Adlestrop, Cornwell, Lower Oddington

Adlestrop, including Cornwell and Lower Oddington

Grade - Moderate, with a couple of stiffish climbs

Map - OS Outdoor Leisure 45 (The Cotswolds) or Pathfinder SP 22/32, 1068 (Chipping Norton & Adlestrop) if still available.

Suitable for - Moderately fit walkers

Duration - 4 hours (about 8 miles in length)

Start - Near Adlestrop church, Grid Ref. SO243269 (Click here for start point map)

Refreshments - Very welcome pub at Lower Oddington!

Adlestrop was immortalised in a poem by Edward Thomas, one of the 'war poets'sadly killed in action in 1917. In those days, nearly every small village in England had its own railway station, Adlestrop being no exception. However a certain Mr. Beeching put paid to all that in the Sixties and all that now remains to remind us of those bygone days is the old station nameplate, which resides in a shelter not far from the beginning of this walk. Apart from the demise of the station, little seems to have changed in this landscape since Thomas's time and a feeling of remoteness is present during much of the walk, which includes lesser-known villages and a fascinating church at Lower Oddington.

Parking is available in the car park at the village hall (signposted) where a small donation box is positioned on the hall wall near the front doors. This money helps to resurface the car park as it has very heavy usage, so do put some in, thanks! I've been asked to ask you not to park in the lay-by near the post office or by the Church itself as this causes traffic problems. Thanks again!

Begin by walking back through the village passing by the thatched cottages, one of which sports an unusual post office mailbox set in the wall, until a t-junction is reached. Here is the shelter housing the old station nameplate, with a bench inside upon which is a dedication to Thomas. Almost opposite will be seen a footpath sign pointing up a track which leads up the right hand edge of a field by a hedge on your right.

Turn and cross the stile by the gate, making forward through the trees until a field is reached. Head straight across this field (when I was last there it had just been ploughed - oh, dear, the mud.........!) rising over the crest - fine views off to the left here - making for a line of trees on the right to reach eventually a metal gate. Go through this and then turn right along a grass path along the side of Peasewell Wood.

To the left is Chastleton House and Church. If wished a detour can be made later to visit this, as from where you are stood there is no right of way to the House, unfortunately! Continue along the path to pass through another gate and enter the wood. A narrow path leads ahead, initially level but soon climbing, at times quite steeply, until a lane is reached.

Again, when visited this path was quite horribly muddy but persevere, this is the worst muddy bit on the walk and you can then laugh silently at the poor fools going the other way......... Anyway! Upon reaching the lane, turn left and follow the lane (shedding clods of mud along the way) until the lane bears sharp left. Here you can continue bearing left to visit Chastleton House, (not down the private road - thanks, Frank!) a Jacobean mansion standing on land once owned by Robert Catesby who took part in the Gunpowder Plot.

Otherwise turn right at a bridlepath sign to Cornwell, pass through a gate and immediately turn right a small gate to enter a field. here turn left and make across the field keeping roughly parallel to the wall on your right. Head for a metal gate at the far end of this field, pass through and continue through two more, heading for Chastelton Barrow, an Iron Age fort.

The path passes directly through the middle of the barrow, which is completely enclosed. It is (when I was there anyway) also home to two very, er, frisky horses which delight in chasing the unwary! An easy detour lies in turning left, following the perimeter of the barrow, hopping over a low hurdle fence halfway round, and following the fence until the path is regained. I know purists will say that this is trespassing, and so it is, but you are allowed to take reasonable detours if the path is blocked and two ill-tempered nags rank as a fair blockage in my book - but you must decide for yourself!

Take this track (there are a few handy large-size pieces of wood lying in the verge just here, where I sat and stopped for a break) and follow it as it makes a right turn past a house then a group of farm buildings on your left until a gate is reached. Go through this and climb gradually across the field, aiming for a gate at the corner of the wood ahead.

Pass through the gate, cross a lane and continue through a gate almost opposite at a bridleway sign. Continue along this path with woodland to your right. There has been a slight path diversion about halfway along the path but it is well signposted and ultimately arrives at the same place, a track where you will turn right and head up towards Daylesford Hill Farm, a large and evidently prosperous stables.

Pass through a small gate and take the path along the field edge, keeping the fence and hedge to your right. Cross the railway bridge ahead then pass through a gate, crossing the field ahead and then taking the footbridge over the river Evenlode, which at this point is not much more than a brook.

Having crossed, bear right diagonally across the next field to a large hedge gap where possibly a gate once stood. Continue up the right hand edge of the next field, which rises gently, to its top end when a hedge gap will be seen on you right. Turn right here, keeping along the field edge as it turns left again uphill towards a line of trees where you will emerge onto a track.

Here turn right, shortly to pass Oddington church on your right, a largely unaltered 13th./14th. century building notable for the large mediaeval 'doom' painting on the nave's north wall. Although indistinct and difficult to comprehend without the guide obtainable within the church, it is fascinating to realise that it has been there for some six hundred and fifty years, long before Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.

After exploring the church, carry on down the lane into Lower Oddington. At the T-junction turn right, following the main street as it bears left past the Fox Inn continuing on to the main road. Turn right and follow the road for about half a mile, crossing the railway bridge to the left of which once stood the station.

After crossing the bridge turn left for a few yards along the road signposted to Adlestrop and Evenlode. At a footpath sign to your right climb the fence and almost immediately another stile to follow a sunken trackway that gives out onto a large, open field, which is in fact the grassland of Adlestrop Park, making towards the large house directly ahead.

Walk 1. Walk 2. Walk 3. Walk 4. Walk 5. Walk 6. Walk 8. Walk 9. Walk 10. Walk 11. Walk 12. Walk 13. Walk 14. Walk 15

It's always location, location, location!

Follow this, and, when a stile is reached, cross this and bear slightly left across the next field making for the far left-hand corner. When I walked this route it had been raining heavily for some days before - well, it was February - and the grass in these fields is uncommonly slippery, so take care! Pass through a gate at the end of this field and on to a waymarked gate on the left, just a few yards ahead.

After going through this, turn right along the edge of the field and then pass through a metal gate. Now follow a faint path straight uphill across the next field, aiming for a gate at the edge of the wooded ridge ahead. Upon arriving at this gate, pause for a moment to admire the view behind you. Below is Adlestrop, with an old house and the skeleton of an old barn to the right. It is, despite the description, an idyllically tranquil landscape and well worth a few minutes quiet contemplation. (See Sketch 1)

Having got in some way to the other side of the barrow, continue along the previous line of walking, making slightly downhill with a hedge to your left until a road is reached. Cross straight over and head down the narrow lane in front until you reach the village of Cornwell, the best part of a mile away. Upon reaching the village the road bends right and here a detour can be made to the church if wished by turning left at a signpost aptly marked 'to the church'. Otherwise keep ahead through the village, much of which was restored during the 1930's, the architect being none other than Clough Williams-Ellis of Portmerion fame. A road will soon be reached and a track ahead will be seen opposite. (See Sketch 2.)

Pass between the first buildings then turn left, passing the estate office and continue down this broad, well made track with the grounds of Daylesford House laying beyond the wall to your right. At a fork in the track, turn right and follow the metalled road as it winds downhill, with the woods of The Dell to your right, ignoring any other turnings to arrive after about a mile at a road. Here turn right towards the tiny hamlet of Daylesford (See Sketch 3.)

A short walk now brings you into Daylesford. Here the walk can be considerably shortened by continuing along this road until a junction is reached. Cross straight over and follow the bridleway until a fence is reached. Here turn right to follow a track leading shortly back into Adlestrop. If you are still feeling hearty, however, turn left at a footpath sign about a hundred yards before a telephone box, just before entering the village of Daylesford proper.

A track will be seen to join from the right - this is the bridleway short-cut mentioned above - join this and skirt around the edge of a cricket pitch towards a wire fence. Ignore the gate and stile in the fence and bear right keeping the fence to your left until a gate is reached. Pass through this and follow the track ahead with fences on either side to another gate. Pass through this, keep on ahead with a house to your left and then the church to your right. to arrive once again in Adlestrop. (See sketch 4).