Keep the postbox and telephone box on the right and follow the road through Cottisford. Pass the church and, when the road swings round to the right, branch left at the entrance to College Farm. Keep the farm outbuildings on your left and follow the track, which runs between tall hedges. Continue on the track until you cross a stream and then turn right onto a marked bridleway.
Keep the stream and hedgerow on your right and pass an open area and then a field. Follow the bridleway into a wood and then alongside a fenced plantation to reach a junction with a track. Turn right and walk along, with the buildings of Tusmore Park and the obelisk visible to your left. When the path turns left, bear right to join a waymarked footpath, then turn left almost immediately to again follow the fence of the plantation. Keep alongside a fence and, on reaching the corner, go straight ahead over a wooden footbridge.
Head north, keeping trees and hedgerow initially only on the right, but soon on both sides, and eventually you come to wooden gates, a stile and a road. Cross straight over the road and take the path on the opposite side signposted to Juniper. Keep the hedge on your left-hand side and switch through the gap at the top of the slope. Over to the left are the dishes of Croughton Wireless Station. Approaching Juniper Hill, join a drive serving bungalows and follow it left to the road, emerging opposite a cottage called Larkwell House.
Pass the former village inn, now a private residence called The Old Fox, and continue along the road as far as the village sign for Juniper Hill. Turn right just beyond it, through a metal gate. Follow the path which runs to the right of the allotments, then cross a stile and head diagonally left across a large field, making for the woodland in the distance. Look for a track in the corner and cut between trees to the next field. Keep right, alongside the edge of the woodland, with a ditch beside you. Cross into the next field and continue ahead through another field to meet the road. Turn left opposite Manor Grange and return to the centre of Cottisford.
Flora Jane Timms was one of thousands of children growing up in rural northeast Oxfordshire in the latter part of the 19th century. But Flora was blessed with a rare gift. She had an observant eye and a sharp awareness of her surroundings. As a girl, she studied the daily routine closely – the... minutiae of everyday life in a traditional English village. Years later, as Flora Thompson, a married woman in her sixties, she began writing sketches of her precious childhood which later became the basis for three famous books – – Lark Rise (Juniper Hill), Over to Candleford (an amalgam of nearby Banbury, Bicester and Buckingham) and Candleford Green. The stories were published during World War II and then in 1945 as a trilogy – Lark Rise to Candleford. Even today her work is seen as a brilliantly crafted social record of the times, expertly capturing the spirit and essence of rural life during the closing stages of the Victorian era. Flora was born at Juniper Hill in 1876, the eldest of ten children, six of whom died young. Her father was a stonemason who worked in Brackley and her mother had been employed locally as a nursemaid. From the age of seven, Flora attended the local school at neighbouring Cottisford. She walked there and back from Juniper Hill with other children from the village. ‘Up the long, straight road they straggled, in twos and threes and in gangs, their flat, rush dinner baskets over their shoulders and their shabby little coats on their arms against the rain.’ Every Sunday Flora attended church at Cottisford with her brother Edwin, sitting in their grandfather’s pew opposite the door. At the age of 14, she left school and went to work as a post office assistant at nearby Fringford. It proved to be a good move for young Flora. She made use of her employer’s library, developing and expanding her knowledge and understanding of literature. Mrs Whitton ‘had more influence than anyone in shaping the outward course of my life’, she wrote. At the age of 20, Flora left Juniper Hill to work at various post offices in Surrey, Essex and Hampshire. She later met and married John Thompson, a junior post office clerk. They had three children, Winifred, Henry and Peter. In 1928 John became postmaster in Dartmouth. Now firmly established in the West Country, Flora began writing, recalling the days of her childhood in Juniper Hill. But tragedy was to overwhelm Flora. During World War II, her younger son, Peter, joined the Merchant Navy and was killed when his ship was torpedoed. Flora never fully recovered from the shock. After the war, having written Still Glides the Stream – her final work – Flora developed pneumonia, which left her with a weak heart. She died in 1947, aged 70. A festival was held at Cottisford in 1976 to mark her centenary and two years later a stage version of Lark Rise was performed by the National Theatre. In 2008 the BBC showed a serialised version of Lark Rise to Candleford.
Located at the heart of England, Oxfordshire enjoys a rich heritage and varied scenery, with Oxford’s elegant streets a highlight for visitors. The landscape encompasses open chalk downland, picturesque rivers and attractive villages, while northwest of Oxfordshire is home to the sleepy backwaters of Abingdon, Wallingford, Wantage, Watlington and Witney that reveal how Oxfordshire’s old towns evolved over the centuries.
Keep the postbox and telephone box on the right and follow the road through Cottisford. Pass the church and, when the road swings round to the right, branch left at the entrance to College Farm. Keep the farm outbuildings on your left and follow the track, which runs between tall hedges. Continue on the track until you cross a stream and then turn right onto a marked bridleway.
1 of 4
Keep the stream and hedgerow on your right and pass an open area and then a field. Follow the bridleway into a wood and then alongside a fenced plantation to reach a junction with a track. Turn right and walk along, with the buildings of Tusmore Park and the obelisk visible to your left. When the path turns left, bear right to join a waymarked footpath, then turn left almost immediately to again follow the fence of the plantation. Keep alongside a fence and, on reaching the corner, go straight ahead over a wooden footbridge.
2 of 4
Head north, keeping trees and hedgerow initially only on the right, but soon on both sides, and eventually you come to wooden gates, a stile and a road. Cross straight over the road and take the path on the opposite side signposted to Juniper. Keep the hedge on your left-hand side and switch through the gap at the top of the slope. Over to the left are the dishes of Croughton Wireless Station. Approaching Juniper Hill, join a drive serving bungalows and follow it left to the road, emerging opposite a cottage called Larkwell House.
3 of 4
Pass the former village inn, now a private residence called The Old Fox, and continue along the road as far as the village sign for Juniper Hill. Turn right just beyond it, through a metal gate. Follow the path which runs to the right of the allotments, then cross a stile and head diagonally left across a large field, making for the woodland in the distance. Look for a track in the corner and cut between trees to the next field. Keep right, alongside the edge of the woodland, with a ditch beside you. Cross into the next field and continue ahead through another field to meet the road. Turn left opposite Manor Grange and return to the centre of Cottisford.
Flora Jane Timms was one of thousands of children growing up in rural northeast Oxfordshire in the latter part of the 19th century. But Flora was blessed with a rare gift. She had an observant eye and a sharp awareness of her surroundings. As a girl, she studied the daily routine closely – the... minutiae of everyday life in a traditional English village. Years later, as Flora Thompson, a married woman in her sixties, she began writing sketches of her precious childhood which later became the basis for three famous books – – Lark Rise (Juniper Hill), Over to Candleford (an amalgam of nearby Banbury, Bicester and Buckingham) and Candleford Green. The stories were published during World War II and then in 1945 as a trilogy – Lark Rise to Candleford. Even today her work is seen as a brilliantly crafted social record of the times, expertly capturing the spirit and essence of rural life during the closing stages of the Victorian era. Flora was born at Juniper Hill in 1876, the eldest of ten children, six of whom died young. Her father was a stonemason who worked in Brackley and her mother had been employed locally as a nursemaid. From the age of seven, Flora attended the local school at neighbouring Cottisford. She walked there and back from Juniper Hill with other children from the village. ‘Up the long, straight road they straggled, in twos and threes and in gangs, their flat, rush dinner baskets over their shoulders and their shabby little coats on their arms against the rain.’ Every Sunday Flora attended church at Cottisford with her brother Edwin, sitting in their grandfather’s pew opposite the door. At the age of 14, she left school and went to work as a post office assistant at nearby Fringford. It proved to be a good move for young Flora. She made use of her employer’s library, developing and expanding her knowledge and understanding of literature. Mrs Whitton ‘had more influence than anyone in shaping the outward course of my life’, she wrote. At the age of 20, Flora left Juniper Hill to work at various post offices in Surrey, Essex and Hampshire. She later met and married John Thompson, a junior post office clerk. They had three children, Winifred, Henry and Peter. In 1928 John became postmaster in Dartmouth. Now firmly established in the West Country, Flora began writing, recalling the days of her childhood in Juniper Hill. But tragedy was to overwhelm Flora. During World War II, her younger son, Peter, joined the Merchant Navy and was killed when his ship was torpedoed. Flora never fully recovered from the shock. After the war, having written Still Glides the Stream – her final work – Flora developed pneumonia, which left her with a weak heart. She died in 1947, aged 70. A festival was held at Cottisford in 1976 to mark her centenary and two years later a stage version of Lark Rise was performed by the National Theatre. In 2008 the BBC showed a serialised version of Lark Rise to Candleford.
Located at the heart of England, Oxfordshire enjoys a rich heritage and varied scenery, with Oxford’s elegant streets a highlight for visitors. The landscape encompasses open chalk downland, picturesque rivers and attractive villages, while northwest of Oxfordshire is home to the sleepy backwaters of Abingdon, Wallingford, Wantage, Watlington and Witney that reveal how Oxfordshire’s old towns evolved over the centuries.
