Hursley - Otterbourne - Itchen Way - Shawford - Hursley

Ian Wells

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This walk, almost 100% on offroad paths, takes you from the village of Hursley (just south of Winchester) round a countryside loop taking in Otterbourne, the Itchen Way, Shawford and back to Hursley.

Some of the highlights:

Starting and finishing at a great pub called the King's Head in the Historic village of Hursley.

Cranbury Park, the former home of Sir Isaac Newton, England's great philosopher.
2 further pubs on route, the Otter at Otterbourne and the Bridge at Shawford
Visit the place where Victor Meldrew was killed of (just outside The Bridge pub in Shawford)

The Monarch’s Way – The Way is based on the lengthy route taken by King Charles II during his escape after defeat by Cromwell in the final battle of the Civil Wars at Worcester in 1651.

Access to the trail is at Shawford station for those wanting to get to the area by train (out of London in around 1 hour).

England - South England - Hampshire - Countryside

Features

Ancient Monument, Church, Food Shop, Good for Kids, Great Views, Mostly Flat, Play Area, Pub, Restaurant, River, Stately Home, Woodland

2/1/2019 - Ali Hider

Did this walk today with my Labrador in the snow..Wow! Its beautiful, easy to follow especially as you can double check the digital map if in any doubt. I have lived in Hursley for 7 years and had no idea this walk existed. I am going to repeat this walk with some friends very soon. Lots of wildlife, history and beautiful views and you can enjoy some well earned refreshments in the pub on your return. Thank you

2/5/2012 - Clare Day

The Day family did this route today and found it easy to navigate although we do agree with some of the comments already made. The Shawford Pub was a nice coffee break stop! We were a bit sparse on wildlife today, mostly pheasants, although we did see a lone sparrow hawk towards the muddy end! Great walk though.

10/28/2011 - Pete Steele

This was a most wonderful walk with an abundance of wildlife. The scenerey is stunning, coupled with quiet tracks and history to satisfy the most demanding of enthusiasts. Look on the Internet for more indepth history on various locations within this walk. It will be that much more inspiring when you realise exactly where you are and who walked there before!!! Very friendly for dogs.

9/15/2011 - Mik Crouch

A Fantastic walk with lovely views and abdundance of wildlife, a very enjoyable morning which took me about 3 and half hours. I found all the waypoints to be spot on. Thank you for setting out this walk.

5/2/2011 - Ian Akers

A great walk - a few suggestions for the navigation instructions. Step 8 - The picture is of the "other historic building" - this caused some confusion initially, as we thought it was a picture of Issac Newton's old residence. As such, because we hadn't seen the picture in the directions, we thought we had taken a wrong turning. Perhaps the directions for step 8 could be updated to reflect which building is shown in the picture? Step 10 - as we turned into Chapel Lane, we had to pause for a while. We felt the directions should state "Chapel Lane turns into Park Lane - follow Park Lane". We also felt there should be an additional instruction. "As you walk down Park Lane, there is a way-marked gate on the right of the lane. This leads along the back of some allotments. Do not take this gate - walk past it to the woods. Step 20 - We found several paths as we reached the top of the hill. There were 3 routes that lead to the left of the war memorial. We found that the first route was the "correct" route - though all 3 would eventually lead to the road - but not a car park. Step 21 - A recent housing development caused some confusion for us on this step. We followed the road round the bend to the left, and then followed round to the right. We felt the directions could benefit from an additional guidance that said "continue to follow Sheperds Lane; ignore the footpath on the left as you follow the road round to the right" Step 22/23 - somewhere between steps 21 and 23, the track is labelled as a Bridal Way rather than way-marked. The bridal way is signed through to at least step 23. Step 24 - we felt the dircections may benefit from adding "passing a small cluster of houses on the left" after the line "...all the way to the bottom of the slight hill" We loved the walk - thank you! We hope the above are useful! Many thanks