The Datchet Health Walk 03 (18) Hurley to Marlow Centre 04 March 2018 – 10am start Walking Group

We meet in the car park at the bottom of Hurley High Street SL6 5NE OS Explorer Map 172. ref: 826841

Directions to meeting point The easiest route is probably to drive west along the M4 and exit at junction 8/9. Follow the A404(M) towards High Wycombe. After about 2 miles, leave the dual carriageway and take the A4130 towards Henley. Continue along this road for about 1 mile and on reaching the sign to Hurley village, turn right. Follow the lane through to the very end where the car park is situated on the left, opposite the church.

Walk description The walk is about 5 miles long and it is flat. It forms a figure of eight. The outward leg follows the to Marlow, passing both Hurley and Temple Locks and crossing the river over the Temple Footbridge. The return leg from Marlow passes beside fields and water meadows and eventually emerges on to Hurley High Street beside The Olde Bell Hotel.

Guest walkers are very welcome. Please remember, guests will be expected to contribute £1.00 to the charity ‘Windsor Homeless Project’ on the day of the walk. Guests and occasional walkers will be asked to become members if they attend more than 2 walks in any one year.

Walkers may wish to take refreshments at the The Olde Bell Hotel near the end of the walk.

1. From the car park exit, turn left and walk down the footpath that passes between the Tythe Barn and Ladye Place. The path leads to the river. Climb the steps and cross the footbridge over the lock cut to reach an island; follow the Thames Path as it passes beside and walk on to a footbridge visible ahead. Cross the footbridge and follow the Thames path left.

2. After a few hundred yards, cross the over the wooden Temple Footbridge and continue along the Thames Path downstream to reach Temple Lock. Continue along the Thames Path as it passes Temple Island, then Bisham Abbey on the opposite bank followed by All Saints Church with its solid Norman tower.

3. Marlow itself now comes into view, with its suspension bridge and slender church steeple. The path enters Higginson Park. Instead of following the Thames path to the suspension bridge, veer left and left again along a path that passes in front of the impressive Court Garden house. Where the path turns right at the corner of the building, cross the grass ahead and aim for the iron gates visible in the hedgerow on the far side.

4. Pass through the gates and turn left down Lower Pound Lane. The lane eventually becomes a path and passes between farm fields to the right and water meadows to the left. It eventually leads to a gravel track. Turn left here and follow the track down to the River Thames.

5. Turn right on to the Thames path and walk past Temple Lock. Walk back over the Temple Footbridge and continue along the Thames Path on the southern bank, heading upstream. After about 150 yards, turn left along a footpath that leads away from the river. After a few hundred yards, the path meets a gravel track. Turn right here.

6. Walk along the gravel track as it passes between farm fields. Where the track turns right, continue straight ahead along a footpath. The path emerges onto Hurley High Street beside The Olde Bell Hotel to the left. Cross the road and turn right along the pavement. Walk down the High Street to its very end, where the car park is situated to the left.

Adrian and Helen Dalton [email protected] The Datchet Health Walk 03 (18) Hurley to Marlow Centre 04 March 2018 – 10am start Walking Group

Some points of interest A church has existed on the site of St Mary’s, Hurley since 633. After the Norman Conquest, a Benedictine Priory was established here. Remains of the Priory are still visible through the archway to the left of the church, notably the refectory wall to the left and the cloisters straight ahead (now a private residence). Henry VIII dissolved the priory in 1536 and the land was passed to the Lovelace family, who built Ladye Place, a Tudor manor house to the left of the church. The current building only dates back a hundred years or so.

It was in the vaults of Ladye Place that the Lovelace family, along with other nobles, plotted the overthrow of the catholic King James II in 1688. A letter was taken down the Thames and delivered to the protestant William of Orange in Holland, who later came to power with Mary.

To the left of Ladye Place are situated two impressive buildings, a former tythe barn and a dovecote. These were built in the 14thC but have since been sensitively restored.

The site of Bisham Abbey was granted to the knights Templar in the 12thC. In 1536, after the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII gifted it to Anne of Cleves who in turn passed it on to Sir Phillip Hoby. He sheltered the Princess Elizabeth here, when she was exiled from court during the reign of her half-sister, Mary (1553-1558). The National Sports Council now owns the site, which offers a range of sports facilities sometimes used by the national teams for training.

The Olde Bell Hotel dates back to 1135 when it was used as a hospice for visitors to the Benedictine Priory. The Sanctus Bell, depicted in the pub sign, was rung to signal the arrival of important visitors.

The suspension bridge in Marlow was built by Tierney Clarke in 1832.

Adrian and Helen Dalton [email protected]