There is plenty of good, fairly easy walking in the countryside around Wantage, on the downs and in the Vale. The thread that seems to connect much of it is the Ridgeway National Trail. Because it is so near, you can pop out for an hour during your lunchbreak, try a day’s walking, a weekend trek, or maybe be more ambitious and walk the whole trail. Think about using the Court Hill Centre as a base.
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway is an ancient track, 87 miles (139km) long, much of it following the ancient chalk ridge route used by prehistoric man. It offers the chance to get away from the bustle of life. There are various places near to Wantage where you can park and go for a walk or bicycle ride. The Court Hill Centre is made from several converted barns and a great place for teas and coffees after your walk.
www.nationaltrail.co.uk/Ridgeway
The Court Hill Centre
The Court Hill Centre is set in the beautiful countryside of the Thames Valley and Berkshire Downs. The buildings are made from 5 renovated barns arranged around a pleasant courtyard, providing a unique facility for exploring the Ridgeway (a National Trail). Whatever your interests – walking, cycling, photography, teaching, games or camping, the centre provides a range of facilities including catering and accommodation.
Lord Wantage monument
Situated on the Ridgeway, just off the B4494, is the memorial cross and monument to Robert Loyd Lindsey, Lord Wantage. Lord Wantage was a distinguished soldier and one of the first to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War. Local tradition says the copses of trees in the vale below, planted on his estate, represent the battle lines at the Alma.
Lord Wantage was one of the founders of the British Red Cross. The memorial is located high on the Ridgeway, commanding superb views of the Vale.
The Blowing Stone
A holed sarsen stone just south of Kingston Lisle. Local legend has it that it was used by King Alfred to summon his troops to battle.
Uffington Castle
Uffington Castle sits on the very top of White Horse Hill, just by the White Horse itself. Known as an Iron Age hillfort, excavations in the 1990s showed that its first rampart was probably built in the eighth or seventh century BC, at the turn of the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Like White Horse Hill, it’s a great place for walking to, picnicking on, morris dancing and kite flying.
Wayland’s Smithy
Wayland’s Smithy is one of the most impressive and atmospheric Neolithic burial chambers in Britain. By AD 955 it was already called “Weland’s smithy”, after Wayland, the smith of Germanic legend.
You get there on foot from The Ridgeway.
White Horse Hill and the Uffington White Horse
The stylised form of the White Horse, an icon of the English landscape, has been a subject of discussion since the 17th century. Written records date back to the 11th century but do not give proof of the Horse’s age or why it was there.
Recent tests on soil samples from the base of the trench have shown that the Horse is much older than had been thought and is in fact about 3000 years old (late Bronze-Age).
Walks from Wantage
For routes with maps, distances and parking, see our mapped walks and walks and cycling near Wantage. For historic houses and gardens a little further away, see days out near Wantage.