Walking in the North Wessex Downs. Steve Davison

the large house.

      Cross a stile and turn right along the lane passing Manor Farm, keeping right at the junction towards Bucklebury. After the Old Vicarage turn right, following the surfaced path through the churchyard and passing clockwise round St Mary’s Church. The alternative parking/start is up the road ahead at the junction. Go through gates either side of a track and continue across the field before leaving through a gate.

      The manor of Bucklebury, mentioned in the Domesday Book, was granted to Reading Abbey by Henry I. Following Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the manor was sold to John Winchcombe, son of the famous ‘Jack of Newbury’ who had made his wealth in the cloth trade.

      The 11th-century parish church of St Mary the Virgin has some impressive features, including an elaborately carved Norman doorway. The colourful east window depicting the Crucifixion, by Sir Frank Brangwyn, is unusual in that the crucified Christ is looking up to heaven, rather than down at the ground. Before leaving, take a look at the curious ‘fly-window’, complete with painted sundial; the realistic fly is a pictorial substitute for the usual sundial motto – Tempus fugit (‘time flies’).

      Follow the road northwards, crossing the River Pang, to a junction. Turn right towards Stanford Dingley for 75m before going left up a lane signposted to Old Hawkridge House and Cottage.

      At the brick-and-timber house keep right towards a gated (private) entrance and then fork left onto a narrow restricted byway up through the trees with a fence on the right (ignore paths to the left and right). Continue up through Burgess’ Copse, passing over the brow of the hill and down to a dip before reaching a crossing track at SU 556 725. Anyone not wanting to visit the Pot Kiln pub at Frilsham can turn right here to continue with the walk (1.5km shorter route).

      Cross over and follow the narrow path down through the trees of High Copse, ignoring a crossing track (private). Go through a gate and follow the right-hand boundary through two fields, separated by a footbridge and gate. Leave through a gate in the top-right corner and turn left along the lane to the Pot Kiln pub. At one time there were a number of kilns here that were used to fire bricks made from local clay deposits; much later the West Berkshire Brewery (now in Yattendon, Walk 2) started brewing in one of the old barns. Continue along the lane up to a right-hand bend and fork left along the track. Keep right (straight on) at the split and follow the track as it curves left back to the junction passed earlier; keep ahead.

      Following a good track past Highwood Copse

      Follow the track eastwards for 700m, passing Highwood Copse and later descending to a junction. Turn right along the tree-shaded byway for 500m to reach a track; the restricted byway goes straight on through the trees.

      Here, turn left and follow the track (permissive path) as it curves right along the field edge towards Pangfield Farm. Stay in the field and turn left following the right-hand boundary through two fields. Go through a gate in the corner beside some trees and keep ahead through the next field, following the boundary on the left along two sides of the field to a lane.

      Turn left along the lane for 100m then right up the bank and follow the right-hand field edge. Cross a stile and bear half-left across the field aiming for the church in Stanford Dingley. Cross a stile in the field corner and turn right along the lane.

      The name of picturesque Stanford Dingley is derived from the original lord of the manor, William de Stanford, mentioned in 1224, and from the Dyneley family, who lived here in the Middle Ages. The church here is unusual in that it is dedicated to St Denys, who was martyred in third-century France. The church has Saxon origins, although it mostly dates from the 12th and 13th centuries, with a 15th-century white weather-boarded bell turret. Inside there are fragments of 13th-century wall paintings, a brass memorial to Margaret Dyneley dated 1444, and a modern engraved memorial window to the novelist and poet Robert Gathorne-Hardy (1902–1973), who lived in the village for many years.

      St Denys’ Church

      Follow the lane and, once level with The Bull Inn, fork right across the grass to follow an enclosed path, soon crossing the River Pang beside the former mill (private house) to join a road beside the tile-hung Garden House. Turn right along the road for 400m, soon passing The Old Boot Inn. At the right-hand bend, just before some houses, turn left along a track (bridleway). Enter a field and follow the right-hand boundary to the top-right corner. Go through a gate and follow the bridleway uphill with trees to the right. Continue up along the track passing St Crispins Farm to a road. Turn left and keep left at the junction to get back to the start.

      The Bull Inn

WALK 2

      Ashampstead and Yattendon

Start/Finish	North edge of the recreation ground in Ashampstead (SU 565 769); limited roadside parking
Distance	6.9km (4¼ miles)
Ascent	65m
Time	2hrs
Map	OS Explorer 158
Refreshments	Casey Fields Farm Shop at Ashampstead; The Royal Oak (01635 201325) and village shop at Yattendon
Public transport	None

      This easy walk meanders through fairly level farmland and visits two interesting villages, Ashampstead and Yattendon. Step inside St Clement’s Church near the start of the walk to see its medieval wall paintings, while the Church of St Peter and St Paul at Yattendon is the resting-place of a poet laureate. Yattendon is also home to the award-winning West Berkshire Brewery.

      Stand facing the large green in Ashampstead and turn right to a crossroads. Go left down Church Lane for 100m before turning right through a gate to enter the churchyard. Follow the path passing just left of St Clement’s Church, and leave the churchyard through a gate on the western boundary.

      Ashampstead dates back to at least the time of the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror gave the lands to William FitzOsborn. St Clement’s Church dates from the late 12th century, with later additions. The church contains a real treasure – surviving fragments of 13th-century medieval wall paintings. Those on the north wall of the nave depict scenes from the birth of Christ, while on the chancel arch can be seen the remains of the Last Judgement, with the figures of Christ and the Apostles and souls being admitted to heaven (left) or dragged down to hell (right). The paintings were uncovered only in 1895, having been plastered over following the Reformation in the 16th century.

      Medieval wall paintings inside St Clement’s Church, Ashampstead

      Head west across two fields separated by a gate and turn left along the concrete track (bridleway). Just before Casey Fields Farm Shop turn right following a track through trees. Enter a field and continue alongside the trees on the right for 175m to a track and marker post. Turn left across the field, passing just left of a tree to the trees on the far side. Keep ahead through a gate and follow the left-hand field edge. Go through gates either side of a track and continue between the trees (left) and hedge (right). Go through another gate and follow the hedge on the right. At the field corner turn left for 75m, still following the hedge, and then turn right through a gate.

      Head diagonally left across the corner of the field, cross the boundary into the next field and turn right following the right-hand field margin for 200m. At the marker post head diagonally left across the field, passing a wooden electricity pole mid-field. Cross a stile, continue through the small paddock and leave over another stile. Bear left up the road to a junction in Yattendon beside The Royal Oak, with the village store opposite.

      The Royal Oak at Yattendon

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