Staunton Way - Queen Elizabeth Country Park to Finchdean
A short history of the Staunton Way
The Staunton Way is a 8.5 to 20.5 mile route from Queen Elizabeth Country Park, near Petersfield on the South Downs to Staunton Country Park near Havant.
You can walk the whole route or one of the six sections, each offering a good day out. There are many interesting buildings and places to visit along the route. The route is well sign posted with the logo of a roe deer on a green arrow.
It's named after Sir George Staunton, an early 19th century Portsmouth MP. He created a country estate, which now forms the Staunton Country Park.
Key
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- Route
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- Temporarily closed
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- Restricted use
Directions
You can start the Staunton Way at its northern tip in Queen Elizabeth Country Park. This is the largest of Hampshire’s parks and sits at the foot of Butser Hill, the highest point of the chalky South Downs. Starting at the Visitor Centre, the Way enters the quiet calm of the woodland. Here where there is the site of a Roman farmstead, designated in 2002 as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Continue along Newbarn Hanger (a steep-sided, wooded hill) and out into the open space of the Downs. Gently descend south to the village of Chalton which has been occupied as far back as the Iron Age. From here you can cross over to the eastern side of the Way. A short walk off-route west from the village brings you to Butser Ancient Farm, an experimental archaeology project and to Windmill Hill.
The path then climbs up to a tumulus (an Iron Age burial mound) at the top of Chalton Down. Walk along the ridge at Idsworth Down, where there are nine Bronze Age burial mounds, and down to the tiny village of Finchdean. From here you can cross over to the eastern side of the Way.