Mapledurwell Circular

Richard Clayton

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Updated, with very minor revisions, February 2012.

The village of Mapledurwell is an attractive blend of old and new. There is no village centre – the pub, the pond and the church are the obvious focal points. As you go south and west, into spreading fields and woodland, the sound of the M3 fortunately recedes!

In common with many ancient Hampshire churches, the church has been sited near a spring or stream, in this case, a spring which rises in the chalk close to the churchyard. Such regard for sources of water is apparently common to both Celtic and Saxon tradition and indeed the name of the village itself, Mapledurwell, is a most interesting water name derived from 'pwl' (Celtic), 'dur' (Celtic or pre-Celtic) and 'well' (Saxon), which all mean 'spring'.

The church itself is originally Norman – the west doorway testifies to that – and one of the bells is one of the oldest in Hampshire, dating back to the 14th Century.

In 1531 the Manor of Mapledurwell was granted to Corpus Christi College, Oxford; the college still owns much of the land in the area.

The route passes the interestingly named Hungry Lodge. The name is said to derive from the Civil War when Roundhead troops called here, demanding food. Their manner of asking might largely have depended on when during the war they called; the nearby Basing House was a Royalist stronghold, successfully defended against two prolonged sieges in 1643-1644, but it finally fell in a bloody attack in October 1645, when Royalist soldiers, civilians and Catholic priests were all slaughtered by Cromwell's troops.

One mile to the north-east of this walk is the Greywell Tunnel, on the Basingstoke Canal. The whole of the towpath from the eastern end of the tunnel to the River Thames at Weybridge has unlimited public access. Walks 667 and 4464 feature attractive lengths of the towpath immediately to the east of this walk.

England - South England - Hampshire - Countryside

Features

Birds, Church, Pub, Restaurant, Wildlife, Woodland

1/7/2019 - Patricia Daw

05/01/19 My husband and I were both getting over a cold and cough and wanted a walk that wasn't too long or far away and this fitted the bill on all those counts. There hadn't been rain for about a week so everywhere was fine and in fact a lot of the walk was on quiet lanes. Well directed route.

6/16/2014 - Hilary Godber

Thoroughly enjoyable walk, which we added on to a walk from Winchfield to Pennybridge and return along the Basingstoke Canal. Mapledurwell is a charming village. The Gamekeepers pub was friendly and welcoming and we had a good lunch there. We saw both kites and buzzards. The poppies in the fields were lovely. The instructions were perfect, we did not go wrong at all.

10/12/2013 - David MOSDELL

This is a lovely relaxed walk with spot on directions. In fact we have used this as the basis of our Christmas Walk for a number of years now. Nice and gentle and will suit all ages with a great pint in the Gamekeepers afterwards sourced from a local micro brewery less than a mile away.

6/13/2013 - Ian Mapp

A nice gentle walk.... Church is interesting. Pub is very posh. A couple of photos at http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/110613-mappiman-in-mapledurwell.html Thanks for the walk.

3/12/2012 - Matt Cameron

Great walk for all the family. Both our girls (10 + 12) found it pretty easy and enjoyable. Fairly dog friendly although some sections of the walk require the dog to be on a lead. The Gamekeepers pub is also dog friendly so a good place to stop in afterward.

6/2/2009 - Damon Hope

Cracking little walk not to tiring and some fantatstic views and wildlife. I advise parking at the Gamekeeper Pub and walking up to the church start point that way at the end of the walk its straight into the pub for a well deserved jar or 2!!!!! The directions given by Richard are totally spot on aswell. I do this walk at least once a week

1/18/2009 - Andrew Long

Nice easy (but muddy) walk. The church at starting point is pleasing and no I didn't stop at the Hungry House !