This walk visits Rickmansworth and Croxley Green, whose current size and character owe much to the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway. The varied route includes woodland, fields, a moor designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a village green, rivers and a canal.
A
Batchworth walk
posted on 19/12/22 by Chiltern Society. Last update : 28/12/22
Description
Start: Rickmansworth Station, Station Approach, Rickmansworth (WD3 1QY). Grid ref: TQ 057 946. It’s also possible to start the walk at The Green between Waypoints (13) and (15).
(S/E) From the station entrance turn right down the hill, right again under the railway bridge and down to the High Street (A) (B). Turn left and then right past the bollards into Bury Lane.
Walk straight along to the left-hand bend and the entrance gates to The Bury. Go through the gates and follow the driveway to The Bury and bear left on a smaller path to enter the church grounds.
Follow the path as it bears right, turn left through the wall, left again past the church, then right along the path through the churchyard. Just past the bollards cross the road, turn right along the pavement past the roundabout and the Premier Inn.
(1) Just before the pedestrian crossing, take the steps on the left down to the canal and Batchworth Lock Canal Centre. Walk up the slope and over the bridge. Proceed along the canal bank (C) for a kilometre and take the steps on the left just before the first bridge over the canal. At the top turn right on The Ebury Way (D). Cross the bridge, follow the track under a railway bridge and continue until reaching a wide asphalt track coming in from the right opposite a metal gate.
(2) Turn left (North) and enter Croxley Common Moor (E). Take the surfaced, winding path across the Moor and go through a gate on the other side. Cross the bridges for both the River Gade and the Grand Union Canal.
(3) Go straight ahead into a wood. Fork left, then right, then left up a set of steps. Continue straight ahead through an open area, past an information board and on along a narrower path for 600m to a path on the right.
(4) Fork right at a major path junction and bear left at the next fork. Turn left on a wide gravel track, soon crossing a railway bridge, and continue uphill for a further 230m to a surfaced track on the right, Public Bridleway 11 (F).
(5) Turn right up the surfaced track through the wood. Go past a school and some houses to reach a road (Watford Road A412).
(6) Cross straight over and walk along the road to the right of the church. At the junction cross to the other side of the road and turn right along the wide verge (G), passing the war memorial and both the Artichoke and Coach and Horses. Cross Copthorne Road and a surfaced drive, and bear left towards a fingerpost just beyond two benches.
(7) Turn left at the fingerpost on a wide path and follow the signs to the River Chess. Drop down a set of steps and up to a path junction. Fork right, walk along the left-hand field edge, up the slope and turn left. Follow the path down to a path junction at the bottom of the hill.
(8) Turn right (North-West) along the path for 150m, then turn left and cross the bridge over the River Chess (H). Turn left along the river bank for 400m to the entrance to a playing field.
(9) Bear right just before the barrier and follow this path for 650m. Where the chain link fence on the right ends, turn right uphill to a road.
(10) When the chain link fence on the right bears right follow it up a road past the entrance to Rickmansworth Park School and continue to climb up the surfaced path in the park. After 170m and turn left across the grass towards the buildings. Cross the road bridge and turn immediately right down the steps. Turn left past the entrances to Waitrose and the station car park, walk down the hill and up the other side to finish at Rickmansworth Station. (S/E)
"We hope you have enjoyed your walk. Please remember to rate the walk and add comments. We are interested in how we could improve the instructions or the route and would like to hear about any issues with paths on the walk."
Waypoints
- S/E : km 0 - alt. 59 m - Rickmansworth Station - Rickmansworth, Chilterns
- 1 : km 1.01 - alt. 48 m - Steps - Grand Union Canal
- 2 : km 3.3 - alt. 53 m - Metal Gate - Croxley Common Moor
- 3 : km 3.89 - alt. 56 m - Into wood
- 4 : km 4.69 - alt. 57 m - Fork right
- 5 : km 5.22 - alt. 72 m - Public Bridleway 11 - Junction
- 6 : km 5.8 - alt. 77 m - Watford Road
- 7 : km 7.03 - alt. 87 m - Fingerpost
- 8 : km 7.87 - alt. 57 m - Path junction at the bottom of the hill - River Chess
- 9 : km 8.59 - alt. 53 m - Playing field - Barrier
- 10 : km 9.25 - alt. 55 m - Road
- S/E : km 9.88 - alt. 59 m - Rickmansworth Station
Useful Information
Start & finish: Rickmansworth Station, Station Approach, Rickmansworth (WD3 1QY). Grid ref: TQ 057 946. It’s also possible to start the walk at The Green between Waypoints (13) and (15).
Parking: There are a number of car parks in Rickmansworth – see www.threerivers.gov.uk/egcl-page/car-parks. There is CitiPark opposite the station in Homestead Road and on The Green between waypoints 6 and 7 – WD3 3HX. Grid ref: TQ 069 957
Local transport: Rickmansworth is served by buses from Amersham, Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe and Watford. Rickmansworth station is on the Metropolitan Line from Aldgate via Baker Street and is also served by Chiltern Railways from London Marylebone. For further details go to www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk
Terrain: A stile-free walk urban walk on good surfaces with a couple of gates. The countryside sections can be muddy at times. One easy climb out of the valley
Food & drink: Plenty of pubs and cafés in Rickmansworth, plus The Artichoke and Coach and Horses pubs on The Green in Croxley
This walk was created for the book "More Great Walks in the Chilterns" available from the Chiltern Society or from Amazon.
Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.
During the walk or to do/see around
(A) ‘Metroland’ was a name coined by the Metropolitan Railway to describe residential areas built to the northwest of London in the early 20th century. It promoted the dream of a modern home in beautiful countryside with a fast rail service to central London, and contributed to the rapid growth of both Rickmansworth and Croxley Green.
(B) Rickmansworth was a manor given to the Abbey of St Albans when the latter was founded in 793 by King Offa. Cardinal Wolsey later held the Manor of le More in the valley in his capacity as Abbot of St Albans. The rivers Chess, Gade and Colne, which give the district its name (‘Three Rivers’), provided water for the watercress trade and power for corn milling, silk weaving, papermaking and brewing.
(C) The Grand Union Canal was the main artery for goods between London and Birmingham for about 50 years. The section through Rickmansworth was known as the Grand Junction Canal, and opened in 1805.
(D) The Ebury Way follows the bed of the single-track railway constructed by Lord Ebury in the mid-19th century. It ran between Rickmansworth (Church Street) station and Watford Junction. Despite adding freight links to the canal and the paper mill in Croxley, it never paid its way and eventually closed in 1952.
(E) Croxley Common Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserve, consisting of 100 acres of historic grassland on the flood plain of the River Gade. There are more than 130 grassland plant species, and recently water voles have been recorded here. It also provides valuable habitat for invertebrates. On reaching the canal, note that the housing development to your right is on the site previously occupied by John Dickinson’s paper mill (of ‘Croxley Script’ fame).
(F) Croxley Hall Wood & the Great Barn - Our path through the wood (‘All Saints Lane’) is believed by some to have been an ancient highway to the Manor of Croxley and the (later) adjacent Great Barn, which is just off the route. It’s one of Hertfordshire’s oldest timber-framed buildings, dating back to c1398, and is Grade 2* listed. It can be visited either on special open days or group tours.
(G) Croxley Green - The first inhabitant to have his name recorded was Richard de Croxley, a Knight of St. Albans, in 1166. Two farms are listed in the 13th century, belonging to Ralph Pyrot and Simon Duraunt. Even today the names ‘Parrotts’ and ‘Durrants’ are familiar to local residents. Croxley’s expansion was due in part to the arrival of the railway, but also, importantly, to the construction of the paper mill. The village green hosts the annual ‘Revels’, which featured in a 1970s TV documentary by John Betjeman.
(H) The River Chess is a chalk stream that rises in the hills beyond Chesham and flows down to join the Colne at Rickmansworth. It once powered a number of mills. One of them was Scotsbridge Mill (just off our route between Croxley and Rickmansworth), which is now a restaurant. There were watercress beds (believed to have ceased operation in the 1960s) on the right just before our route crosses the river.
