Wayfarers Walk - Inkpen Beacon to Kingsclere

A short history of the Wayfarers Walk

The Wayfarers Walk is a 70-mile, long-distance walking route.

The route will take you from its dramatic start, high on the chalk downs at Inkpen to finish at Emsworth Harbour. You will walk over some of the finest chalk turf in Hampshire down to the mud flats and salt marshes along the coast.

The Walk has been divided into six sections, each providing a really good day out.

Choose between high chalk downland with exhilarating views or chalk-stream valleys buzzing with wildlife, peaceful pubs in pretty villages or a busy market town. Or why not have a relaxing seaside picnic while watching the marsh wildlife.

Key

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    • Route
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    • Temporarily closed
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    • Restricted use

Directions

The Wayfarers Walk begins in the county of Berkshire at Combe Gibbet on top of Inkpen Beacon. The route takes you over Walbury Hill at 297m is the highest chalk hill in England. Cross the A343 and skirt round the estate of Highclere Castle and its perfect park laid out by Capability Brown in the 1770s.

The route then runs around Beacon Hill and its pre-historic ramparts. Here lies the grave of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon who became famous when he and Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922.

The route gradually descends down to the A34 with the Seven Barrows off to the left. Follow the permissive path under the A34, then climb back up towards Ladle Hill, site of another Iron Age hill fort. Walk onwards past Watership Down, the setting for the famous novel by Richard Adams about a group of rabbits.