From the car park turn left and walk along School Lane (the B477). On the first bend bear left into Dark Lane, head up the hill and turn right at the T-junction into Wargrave Hill. Follow the road and turn left at the sign for Crazies Hill. Turn right opposite East Lodge towards Warren Row, follow the winding lane, and turn left through a wooden picket gate to join a waymarked path. Keep alongside the fence, and after 200yds (183m) fork left at the broken footpath sign, across the fields towards trees. Go through a gate and turn right at the road. Continue for 150yds (137m), veering left through a kissing gate.
Now on a golf course, keep close to the left boundary of the field, go straight ahead, then descend steeply (be careful in wet weather) to a kissing gate (keep to the right-hand side as it is partially hidden) and a bridleway beyond. Cross a stile almost opposite and climb the steep hillside. Over a stile at the crest keep ahead on the higher ground, following the path alongside the fence. Descend to a kissing gate at the road and turn immediately right. Head uphill and pass Worley's Farm.
Take the next waymarked path on the right, just before a row of trees, and cross a stile. Walk between fences and hedges, going through a kissing gate near the crest and lining up with a large white house in the distance. Keep to the left of the house, Crazies, whose portico was salvaged from the old Henley Town Hall. Go through a kissing gate and follow an enclosed path to the road. Turn right, then almost immediately left beside the village hall. Follow the path by a paddock to a kissing gate by the road. Turn right, ignore the entrance to Thistle House (and a byway, the Chiltern Way, into trees on the right) and keep going to a gate on the left.
Join a woodland path and look out for white arrows on the tree trunks, eventually reaching a waymarked junction. Turn right here, avoiding a path on the right, and keep going to the next waymarked junction, on the edge of the wood. Fields are visible here. Bear left and walk down to a flight of steps and a footbridge. Go straight on to the edge of the field, to a public footpath sign, and turn right along the field-edge.
Cross a bridleway via two stiles and continue ahead along the woodland edge. Look for a hedge gap on the right, cross into the adjoining field and maintain the same direction. Make for a kissing gate and a footbridge in the field corner and continue ahead to the remains of a wrought-iron kissing gate. Follow the path across the next field, heading towards trees. Make for a kissing gate leading out to the road and turn right. Follow it down to the A321, looking out for 'Barrymore', a splendid three-storey house on the right. Turn left and walk along to School Lane to return to the car park.
The riverside village of Wargrave is usually quiet during the week, but often busy with visitors and boating enthusiasts at the weekends, particularly in the summer. It is sometimes mistakenly believed that the village has a connection with military cemeteries. That couldn't be further from the... truth – its name actually means 'grove by the weirs'. The village is distinctly Edwardian in appearance, but its origins date back many centuries. When Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor, held the manor in the 11th century, it was known as Weregrave. The church among the trees dates from World War I, replacing an earlier building that, except for the Norman tower, was destroyed by fire on Whit Sunday, 1914. It is believed that the fire was the work of a militant wing of the Suffragettes – angry because the vicar would not withdraw the word 'obey' from the marriage service. However, this claim was never proved. Madame Tussaud's daughter-in-law Elizabeth is buried in the churchyard. Colourful residents Wargrave seems to have produced more than its fair share of colourful characters over the centuries. One of them was Zachary Allnutt who lived for more than a hundred years at Lavender Cottage on the Henley road. Allnutt was a well-known local lavender grower in the 19th century. Another colourful resident was Thomas Day, the 18th-century idealist and author of Sandford and Merton (1783), a tale of two boys – one rich, the other poor. Day was an eccentric character but a genial man, nonetheless. He supported the abolition of slavery and the protection of animals from cruelty. He believed, too, that animals responded to kindness and gentleness. However, this proved to be his undoing. One day in 1789, in an attempt to demonstrate his conviction, he mounted an unbroken horse and was subsequently thrown off and killed. Another eccentric local figure was the 18th-century Irish peer, the Earl of Barrymore. He built a theatre (long gone) opposite his Wargrave home, 'Barrymore', and engaged the services of a famous Covent Garden clown known as Delphini. The opening night in 1791 was a sensation, with the cream of theatrical society in attendance. The Earl died suddenly in 1793, and by that time he had frittered away over £250,000 on the theatre, as well as various other sporting pleasures. The Earl was buried at Wargrave Church on a Sunday so as to prevent his creditors seizing his body and holding it until his debts had been settled.
Berkshire consists of two distinct parts: the western half, which is predominantly rural, with the Lambourn Downs spilling down to the River Lambourn and the Berkshire Downs to the majestic Thames, and the eastern half of Berkshire, which offers plenty of opportunity to get out and savour open spaces. Reading and Newbury are the county’s major towns, and the River Kennet flows through them both.
From the car park turn left and walk along School Lane (the B477). On the first bend bear left into Dark Lane, head up the hill and turn right at the T-junction into Wargrave Hill. Follow the road and turn left at the sign for Crazies Hill. Turn right opposite East Lodge towards Warren Row, follow the winding lane, and turn left through a wooden picket gate to join a waymarked path. Keep alongside the fence, and after 200yds (183m) fork left at the broken footpath sign, across the fields towards trees. Go through a gate and turn right at the road. Continue for 150yds (137m), veering left through a kissing gate.
1 of 5
Now on a golf course, keep close to the left boundary of the field, go straight ahead, then descend steeply (be careful in wet weather) to a kissing gate (keep to the right-hand side as it is partially hidden) and a bridleway beyond. Cross a stile almost opposite and climb the steep hillside. Over a stile at the crest keep ahead on the higher ground, following the path alongside the fence. Descend to a kissing gate at the road and turn immediately right. Head uphill and pass Worley's Farm.
2 of 5
Take the next waymarked path on the right, just before a row of trees, and cross a stile. Walk between fences and hedges, going through a kissing gate near the crest and lining up with a large white house in the distance. Keep to the left of the house, Crazies, whose portico was salvaged from the old Henley Town Hall. Go through a kissing gate and follow an enclosed path to the road. Turn right, then almost immediately left beside the village hall. Follow the path by a paddock to a kissing gate by the road. Turn right, ignore the entrance to Thistle House (and a byway, the Chiltern Way, into trees on the right) and keep going to a gate on the left.
3 of 5
Join a woodland path and look out for white arrows on the tree trunks, eventually reaching a waymarked junction. Turn right here, avoiding a path on the right, and keep going to the next waymarked junction, on the edge of the wood. Fields are visible here. Bear left and walk down to a flight of steps and a footbridge. Go straight on to the edge of the field, to a public footpath sign, and turn right along the field-edge.
4 of 5
Cross a bridleway via two stiles and continue ahead along the woodland edge. Look for a hedge gap on the right, cross into the adjoining field and maintain the same direction. Make for a kissing gate and a footbridge in the field corner and continue ahead to the remains of a wrought-iron kissing gate. Follow the path across the next field, heading towards trees. Make for a kissing gate leading out to the road and turn right. Follow it down to the A321, looking out for 'Barrymore', a splendid three-storey house on the right. Turn left and walk along to School Lane to return to the car park.
The riverside village of Wargrave is usually quiet during the week, but often busy with visitors and boating enthusiasts at the weekends, particularly in the summer. It is sometimes mistakenly believed that the village has a connection with military cemeteries. That couldn't be further from the... truth – its name actually means 'grove by the weirs'. The village is distinctly Edwardian in appearance, but its origins date back many centuries. When Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor, held the manor in the 11th century, it was known as Weregrave. The church among the trees dates from World War I, replacing an earlier building that, except for the Norman tower, was destroyed by fire on Whit Sunday, 1914. It is believed that the fire was the work of a militant wing of the Suffragettes – angry because the vicar would not withdraw the word 'obey' from the marriage service. However, this claim was never proved. Madame Tussaud's daughter-in-law Elizabeth is buried in the churchyard. Colourful residents Wargrave seems to have produced more than its fair share of colourful characters over the centuries. One of them was Zachary Allnutt who lived for more than a hundred years at Lavender Cottage on the Henley road. Allnutt was a well-known local lavender grower in the 19th century. Another colourful resident was Thomas Day, the 18th-century idealist and author of Sandford and Merton (1783), a tale of two boys – one rich, the other poor. Day was an eccentric character but a genial man, nonetheless. He supported the abolition of slavery and the protection of animals from cruelty. He believed, too, that animals responded to kindness and gentleness. However, this proved to be his undoing. One day in 1789, in an attempt to demonstrate his conviction, he mounted an unbroken horse and was subsequently thrown off and killed. Another eccentric local figure was the 18th-century Irish peer, the Earl of Barrymore. He built a theatre (long gone) opposite his Wargrave home, 'Barrymore', and engaged the services of a famous Covent Garden clown known as Delphini. The opening night in 1791 was a sensation, with the cream of theatrical society in attendance. The Earl died suddenly in 1793, and by that time he had frittered away over £250,000 on the theatre, as well as various other sporting pleasures. The Earl was buried at Wargrave Church on a Sunday so as to prevent his creditors seizing his body and holding it until his debts had been settled.
Berkshire consists of two distinct parts: the western half, which is predominantly rural, with the Lambourn Downs spilling down to the River Lambourn and the Berkshire Downs to the majestic Thames, and the eastern half of Berkshire, which offers plenty of opportunity to get out and savour open spaces. Reading and Newbury are the county’s major towns, and the River Kennet flows through them both.
