Whitchurch and the River Test

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Our view

"Combine a stroll through the infant Test Valley, famous for its specialised paper-making mills, with a visit to a working silk mill."

Walk directions

Turn right along the Winchester road, then right again at The Weir. Follow the lane past some allotments on the left to one of the many old watermills in this area, Grade II-listed Fulling Mill. Cross the stream and then turn right down the waymarked path to cross the river, and follow the footpath beside the River Test.

At the road, bear sharp left up to All Hallows church and turn right onto Wells Lane. Just before the railway bridge, turn right down Fairclose and continue down the footpath. Turn left at the bottom, towards the village centre. At the mini-roundabout, take the road to the right of The White Hart, to ‘Overton’.

After 0.25 miles (400m), turn right down The Green, the road narrowing to a track by the wooden Moki Lodge. Go through a gate and follow the fenced path along the left-hand edge of water meadows. Bear left through a hedge and follow the right-hand field edge, which soon swings left beside the River Test. Go through a kissing gate, signed ‘Mill Trail’, and bear slightly left across a field to another kissing gate and a metalled drive.

Turn right, cross the bridge beside Bere Mill Cottage and keep left at a fork of footpaths to a gate. Go through, and up to a kissing gate. Bear slightly right across the field to a kissing gate and pass a bench. Keep ahead along the right-hand field boundary, then head right and continue ahead to a kissing gate. Turn left and follow a gravel track to visit St Nicholas’ church.

Leave the churchyard and bear right down a road, following it right over the River Test to the B3400. Cross to the pavement opposite and turn left here, opposite Manor Cottages, and continue for 200yds (183m) for the Watership Down Inn; otherwise turn right and cross the river. Turn right, opposite Laverstoke Mill, along Laverstoke Lane and pass Lady Rose Hall.

As the road starts to bend, turn right along a track, following blue waymarkers (for the Mill Trail). Climb steadily then, as it turns sharp right, bear left alongside a field and follow the field edge left to a gap in the far corner. Pass through a kissing gate into another field, keeping to the left and gradually descend to the gate in the corner, and continue beside the woods to a further gate (ignore the stile to your left).

Keep ahead beneath a steep wooded bank on your left. Go through a wooden gate at a break in the trees and then through a kissing gate. Continue along the right-hand edge of two fields, with the river on your right. Keep ahead through woodland and then beside another field. After leaving the field, bear right in a meadow and pass a wooden seat near the back of the school. Bear left on a metalled footpath, pass the school gate and skirt the playing fields. Follow McFauld Way ahead and turn right opposite Alliston Way along a path beside playing fields and down an alleyway. Cross the road at the bottom to return to the car park.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Riverside paths, field-edge paths and road

Landscape - Town streets and farmland

Dog friendliness - Keep dogs under control at all times

Parking - Car park at Gill Nethercott Centre, next to Whitchurch Silk Mill on Winchester Street

Toilets en route - Bell Street, Whitchurch

Walks in Hampshire Dog-friendly walks in Hampshire

About the walk

Whitchurch was first established as a borough and a market town in the 13th century because of its location at a crossing point on the River Test and a junction of two major routes. This small town was at its most important during the coaching era, when it was the first overnight stop out of...

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Hampshire’s varied landscape of hills and heaths, downlands and forests, valleys and coast are without rival in southern England. Hike across the chalk downland of the north Hampshire ‘highlands’, meander along peaceful paths through unspoilt river valleys of the Test, Itchen, Avon and Meon, or explore the lonely salt marshes and the beautiful medieval forest and heathland of the New Forest.