Hurley and the Berkshire Munros, Chilterns

Start: Hurley Village (A) car park (SL6 5NB). Grid ref: SU 825 840

(S/E) Turn right out of the carpark and walk South through the village (A) the way you have come and cross the A4130 with care.

(1) Take the footpath opposite and slightly to the right, accessed by a gate. Go uphill through two pairs of gates and into High Wood but turn round and admire the view over the Thames valley before you enter the wood.

Stay in the same direction through the wood and a series of gates for a kilometre, crossing a farm track and open fields (B) to reach Honey Lane (a road). Go straight across the road ignoring the path to the left and climb through the woods toward Ashley hill, the first of the 'Munros'.

(2) At a junction with a surfaced path turn right and follow the Chiltern Way uphill. From this point until you meet the Thames Path the walk follows the Berkshire Loop of the Chiltern Way - look out for the waymarks. Stay on the surfaced path to the gates of a house called ‘Clifton’.

Turn right in front of the gates and follow the path down to a major junction at the bottom. Keep straight on, following the Chiltern Way – Berkshire Loop sign, meeting two paths on the left just after the cottages. Take the second path between the hedges and walk through the trees to a concrete track.

(3) Turn left along the concrete track. Walk ahead through a kissing gate and stay in the same direction on a grassy path downhill then through a kissing gate at the bottom. Turn right on the Chiltern Way, following the Chiltern Way FOOTPATH sign, for 45m then left at a low concrete sign to Rose Lane.

(4) Go through the barrier and immediately make a second left turn so that you are walking back the way you came on the opposite side of the hedge. Pass three paddocks on the right. At tall trees with a kissing gate on the left, follow the Chiltern Way to the right. Cross the tarmac path and stay ahead with a fence or hedge on both sides. Go through the next kissing gate and one further gate then ahead to a road (Warren Row Road) (C). Turn right along the road for 50m to a track on the left.

(5) Turn left along the track and through a kissing gate. Stay in the same direction up the hill for 750m to the junction with Hatchgate Lane (a short diversion to the left will lead to the second Munro: Bowsey Hill).Turn right along the road then downhill with High Knowl Wood (the third Munro) to the left. At the crossroads turn left into Highland Road. Continue on the road, ignoring the path marked by a Chiltern Way sign on the  right, till you reach a restricted byway on the right, just before a right hand bend.

(6) Turn right along the byway into the woods and follow the fence on your right. The surface may be muddy. On your right is Rebecca’s Well where a servant is asking for water. Continue ahead. At the road turn right and walk towards Crazies Hill School. The fourth Munro, Crazies Hill (D), is to the left.

(7) Just after the village hall turn left at the Berkshire Loop sign and walk along for 60m to a path junction. Do not go left on the Nut Walk but take the right-hand path. Go ahead for 400m through a rusty gate. Be alert for a stile on the right which you should take. Follow the path past a further stile to emerge onto a road.

(8) Turn left along it towards Remenham Hill, ignoring Worley’s Lane on the left. After the houses, turn left at the Loop sign and go over a stile. Follow the path beside the fence for 500m and, after the second gate, bear right to a road.

(9) Turn right along it to a junction then left towards Remenham Hill. Walk along the road for 500 metres (pass the Loop sign to the right after 300m - we leave the Chiltern Way briefly here). At a house called ‘Farriers’ take the footpath that runs alongside the road.

(10) At the junction with A4130 cross the road and take the path opposite (Chiltern Way, Culden Faw Estate public right of way). This is Remenham Hill the fifth and last Munro. Keep the hedge on the right and continue ahead for 540m to a gate on the right. Go through and follow the path down through the deer park and up to a surfaced track.

(11) Turn left along it for 80 metres then bear off left off the surfaced track following the footpath signs to drop down to the junction with the Thames Path. Turn right and follow the well-signed route to the banks of the Thames and continue to walk back to Hurley noting Medmenham Abbey, Danesfield House and the RAF sailing Club on the opposite bank of the river (E). Approach Hurley over a small wooden bridge with high wooden fence on the right. Before reaching the wooden bridge across the Thames (F), turn right and walk 180m back to the car park. (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.

Start & finish: Hurley Village car park SL6 5NB. Grid ref: (SU 825 840)

Parking: Free car park at High Street, Hurley SL6 5NB. Toilets are available at Hurley Lock

Local transport: Bus 238/239 runs between Maidenhead and Bisham or Henely on Monday to Friday. Bus 239 runs between Maidenhead and Henley on Saturdays

Terrain: There are a couple of steady climbs and descents. The walk uses field and woodland paths, lanes and the Thames Path.

Food & drink: Pubs in Hurley, The Dewdrop Inn in Honey Lane and The Horns in Crazies Hill

This walk was created for the book "50 Great Walks in the Chilterns" available from the Chiltern Society, White Hill Centre, White Hill, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1AG Tel. 01494 771250. Fax 01494 793745.

(A) Hurley is rich in historical interest and is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicles. There was a ford across the Thames in 450AD and a church was built c700AD but was destroyed by the Danes in 894AD. In the mid-11th century it was rebuilt as a Benedictine priory by the lord of the manor, Geoffrey De Mandeville. The priory was dissolved during the reformation but some of its buildings can still be seen. These include parts of the parish church and the 12th century Olde Bell Inn, one of the oldest hostelries in Britain.

(B) Hall Place is an architectural gem that was completed in 1735 by William East, a London lawyer. It was built on the site of a 13th century manor house owned by John de Hurley. It remained in the East family until the death of Richard East in the 1930s. He and his wife Dorothy are thought to be the basis for the young English aristocratic couple in The English Patient.

(C) Warren Row is famous for its extensive chalk quarry and tunnels, which were used as an underground aircraft factory during WWII then converted into a nuclear bunker during the Cold War. It is now used as a document storage centre and wine cellar.

(D) Crazies Hill: There are two possible explanations of the village name: it either refers to buttercups, which were known as ‘cragies’ or ‘crazies’, or it means ‘the hill of the fresh clean water of the waterless place’. The walk passes Rebecca’s Well, which in the 19th century was the village’s only supply of water and was just a muddy spring called ‘Rebra's Well’. The Rev. Grenville Phillmore was so shocked by the conditions in the village that he raised sufficient money to improve the water supply. He also changed the name. The well house was designed by Gertrude Jekyll, the famous landscape designer.

(E) Culham Court is a square Georgian mansion built in 1770, with terraced gardens down to the river. George III once stayed here and was greatly impressed by the hot rolls carried by a relay of horses from his favourite London baker.

(F) An unusual feature of the Thames here is that the river splits into a number of channels. The earliest lock recorded was in the 1580s when a flash weir was installed. These were like dams which released water to allow boats to be carried downstream – but then capstans or winches were needed to drag them upstream. The men who operated them were known as ‘tow rags’. There is a restored capstan on the Buckinghamshire bank.