getting around
Hamstead Marshall
maps
buses
footpaths
Larger-scale map
of the village showing roads,
footpaths and the parish boundary
Images produced from the Ordnance Survey
Get-a-map service with permission of Ordnance Survey and
Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
Public footpaths are shown on the larger scale road map, a copy of which is also posted at the Village
Information Point at Ash Tree Corner.
The Farm Trail at Elm Farm is open every
day, all year round.
cycling
disability transport
The Kennet and Avon cycle route (84 miles
Reading to Bath) passes through Hamstead Marshall using the
towpath and Irish HIll Road. For details try the Sustrans site. A map of the route is also posted at the Village
Information Point at Ash Tree Corner.
Cycling is permitted on the full length
of the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath, but not on footpaths.
Kintbury Volunteer Group runs a regular
Handybus service (with room for two wheelchairs) to Hungerford,
Newbury and Marlborough, covering collection and drop-off to
homes in Hamstead Marshall. Places are allocated on a
first-come first-served basis, and there is a small charge for
the service. Ring 01488 657119 between 9-11am weekdays.The
group also arranges hospital transport and prescription
collection for patients of the Kintbury surgery.
trains
Nearest stations are at Kintbury and
Newbury. This line carries First Great Western trains from
Paddington to Penzance.
horse-riding
The only bridle path within the parish
runs across Elm Farm land for about a quarter of a mile. There
are others in adjoining parishes.
For a fee riders can sometimes obtain
permission to ride across the 300-acre Morewood Estate.
Morewood also runs a livery stable.
There is also a riding stables at
Holtwood Farm.
Copyright Penelope Stokes
15 December 2009
Hamstead Marshall was for centuries
defined by its boundary as a church parish. When civil parishes
were introduced in the late nineteenth century the two were
identical for some decades. Changes were made in 1991: on the
western side Hamstead's boundary now runs neatly up Old Lane
rather than zig-zagging across fields as it had done for
centuries. Thus Barrs Farm is now included in the parish, but
Hamstead Holt Farm and the houses on the west of Old Lane have
been expelled into Kintbury. The northern boundary used to
follow the most northerly stream of the river, but lately is
shown on Ordnance Survey maps following the railway. Marsh
Benham Farm has thus become part of Hamstead rather than Speen.