Walking in the North Wessex Downs. Steve Davison

next, heading along Wellsprings. At a path junction, just after passing a thatched cottage, turn left alongside a stream to reach Brightwell Street opposite the thatch-roofed Red Lion.

      Turn right through the village, later passing the brick-and-flint Stewart Memorial Hall and clock tower built in memory of a former rector, the Revd John Haldane Stewart. To visit St Agatha’s Church, which dates from the mid-12th century, bear half-left at the war memorial. Follow the road to the right, and at the left-hand bend go straight on along the byway. With care, cross the A4130 again and take the surfaced path opposite, bearing left to a minor road. At the second entrance (Highlands Farm) on the right fork half-right over a stile and head diagonally up across two fields, crossing a stile. Cross another stile and continue through the third field for 250m; to the right is the tree-crowned Brightwell Barrow. Bear left down the grassy strip and through the hedge gap. Turn right and follow the path round three sides of the field to the opposite side and head through the bushes to a gate on Wittenham Clumps (also known as the Sinodum Hills).

      Tree crowned Round Hill, one of the twin tops of the Wittenham Clumps (Sinodun Hills)

      While the twin tops of the Wittenham Clumps, Round Hill and Castle Hill, are both crowned with beech copses, Castle Hill is also the site of the impressive earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort and was once home to the poem tree. In the mid-19th century Joseph Tubb of Warnborough Green carved a poem onto one of the beech trees; the tree has gone, but a memorial stone and plaque commemorate the poem. From the second top, Round Hill, there is a lovely panoramic view – to the west are the Berkshire Downs, to the north is the Oxfordshire plain and to the east are the Chiltern Hills.

      Either head west over Castle Hill (passing the poem tree memorial) or follow the earthworks clockwise to the opposite side and then head north-westwards to the second top (car park to left) and circle round to the view indicator. To visit the Earth Trust centre (01865 407792) head west-south-west down from the second top, go through gates and cross the minor road; then retrace steps. After admiring the view head north downhill, aiming for the church in Little Wittenham, go through a gate and continue along the left-hand field margin. Leave through a gate, turn right along the track past St Peter’s Church and bear left downhill.

      Inside the 14th-century Church of St Peter in Little Wittenham is a fine 17th-century memorial to Sir William Dunch, MP for Wallingford in the 1560s, and a figure of his wife, Mary Dunch, an aunt of Oliver Cromwell.

      Soon cross two bridges, then cross a footbridge over the River Thames and go through a gate. Head diagonally left across the field, leave through a gate and follow the enclosed path, soon following the Dyke Hills for 300m.

      The Dyke Hills, two parallel linear earthworks, were constructed as part of an Iron Age promontory settlement (protected on the other sides by the Thames and Thame). The earthworks were saved during the Victorian era by General Pitt Rivers, who helped initiate a national system to protect ancient monuments.

      At the path junction turn left across the field, continuing between houses and then along the track to the war memorial. Turn sharp right along the main street in Dorchester on Thames, passing a tea room and then The White Hart Hotel. Opposite The George Hotel a lane on the left leads to the impressive abbey church and museum.

      DORCHESTER ON THAMES

      The historic village of Dorchester on Thames, site of a former Roman settlement on the route between Alchester and Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), has a history stretching back at least as far as the Iron Age. Jump forward several hundred years and it was here in AD635 that Cynegils, King of Wessex, was baptised by Birinus, a missionary sent by the Pope. This helped the spread of Christianity in England, and Dorchester on Thames became an important religious centre. Birinus built a Saxon cathedral church here; however, following the Norman Conquest, this was rebuilt as an Augustinian abbey.

      Inside the Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul there is a striking 14th-century Tree of Jesse window, a fine Norman lead font and some wonderful effigies. These include a 13th-century Crusader knight, and another commemorates John de Stonor (d.1354), Lord Chief Justice of England under Edward III, whose descendants live at Stonor House (Chilterns). Next door, in the former monastery guest house and grammar school, is a museum.

      The route crosses the River Thame before following the River Thames

      Continue along the main street past The Fleur de Lys Inn, and when level with the octagonal toll house (left) fork right along Bridge End past the car park and toilets. Just after St Birinus Catholic Church turn right along Watling Lane and then immediately left along Wittenham Lane (track), signposted for the river and Wittenham. The 19th-century St Birinus Church was built by WW Wardell, who later emigrated to Australia and built Catholic cathedrals in Sydney and Melbourne. After the last house continue along the left-hand field margin to the corner and bear left through the gate.

      The last part of the walk follows the Thames Path alongside the River Thames

      Continue past the end of the Dyke Hills (right), then past a pillbox (left), before going through a gate and continuing south to the River Thames. Turn left (the walk now follows the Thames Path back to Shilingford), cross the footbridge over the River Thame, which joins the Thames here, and follow the riverside path for 1.3km. The River Thame rises in the Vale of Aylesbury, whereas the 346km long River Thames – England’s longest river – starts out in Gloucestershire. At the path junction (ahead is a cul-de-sac) turn left, go through a gate, carefully cross the A4074 and turn right to return to Shillingford.

WALK 5

      Blewbury and the Astons

Start/Finish	Car park at Blewbury village hall and shop (SU 530 860) along Westbrook Street, 500m north off the A417
Distance	13.7km (8½ miles)
Ascent	220m
Time	4hrs
Map	OS Explorer 170
Refreshments	The Red Lion (01235 850403) and village shop at Blewbury; The Chequers (01235 851272) at Aston Tirrold
Public transport	Bus service to Blewbury (A417) from Didcot rail station (excluding Sundays). (From the bus stop head west along the A417 and turn right along Nottingham Fee to the church and join the route here.)

      This easy walk sets out from the picturesque village of Blewbury, with its historic church and wealth of thatched cottages, and passes the earthworks of a former Iron Age hill fort on Blewburton Hill before heading through the neighbouring villages of Aston Upthorpe and Aston Tirrold. The walk then heads south over the rolling Aston Upthorpe Downs before briefly meeting with the Ridgeway and then heading north past Churn Hill back down to Blewbury, with views including the Wittenham Clumps (Walk 4).

      From the village hall at Blewbury head back to Westbrook Street and bear left along Church End to a junction. Fork right (straight on), shortly passing the churchyard (right). Continue along the enclosed path, cross the stream and then follow the track.

      Blewbury, once home to Kenneth Grahame, best known as the author of The Wind in the Willows, who lived for a while in a house in Westbrook Street (blue plaque), has many picturesque timber-framed and thatched cottages as well as some original thatched cob walls. The village was first mentioned in a Saxon charter from King Edmund in AD944, and at the time of the Domesday Book was home to a church and four mills. St Michael’s Church, rebuilt in the 11th century, has Saxon origins. Inside are some interesting memorial brasses, including one to Dame Alice Daunce (d.1523) and her husband Sir John, Surveyor-General to Henry VIII.

      Turn left along South Street for 100m and then right along Bessels Lea to a junction. Cross the road (B4016) and keep ahead along the track past Winterbrook Farm, heading east gently up towards Blewburton Hill. The hill is crowned with the remains of an Iron Age hill fort (400BC) and was later used as a Saxon cemetery (AD500). A gate