Walks Near Bloxham

Archive for the ‘Within 10 miles of Bloxham’ Category

• Start: within Bloxham – Courtington Lane
• Length of walk: 4.3 miles (6.9km)
• Steep hill- Can avoid by starting along Ells lane instead of up Hobb Hill.
• Dog hostile – stiles from Ells Lane to Broughton impossible for large dogs.

Introduction

Hobb Hill offers a panoramic view of Bloxham. In the snow it is a mass of slithering humanity utilising gravity assisted motion on sleds, trays and polythene bags!
Broughton is the site of Broughton Castle but this is not directly on the route.
There are historical references to Robert de Wykeham, mill owner, around 1218. The Mill would have been powered by the waters of the Sor Brook.
More recently the Wykham Mill Buildings has been the site of manufacture of the Jaguar XJ220 and then subsequently the Aston Martin DB7 from 1994 – 2004.

GPS Data and Route

Google Map

Click here for a Google satellite view of this walk.

Ordnance survey maps

You need OS Map 191
You can get an online OS map here.

• Start: 5.4 miles from Bloxham
• Length of walk: 2.9 miles (4.7km)
• Mostly flat
• Dog friendly

This information is mainly drawn from Wikipedia:
Evidence of early settlement include a Bronze Age barrow and Roman mosaic floors from the 3C.
The village was founded in Anglo-Saxon times and its ownership was linked to St Albans Abbey
Unlike neighbouring Lttle Tew it had its own church and in Old English Cyrictiwa means “Church Tew
William the Conqueror granted the manor to his step-brother and it is recorded amongst Odo’s estates in the Domesday Book. The present parish church dates back to Norman times but has been substantially rebuilt since then.
The cottages and houses, mostly thatched , date back to the 17C and are built from the local ironstone from the Great Tew quarry.
In the late 1700s the estate was bought by George Stratton, who had made a fortune in the East India Company. He had the dilapidated manor house demolished and engaged garden designer John Loudon who contributed much to the delightful appearance of the village and of Great Tew Park.
In 1815-1816 the son of the Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton bought the Great Tew estate. Innovations in the middle of the 19C included a saw-mill powered by a beam engine of which the engine house and tall chimney still survive.
In 1914 the family died without heirs and for fifty years its properties became unoccupied and derelict.
In 1962 Major Eustace Robb inherited the estate and declared he would restore its prosperity but little improvement was seen but its subsequent owners, the Johnson family, have worked hard to restore the village.

GPS Data

Route Description

1. Start at the car-park. Turn Left down the lane then Right into Old Road near the post office.
2. Turn left immediately after the pub and basically keep heading East
3. Keep right on
4. Care here – there are footpaths in 5 directions! You want the bridleway that is straight ahead.
5. Follow the field around towards Hobbshole farm.
6. Skirt the edge of Hobbshole farm.
7. Keep to the bridleway
8. Keep to the bridleway
9. Arrive at the Gt Tew to Ledwell Road just outside Ledwell. Turn right to head West back towards Great Tew
10. Keep going (West) You reach a junction where you can see the Manor House and ahead the local cricket ground.
11. Turn right and head (N) along New Road . St Michael’s Church is to your right just a little way down. There is a small lane past the front of the Manor house if you want a small diversion before heading back to the car-park

Google Map

Click here to see a Google satellite map of this walk.

Ordnance survey maps

You need OS Map 191
You can get an online OS map here.

• Start 5.4 miles from Bloxham
• Length of walk: 4.6 miles  (7.4 k)
• no steep gradients
• dog friendly

This information is mainly drawn from Wikipedia:(See also the walk – Great Tew Circular 1)
Evidence of early settlement include a Bronze Age barrow south and Roman mosaic floors from the 3C.
The village was founded in Anglo-Saxon times and its ownership was linked to St Albans Abbey
Unlike neighbouring Lttle Tew it had its own church and in Old English Cyrictiwa means “Church Tew
William the Conqueror granted the manor to his step-brother and it is recorded amongst Odo’s estates in the Domesday Book. The present parish church dates back to Norman times but has been substantially rebuilt since then.
The cottages and houses, mostly thatched, date back to the 17C and are built from the local ironstone from the Great Tew quarry. Look out for canework figures in the old school yard.
In the late 1700s the estate was bought by George Stratton, who had made a fortune in the East India Company. He had the dilapidated manor house demolished and engaged garden designer John Loudon who contributed much to the delightful appearance of the village and of Great Tew Park.
In 1815-1816 the son of the Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton bought the Great Tew estate. Innovations in the middle of the 19C included a saw-mill powered by a beam engine of which the engine house and tall chimney still survive.
In 1914 the family died without heirs and for fifty years its properties became unoccupied and derelict.
In 1962 Major Eustace Robb inherited the estate and declared he would restore its prosperity but little improvement was seen but its subsequent owners, the Johnson family, have worked hard to restore the village.

GPS Data

Route Description

1. Start from car park. Head down to the village pub and head to the end of New Road.
2. Head onto a footpath more or less opposite the end of New Road heading South
3. Arrive near Tracey Barn Farm and take a left turn (South-East)
4. Hit a farm road and head East onto a road opposite Lady Grove. Turn left (North) here.
5. Arrive near Tracey Barn Farm and take a left turn (South-East)
6. On the right is a turning to Beaconsfield farm. This is where mosaic floors from a is a Roman Villa were found.
7. Back North along the lane until you hit the Little Tew to Ledwell Road. Turn right (East) towards Ledwell.
8. Arrive at a footpath on the left across Great Tew Park. Take this North
9. The footpath intersects with a bridleway. Turn left onto the bridleway heading West.
10. Keep heading West
11. Arrive back in Great Tew and head for the car park.

Google Map

Click here to see a Google satellite map of this walk.

Ordnance survey maps

You need OS Map 191
You can get an online OS map here.

• Start: 5.7 miles from Bloxham
• Length of walk:  3.25 miles  (5.2 km)
• a few mild-moderate gradients
• dog friendly

A fairly easy 5.2 km circular walk from Wroxton to North Newington and back.  It starts on a footpath adjacent to Wroxton primary school.

The Wroxton Dovecote is an octagonal tower and a Gothic style folly, sometimes called  Wroxton Castle that you see at the very start of the walk.

The outward walk is mostly just countryside but on the route back from North Newington there are several points of interest.
The Wroxton or Drayton Arch, is a real eye catcher of a folly dating from the mid-late 1700s.

The Wroxton obelisk was commissioned by Francis North the Earl of Guildford, to commemorate avisit by the Prince of Wales, Frederick of Hanover in 1739.

Wroxton has a 14C church and a Jacobean house, known as Wroxton Abbey, that is now Fairleigh Dickinson University’s English campus. You can visit the grounds of the “Abbey” if you so wish – no dogs!

There is also an ironstone quarry (not on this walk) northwest of the village that was worked from in 1917 to 1967 and had its own railway, the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway, that linked the quarry to the mainline network.

GPS Data

Route description

Here is a description of the route as per the GPS waypoints given above

1. Start – Village Pond
2. Go up past the left of the primary school
3. Go past the barns / sheds and head off across the fields. Don’t follow the signs pointing to your left.
4. Keep heading directly South along the footpath
5. From here the Village of North Newington is just ahead.
6. Basically turn left at the village road and head to the end of school lane. Don’t head back North yet. Go East across fields to get to a bridge over a stream.
7. The Drayton Archway will come into view on the right.Shortly after you will see ther Wroxton Obelisk
8. Re-cross the stream at the bridge and head diagonally left (NorthWest) uphill towards the obelisk
9. You are now heading down towards a lake in the direction of Wroxton Abbey
10. You are now heading back past another folly towards the farm buildings near the school. If you prefer there is a pathway alongside Wroxton Abbey leading back to the duck-pond.

Google Map

Click here to view Circular Wroxton walk in a Googlemap.

Ordnance Survey Map

You need Map 191
You can get an online OS Map here.