Start point – Kings Somborne, End point – Winchester, Distance – 11 miles, Difficulty – moderate
https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryside/walking/clarendonway
So here it is, finally, the last part of the Clarendon Way – we’ve had Christmas 2024 and we’re now almost at the end of January 2025; life has a way of taking over and I’m only now finding time for this. But here it is and I hope that I’ll begin to post a little bit more regularly – obviously not a New Year’s resolution for me!!
The Clarendon Way Leg 3 – Starting in King’s Somborne for the final leg with a quick visit to the village shop for ice creams – the girls wearing their face masks really does show what was happening in the country/world at the time.
Once more a gently undulating path took us out of the village and past Ashley Down across farmland to Parnholt Woods.
I hope that I never get ‘used’ to the views that we have walked through and past – they are very much England’s ‘green and pleasant land’, particularly on the balmy July days that we walked, alongside hedgerows and through woodland with the tributaries of the Test always tantalisingly close, open fields with the occasional deer spotted.
Walking closer to Winchester itself, we walk up Farley Mount, almost missing the bizarre monument which gives its name to the site. Check out my separate post on Farley Mount Monument.
This Hampshire folly is within Farley Mount Country Park. We noticed far more walkers and it was easy to realise how much closer we were to the city. This is not my favourite type of walking – I prefer fewer other walkers around. But that’s a personal thing and obviously there are going to be more people closer to towns and cities. And thank goodness there are fabulous green spaces like this -ark. Anyway, I digress, the route goes through Oliver’s Battery – a site where Oliver Cromwell’s army was based during the Civil War and the siege of Winchester in 1645, although excavations have shown that the site dates from a much earlier period, the Iron Age. Despite the interesting history, this part of the walk is less interesting taking us through a residential area.
As the River Itchen appeared meandering through water meadows the scenery became quite bucolic again and as it was now 7pm, we were into the magical ‘golden hour’.
The Hospital of St Cross was hidden by trees and only came into view as we crossed the meadows. It’s believed to be the oldest charitable institution in England being founded between 1132 and 1136 by Henry of Blois (William the Conqueror’s grandson) after he became Bishop of Winchester. It was created to house and help 13 poor men (Brothers) and feed 100 men at its gate every day. It is one of the only places that continues the tradition of free refreshment for travellers – ‘Wayfarer’s dole’ of ‘a morsel of bread and a horn of beer’. You can still ask for it today at the Porter’s Lodge. Just not in the middle of a pandemic.
And that was it, the end of the Clarendon Way and our first long distance walk. We did make it to the end at Winchester Cathedral but phone (and camera) batteries had all died, so I didn’t get the Cathedral end photo. The walk could easily be done in a couple of days, or a day if you pushed it, but definitely a bit longer if little people are in tow. A brilliant way to ease into the notion of long distance walks.
