Robust Rambles

Section 55

Swallowcliffe to Donhead St. Andrew

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 55  Out

Swallowcliffe to Donhead St. Andrew

Map: OS Explorer 118 Shaftesbury

Distance: 4 miles/ 2.5 hours

Start: The Royal Oak at Swallowcliffe is open seven days a week, and has parking for patrons. Very little onstreet parking.

Comment: This walk has lots of variety and a close view of Wardour Castle to offer. However, this is cattle country with much pasture. Long grass slows up walking and s the moisture, so be prepared. Paths through woods may be muddy and there are some very steep climbs. A few stiles and ageing footbridges, otherwise mostly swing gates. Some paths are not easy to find so keep the map constantly on hand.

With The Royal Oak behind, turn left up the road, past the road junction and on up past the church. Continue up the road, passing the last house on your right called Church View. Just before the brow of the hill, turn right, up steps in the bank to a field corner.

Bear diagonally left down and across the field. Find a metal swing gate concealed in trees in the bottom corner and beyond, bear left through trees to a drive and houses.

Go between two houses to a path bearing left by a stream. Go through a metal swing gate and at a Y-fork bear left down to a footbridge.

Enter and cross a pasture into woods. Then cross a stile and footbridge and emerge into a tree plantation.

The route of the path is obscured here, it should go diagonally right across the centre of the large field beyond the plantation. The easiest option is to turn right along the field edge, passing the foot of the plantation on your left then follow the edge of the field all the way around, swinging left at the far side, until meeting a path entering trees on the far side on the route of the original path.

On entering the woods the path immediately crosses an odd metal footbridge and continues through the trees before becoming enclosed and climbing up to meet a road.

Here turn right up the road passing a side road off right. Keep up for another 20 metres before turning left on a bridleway through a gateway.

Pass a gravel dump and continue up through woods for some way. Reach a crossing of paths, but keep straight on uphill.

At the top reach an old metal kissing gate overwhelmed by weeds and a junction of paths. The path should go straight on through trees but the way is impassable.

Bear slightly left into the field and go up the edge alongside the trees on your right. This seems to be the accepted route of the path now. At the top corner of the field bear right, down to a metal kissing gate, and on, down to meet a track.

Turn left on this downhill and follow this clear track for some way.

Eventually reach a footbridge and metal kissing gate into a rising pasture.

Go diagonally right across the centre of the pasture to the far opposite top corner. There is a house here which blocks the exit bear right around its garden to exit onto a road.

Turn left for ½ mile. Keep right, downhill at a junction. Eventually pass a passing place on your right. Look for a path off left into woods. This is just before the road makes a sharp righthand bend.

Enter the woods and follow the path as it swings right. After some way, emerge on the lawns of Wardour Castle with the impressive building beyond.

Turn left on a drive and follow this all the way around to the right to pass immediately in front of the castle. Keep on until passing the last building on the left.

Now turn left over to a stile and follow clear waymark posts through the estate until reaching a stile into open country.

Cross into a pasture and bear diagonally left down to a stile in the bottom fence by a farmhouse.

Cross the stile and the drive beyond, to a further stile into a steeply sloping pasture beyond. The stile is currently broken and very dangerous.

Once over it, turn sharp left and go down the full length of the field passing below the back of the farmhouse, aiming for a metal fieldgate down in the far hedge.

Through this continue to a second metal fieldgate with a new gated footbridge alongside. Cross and continue forward up the side of the field (ignore the cattle track leading off right).

Keep along the edge of this huge field, with fence and hedge and trees on your left, up to the very end.

Here go through a wooden swing gate into a path enclosed between hedges. Exit through another wooden swing gate into a farmyard. Cross and exit onto a roadway.

Opposite is a squeeze stile up into a pasture. Two paths start here. Take the lefthand one going directly left up the side of the field to a rusty metal fieldgate at the top.

Go through a quirky squeeze stile along side and continue up into woods on another very steep path.

Emerge at the top at a metal kissing gate by a metal fieldgate. Enter a pasture and turn diagonally right up the whole length of the field to a black metal kissing gate in the top corner.

Turn right on a byway down to a crossroads. Go straight over and downhill on a narrow lane. At the bottom go forward on a wider road through the village of Donhead St. Andrew to reach The Forester pub and end of the section.

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 55  Return

Donhead St. Andrew to Swallowcliffe

Map: OS Explorer 118 Shaftesbury

Distance: 4 miles/ 2.5 hours

Start: The Forester pub in Donhead St. Andrew is open seven days a week, and has parking for patrons. Very little onstreet parking.

Comment: This walk has lots of variety and a close view of Wardour Castle to offer. However, this is cattle country with much pasture. Long grass slows walking. There are good views but some steep climbs. Small sections of roadwalking including the start, but quiet country lanes.

With The Forester pub behind, turn right along the road, past Mill Lane, to a Y-fork. Bear right, up Wardour Lane.

At the top of the hill reach a junction. Go straight across to a rough byway and continue up it. Ignore a footpath off left into a pasture and keep forward for some way on this Ridgeway path.

The path becomes an easy walking forest drive as it enters Wardour Forest but BE VIGILANT.

After some way, on a downhill section, there is a Y-fork. Turn left on a much smaller path down to the forest edge. There are NO WAYMARKS at the junction. Drop down to a stile (with waymark) and cross into a pasture. Go down to a stile by a metal fieldgate at the bottom and continue between lakes, then uphill along a field edge towards a wood at the top. Excellent views of Wardour Castle to the left.

At the top reach the edge of the wood. Ignore an apparent path into the wood and keep on along the farm track along the edge.

Eventually drop down to Old Wardour Castle and bear left on the driveway between the walls and the lake.

Follow the walls around to a car park. Turn right on the approach road to the castle entrance. Where this turns in towards the entrance, continue forward on a path up into trees.

Stay on this main path up and under an ancient bridge and keep forward, steeply uphill for some way.

Near the top of the bank, bear left at a Y-fork to emerge at a corner of two fields. Go straight ahead, between two metal fieldgates, and on, on a path enclosed between wire fences.

At the far side, cross a farm track and drop down to another. Turn right on this.

Emerge onto a road at a bend. Turn left on this, steeply down, for some way.

Enter a small hamlet. Ignore a path off left. At the last house on your right, turn right up the tarmac entrance, past the house on your right, to a grassy path into trees.

Follow this around to a metal swing gate into a long, narrow, sloping pasture. Turn sharp left and follow under telephone wires to the very far end top corner. Find a metal swing gate and enter a scrubby area.

Go across to a wooden fieldgate and continue on a feint path down a small pasture with a wooden fence on your right.

At the very bottom, bear right through a metal fieldgate, down to a road junction. Turn right on the road.

Reach a T-junction in Ansty. Go across to an enclosed footpath going steeply uphill,

At the top, bear left, then right, on a path going up between hedges. At the top of this go across to a metal fieldgate and keep forward along the edge of a field.

Reach a metal swing gate by a metal fieldgate and cross the field to a metal kissing gate. Continue down the next field to a further metal kissing gate into a wood.

Go steeply down through the wood to a metal kissing gate at the bottom. Enter a field. Bear left on the path going diagonally left across to a metal kissing gate in the far corner.

Go through this and down to a road. Turn right and straight down, past a road junction to The Royal Oak pub ahead. This the start of the section in Swallowcliffe.