Ibstone and Turville, Chilterns

Start : Ibstone Cricket Club, Gray's Lane, Ibstone. SU752936

(S/E) With your back to the Cricket Club, turn left along the road. Keep left at the first fork and follow the road for 500m until you come to a cluster of houses near Hellcorner farm.

(1) You will see footpaths to the left opposite Hell Corner Cottage. Take the path that heads directly down the slope along a fence. Follow the path round to the right at the valley bottom. It climbs gradually up along the opposite side of the valley. As you near the top of the slope the path levels out running close to the edge of the wood. Ignore any side turnings until the path starts to descend gently. 

Here you should look out on your left for the gravestones of Ibstone churchyard. Make your way through the trees into the churchyard (A). You should find a way shortly before the footpath you have been following swings to the right. Pass to the right of the church, go down steps to the road and turn left.

(2) Turn right at the junction close to the church and follow the road steeply downhill. Bear left on to a footpath after 80m. Initially this path runs along the edge of a wood with lovely views over the valley to the right. The path then passes into the wood and after 300m you come to a path junction.

Here take the left fork heading uphill (faintly painted on the trees as '17'). At the next fork keep left again, heading up towards a gate. Pass through the gate and walk directly across the field to a stile in the hedge on the opposite side. The stile brings you to a lane. Turn right on the lane and look out for a footpath in the hedge to the right after about 500m.

(3) Enter the field here where you will get a superb view over Turville (B). This is a nature reserve, so instead of descending diagonally on the footpath, keep to the top of the slope to get the best of the view. Pass through a kissing gate and as you near the wooden fence around the windmill turn right and descend steeply towards the village. It is worth stepping out into the field on your right as you descend to get some different views. The path brings you out on the main village street.

(4) Cross the small green and take the narrow lane opposite to the left of ‘Sleepy Cottage’. Continue on a hedged bridleway after passing the school. After you emerge at the edge of an open field, pass a stile on the right followed soon after by a gate in the hedge.

(5) Go through the gate on the right and follow the bridleway across the field uphill towards the trees. Remember to look back as you climb - there are lovely views to the south and east. The bridleway curves left as it nears the trees then bears slightly right again through a gate and continues across fields, becoming a fenced track for a while before you emerge at the end of a road by Turville Court.

(6) Turn left along the road looking out for a gate in the hedge on the right after 200m.  Pass through the gate and turn immediately left to follow the permissive path beside the road until you pass through another gate. Follow the footpath to the left of a fence. Where the fence ends carry straight on across the field, turning left at the hedge and continuing with the hedge on your right. Look out for a gap in the hedge.

Here pass through two gates turning left and continuing with the hedge now on your left. Continue through a gate onto a grassy track which leads you to Turville Common by Turville Grange. Turn right on the road in front of the Grange. Continue along the side of the common, the road becoming a stony track. You pass the Barn café where you may be able to get refreshments.

(7) Shortly after passing the Barn café take the bridleway to the right. Initially this is a stony track between hedges. When it starts to descend it becomes a charming sunken lane. The lane winds through a wood and across fields at the valley bottom.

(8) The lane starts to climb and a track joins from the left. Shortly after, as you near a road, take the footpath to the left. The footpath heads in to the woods and climbs gently through a narrow strip of trees parallel to the road. The footpath ends just before reaching an open field. Here you join Holloway Lane on your right and continue in the same direction uphill to the edge of Northend.

(9) At the edge of the scattered hamlet of Northend, just before coming to a T-junction, turn right on the bridleway. This broad track soon takes you into the Wormsley Estate. The track is hedged, but where you see gaps take the opportunity to enjoy the fine views. About half way down the hill keep to the bridleway where it veers to the right and becomes a stony path, ignoring the estate track which heads straight on. Your path track descends into the valley where you meet a road.

(10) Turn left and almost immediately right to continue on the bridleway, now a broad hedged track along the bottom of a valley.

(11) After 400m you come to a crossing footpath. Here turn right on to the Chiltern Way. The path climbs steeply up the side of the hill to the right of a fence. Pause at the edge of the woods and enjoy the view (C) before continuing on the footpath into the woods. Where you meet a broader, sunken path, turn right on it and continue to climb, now more gently. At the top of the slope the path passes through a gate. Bear right through a few trees to reach the edge of Ibstone Common.

(12) At the edge of the common turn right through a gap in the trees on to the common, leaving the footpath which turns left into the trees. Aim for the standing stone in the middle of the common and from there you should be able to see the Cricket Club and your start point. Note that the grass on the common can be long in spring and summer, but you should always be able to find a pleasant, if less direct, path to your destination. (S/E)

A walk on quiet rural paths with fine views and pretty villages. Peaceful, remote feeling countryside only a couple of miles from the M40.

Terrain: Good footpaths and tracks with some steep ascents and descents.

Start & finish: Ibstone Cricket Club, Gray's Lane, Ibstone. SU752936

Food & drink: The Bull & Butcher pub in Turville, the Barn cafe at Turville Heath and the Fox Country Inn at Ibstone.

Parking: There are a few spaces near the cricket club, otherwise park beside the common.
Alternative Start Points: There is parking in Turville village.

Local Transport: None

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.
To find out more please visit Chiltern Society website here.

(A) The church of St Nicholas, Ibstone stands isolated from the village. There were once houses close by, but they were deserted, perhaps because of the Black Death and have since disappeared. According to local legend, when the villagers tried to build a new church closer to where they lived, the devil objected and moved the structure. That is why the place where you left the road at Ibstone Common is called Hell Corner. The church still largely retains the simple structure built in the 12th century and you can see carved stonework from this period around the south door. The yew tree in the churchyard is said to be 1000 years old. Now go down steps to the road and turn left.

(B) Turville: The village nestles at the base of a valley overlooked by Cobstone windmill. It has a mixture of traditional cottages in brick and flint, with larger houses on the outskirts. The village is open in character, with a small village green overlooked by the Bull and Butcher Public house, and the church. The church building dates from the 12th century and is built principally of flint, the only available material in chalk country in the Middle Ages. The tower is squat in comparison to its massive proportions and is topped with brick. The interior is charming for its simplicity. The village was the location for outdoor scenes in the sitcom 'The Vicar of Dibley'. In the series, the church of St Mary the Virgin was renamed 'St Barnabus' (sic). Scenes have also been shot in the village for Midsomer Murders, Lewis and Marple.

(C) Wormsley Park : A 1000 Hectare estate and mansion bought by the wealthy philanthropist Sir Paul Getty in 1986. Getty became a cricket enthusiast and built his own version of the Oval in the grounds complete with a mock Tudor pavilion. The Park now operates as an organic farm and was used as a release site for the reintroduction of Red Kites to the Chilterns in 1989. The house is not visible from this walk but you should be able to see the cricket ground up the valley to the North.