable stands of conifer. Hamstead Park has some good EnborneEnborne WWoodood WWalkalk specimens of ornamental trees, including Wellingtonia. COUNTRYSIDE CODE Birds of prey include red kite, buzzard, kestrel, Leave gates as you find them sparrowhawk and the occasional harrier over the Take your litter home riverside water meadow. Owls are often sighted and, Do not uproot wild plants in the higher fields, skylark, lapwing and Keep dogs under close control and wintering golden plover. Migratory birds include poop-scoop if they foul paths swallow, martin, swift, cuckoo, nightingale and warbler in spring and summer, and brambling, fieldfare and redwing in winter. You may also see kingfisher or dabchick from the riverbank. In spring the woods and lanes display snow- drops, primroses, violets and wood anemones, followed by bluebells, riverside yellow flags and kingcups. Butterflies and moths abound, and the amphibian population includes frogs, toads and newts. The water vole is present at both canal and river. Grass snakes are a fairly common sight. Game is plentiful with pheasant, partridge and hare in the fields. Roe deer (pictured) and muntjac are a familiar canal towpath betweeen Copse and Dreweats locks sight, along with fallow deer in the larger Two circular walks of 3 - 4 miles each, view from Irish Hill to Shepherd’s Bridge woods. Bats are which can be enjoyed separately common at dusk, If you would like to comment or enquire about this leaflet and flourishing please do so to [email protected] or linked to make a figure-of-8 walk populations exist of of nearly 7 miles over farmland, other mammals, includ- This leaflet is one of two produced in connection with the Hamstead Marshall Parish PLan. The Parish Plan Steering along the Kennet & Avon Canal ing badger and fox, Group gratefully acknowledges financial assistance received with the occasional from the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural towpath, past Hamstead and Benham sighting of mink and Beauty. The publishers have endeavoured to supply accurate polecat. information, but they cannot accept liability for any mis- locks, through Enborne Wood and adventure arising from the walks. photo Jonathan Pointer © Hamstead Marshall Parish Plan 2009 Hamstead Park
bridle path and beside Hamstead Lock. Hamstead beside and path bridle www.dogstrust.org.uk> <
recreation field, at the top end of the Elm Farm Elm the of end top the at field, recreation
Wednesdays. Other times by appointment only. appointment by times Other Wednesdays.
but there are bench seats in the village hall village the in seats bench are there but
01488 658391 Open 12.00 until 16.00, closed 16.00, until 12.00 Open 658391 01488
There is no picnic area as such in the village, the in such as area picnic no is There
DOGS TRUST, Plumb’s Farm RG20 0HR RG20 Farm Plumb’s TRUST, DOGS
PICNICS
road safety. road les. Cam’s Carvery. Accommodation. Carvery. Cam’s les. a
when parking. Always consider sightlines and sightlines consider Always parking. when Open 7 days a week, lunchtime and evening. Real evening. and lunchtime week, a days 7 Open
Please respect private property and entrances and property private respect Please WHITE HART INN RG20 0HW 01488 658201 01488 0HW RG20 INN HART WHITE
lumbs’s Farm are strictly for patrons only. patrons for strictly are Farm lumbs’s P
parks at the White Hart, Elm Farm and Farm Elm Hart, White the at parks
short walk into the village. The private car private The village. the into walk short timetable and litter bin. litter and timetable
opposite the Craven Arms, from which it is a is it which from Arms, Craven the opposite
local contacts, event announcements, bench, bus bench, announcements, event contacts, local
River Kennet River
also a small off-road parking area diagonally diagonally area parking off-road small a also at Ash Tree Corner bus shelter. Board with maps, with Board shelter. bus Corner Tree Ash at
from the railway crossing to the A4. There is There A4. the to crossing railway the from VILLAGE INFORMATION POINT INFORMATION VILLAGE
Hamstead Mill, and on Milkhouse Road running Road Milkhouse on and Mill, Hamstead
Crown copyright. All rights reserved. 100024151. 2009 100024151. reserved. rights All copyright. Crown
roadside parking around Chapel Corner, Chapel around parking roadside
advance. There are limited possibilities for possibilities limited are There advance. all for recreation. for all
the hall. Please ring 01488 657022 to check in check to 657022 01488 ring Please hall. the marshall.net/whatson>. Adjoining field open to open field Adjoining marshall.net/whatson>.
walkers when it is not needed for an event at event an for needed not is it when walkers month. For other events see The village hall car park may be used by by used be may park car hall village The 10am-1pm on the second Saturday of each of Saturday second the on 10am-1pm ARKING P Hall bookings 01488 657022. Community market Community 657022. 01488 bookings Hall VILLAGE HALL & RECREATION FIELD RG20 0HL RG20 FIELD RECREATION & HALL VILLAGE ewbury_nov2006/013MF22.html>. n on and Chapel Corner. The timetable can be seen be can timetable The Corner. Chapel and www.organicresearchcentre.com> < stopping at Ash Tree Corner, the White Hart White the Corner, Tree Ash at stopping during working hours. working during daily (each way) Mondays to Saturdays, Saturdays, to Mondays way) (each daily opposite the farm car park) or from reception from or park) car farm the opposite Marshall on the Kintbury Road about 6 times 6 about Road Kintbury the on Marshall from the start of the trail (bridle path almost path (bridle trail the of start the from Hungerford) passes through Hamstead through passes Hungerford) the public seven days a week. Leaflets available Leaflets week. a days seven public the (Newbury to (Newbury 13 ROUTE BUSES NEWBURY special events, but there is a farm trail open to open trail farm a is there but events, special miles west of Newbury. of west miles 01488 658298 Not open to the public except for except public the to open Not 658298 01488 southwards from the A4 crossroads about two about crossroads A4 the from southwards ORGANIC RESEARCH CENTRE, Elm Farm RG20 0HR RG20 Farm Elm CENTRE, RESEARCH ORGANIC The village can also be reached by a turning a by reached be also can village The known as the Kintbury Road. Kintbury the as known the Craven Arms. Within the village this is this village the Within Arms. Craven the churchwarden on 01635 44868 or 01635 52436. 01635 or 44868 01635 on churchwarden to Kintbury, first passing Enborne Church and Church Enborne passing first Kintbury, to ly locked for security. For access contact a contact access For security. for locked ly Pound Street in Newbury and runs westward runs and Newbury in Street Pound marshall.net>. At other times the church is usual- is church the times other At marshall.net>. lies on the unclassified road which begins as begins which road unclassified the on lies Services most Sundays – see Irish Hill Walk: 3.75 miles Enborne Wood Walk: 3 miles ( Points 1 to 9 ) N ( Points 9 to 17 ) 1 9 Begin at Hamstead Mill (1). Walk Begin at Hamstead Mill (1) and westward along the towpath take the towpath eastwards (9) (towards Kintbury) passing towards Newbury. After half a Hamstead Lock immediately, and mile cross the sluice (10), where later Copse Lock (2), where the Crown copyright, all rights reserved 100024151 2009 the river leaves the canal to the river leaves the canal. At intervals north. Another half-mile brings you will see pillboxes (3) erected you to Benham Lock (11). against a possible invasion during the Second World War. They are Cross the canal here by Benham 10 now listed buildings. The Bridge, taking the footpath over 2 woodland on the left bank is the old water meadows and up Morewood, followed by some into Enborne Wood (12), which is open fields. mentioned in one of the earliest medieval documents to name 4 3 the parish. Pass two cottages on your right: 2 9 Next is Dreweats Lock, followed 5 the first and oldest was the by Irish Hill Wood on the far side. 1 Victorian gamekeeper’s cottage; 11 Amongst the trees close to this 10 the second was built in the southern bank it is sometimes 6 1880s. The track joins the 3 possible to see (in winter) the Enborne Road. 11 remaining masonry of 7 8 Hamstead’s Victorian whiting 17 Turn right onto the Enborne factory, an extraction and 12 Road and walk for about a third processing site which employed of a mile. The twelfth-century half a dozen men until the 1930s. Enborne Church (13) on the left (This site cannot be accessed is well worth a detour, but the without the permission of the walk continues into Hamstead 12 land owner.) 16 14 Park on the surfaced drive opposite. On the right bank lies the 15 13 Wilderness, a fishery belonging After a few hundred yards on 4 to the Sutton Estate. Shortly the driveway you will arrive at after this comes Shepherd’s a crossroads of footpaths. Bridge (4). At this junction stands a white Cross the canal over this bridge, limestone memorial to the 101st at which point the footpath forks Airborne Regiment of US forces 13 at right angles (5). Take the left who camped here just prior to fork uphill across a field. At the the D- Day landings in 1944 (15). summit there are good views Further ahead is a much smaller across the river valley, and to the memorial: a little stone inscribed 5 Hampshire Downs on the “P 1902 VS”, believed to mark southern skyline. Irish Hill now the grave of a dog belonging to has only two houses (one old, Victor Schmidt, Craven estate one modern), but from Saxon steward in the early twentieth times until the 1920s it was a century. 14 community of several households. The manor was Take the right fork and walk listed in Domesday as towards the back of the big Turn left onto Irish Hill Road. This is usually a very quiet lane, On the right is a spinney used as a working area of estate management, independent of Hamstead house, (former seat of the descending into Pear Tree Bottom, where stands one of Hamstead’s and the Dower House, a large bungalow built by the Cravens in the Marshall. Craven family) passing between very few thatched cottages. 1960s. two stone plinths (16). A hundred yards or so short of the 6 The lane (8) then climbs up to the junction with Warwick Hill, and dog- Continue on the surfaced footpath, enjoying a delightful prospect of At the top of the hill the footpath house the footpath takes off to legs into a straight past Morewood House. parkland, with ancient fishponds to the left (17) and the remains of a forks again, a right fork heading the right across the grass, 15 medieval castle earthworks to the right (neither is accessible to the down to today’s houses. Take skirting the grounds. It rejoins a After Morewood the lane is joined by Park Lane from the right, after general public). Curving left around the lakes, the path crosses a cattle the left (6), crossing a stile under tarmac driveway leading which there maybe occasional traffic. Pass the old estate wall and St grid and proceeds on to the mill, passing the Craven Fishery on the an oak tree and head SE down northwards. Mary’s Church (look for the inset stone right. across a field until you meet Irish plaque dated 1663) as it descends to the Hill Road at its junction with Old river and Hamstead Mill. Lane (7). 7 8 17 16