Walk 2: Wolverton Hall & White Ladies Aston

7.6 miles / 12.2 km (approx  2½ - 3 hours)

Map Walk Two

This walk heads S to Peopleton then up a hill to Wolverton Hall, through the lovely villages of White Ladies Aston and Churchill.  There are some great views over a large area and Upton Snodsbury church can frequently be spotted on the horizon.

A section of the walk goes through Aston Hall Farm where a series of permissive footpaths have been established which could be used to make a really interesting alternative route to that described Aston Hall Farm, Natural England

This walk is lovely all year round but is particularly nice in the Spring when many fields are full of young lambs and the trees are coming into leaf.

Churchill Mill

1. Follow the footpath that runs behind the Village Hall (parallel to College Road) to Cutts Pool then R into Cowsden Lane.  Walk down the lane, past the village playground, allotments and Cowsden Hall farmhouse.  Where the road bends round L by Pump Cottage, turn R down the Public Bridleway and follow the green lane (Cattledraught Lane) to the “gated road”.  Continue along the track and around 100m after a sharp bend R, take the footpath L towards Peopleton. 
2. Follow this path S for approx. 1.2 miles through fields as the track goes from one side of the hedge to the other to a junction with a Bridleway, located where the hedge R ends.
3. Turn R (W) up the slope on the R of the field to the hedge at the top.  Turn L then after a few metres R through the gap and continue W through the field to Norchard Lane in Peopleton.  Walk along Norchard Lane to the main road then turn R towards St Nicholas’ Church, L into the churchyard and L again on the other side.
4. Follow the track past Bowbrook House School, bear R past Mill House, across the footbridge over Bow Brook, up the slope and through a gate where the path splits 2-ways.  Take the R branch to another gate, across a track, straight on through another field to a field in front of Wolverton Hall.  Now head NNW in front of the garden wall of the Hall and down the slope to a gate by Saw Brook.
5. Cross the brook to the field on the other side go slightly L (NW) towards a hedge part-way across the field then walk on the R of the field, then R through a gap in the hedge and along the other side to join the green lane between Peopleton and White Ladies Aston.  Go straight ahead where the footpath emerges onto a corner of this track.  After around ¼ mile take a footpath through the gate L, just before Aston Hall Farm.  Turn R and follow the footpath a few metres towards the farm buildings, then L, through the gate, diagonally R across the field to the gate in the corner and out to the lane.  Bear slightly L and walk NNW along the lane.
6. In approx. 70m take the first junction to the L, walk another 150m then turn R through the gate.  (You could deviate from this route and continue walking straight on along the lane through White Ladies Aston, a walk along a quiet road through a lovely village then pick up this route again at the church).  Go through another gate then slightly R and follow the footpaths towards the L of the houses.
7. Climb the stiles into the paddock behind the garden, over another stile into a garden then out again into a field.  Follow the path along the edge of the field until it bends R by a large garden pond and on to the lane.
8. Turn L on the road then R just before St John the Baptist Church, down the track into the churchyard past the church, L into the corner and onto a track by “Annacourt German Shepherds” at Aston Court.  Cross the track, walk into the field opposite and along the R edge of the field to join the lane at the junction between the White Ladies Aston lane with Edward’s Lane.
9. Turn R and walk around 400m down the stony track (Edward’s Lane).  Where the track bends R next to a small copse on the L, follow the footpath L through the trees, over the stile into the field. Walk NE across two fields to a small bridge and gate into the next field then on the L of the field and through the gate in the corner and turn R onto the track.
10. Follow the Bridleway through the gate at the end of the track, about half-way along L of the field bear R (NE), along the footpath down to Bow Brook and across the bridge by Churchill Mill.  Cross the brook and walk straight up the slope, following the footpath to the R of the old hedge, branch slightly R across the field through the gate in the middle of the next field boundary.  Walk diagonally up the slope and through the gate in the top R corner.  Follow the track to the Peopleton road, cross the road and along the drive towards Holy Oak Farm.  Walk straight through the farmyard at Holy Oak Farm and the next field towards the school and back to the Village Hall.

Follow this link to download a PDF of the route with sketch map:  Walk Two Route

 © Hilary Williams