Take the bridleway opposite Elm Farm across the field which for centuries has been called Summer Leys. To the left is Woodcote Copse, bordered by a dip caused by clay extraction for local brickmaking. The bridleway rises up to meet Park Lane, which you cross, continuing on another footpath up some scrubland and onto the Plain. This was once grassland, used for village cricket and even golf in the early twentieth-century, but more often ploughed and cultivated now. As you cross the Plain note the ditch and bank on the right -- the original medieval park "pale", and now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Ahead you can see the gate-piers of the first Lord Craven's mansion, built in the 1660s and burned to the ground in 1718. The gate-piers and what remains of the old mansion walling also have protected status.
The path reaches the south side of St Mary's churchyard, at which point footpaths run left into the Craven Hill development, and also to the right. Take the latter, skirting the garden of North Lodge, and descend through a once-grand avenue to meet the tarmac driveway at the Hamstead Mill entrance to the park.
Turn right onto the drive and walk towards the big house formerly called Hamstead Lodge (a modern house on the far side of the village has now taken over the name). The Craven Fishery lies on the left, shrouded by greenery in summer but plainly visible in winter. The path skirts a lake frequented by ducks and Canada geese. The hill to the left is probably the remaining earthwork of a Norman castle. Passing some rhododendron bushes at the top, the driveway bears right into the grounds of the big house, but the footpath continues over the grass, eventually to rejoin another driveway leading out from the back of the house. Continue along this avenue until the main driveway bears left and another (unused) stretch runs on towards some old white gates. This is also a footpath crossroads, and apart from the signs the point is marked on the left by a white limestone memorial recently dedicated to the US troops encamped here in the months before D-Day.
Take the footpath which forks to the right over pasture, passing through a gate. Aim for the stile at the far side. Thence the path descends, skirting a copse to the right. This stretch is pretty in bluebell time. After several field crossings, the last brings you to the corner of Ash Tree Plantation, beside which the path runs to the left as a more obvious track. After a few hundred yards it joins the Kintbury Road just east of Ash Tree Corner, from which it is a half-mile walk (to the right) back to Elm Farm.
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Page last updated on 20th Jan 2004.
Copyright Penelope Stokes.