Stonor, Bix and Middle Assendon

Start: The entrance to Stonor House (nearest postcode RG9 6HE). Grid ref: SU 737 891
(S/E) Go along the lane towards the centre of Stonor village, initially with the estate fence of Stonor Park on your left. Pass Park Lane on your right, and soon reach a house on the right called ‘Well Cottage’. Just after the cottage turn right by a semi-concealed fingerpost onto the Chiltern Way. This narrow footpath leads into a field. Go straight up the field and through a kissing gate, then up the next field into a wood. Stay on the main path through the wood and exit into a field on the far side. Continue ahead to a junction with a bridleway.

(1) Turn left (Chiltern Way). Just after Lodge Farm turn right, then after 20m turn left into a wood and follow the path (Oxfordshire Way), ignoring the right fork into the Nature Reserve (A).

Follow the path along the left side of the wood for 500m to a fork. Ignore the left fork and continue ahead (marked ‘SW 26’ on tree) descending through the wood to the valley bottom. Here turn left along the lane passing the information board about (B) Bix Old Church.

(2) Shortly after passing the church you come to a track on the right (signposted Chiltern Way Extension and Crocker End).  Ignore this and continue along the lane for a further 200m to reach some farm buildings. Here turn right between the barns (also signposted Chiltern Way Extension and Crocker End!), pass the farmhouse, go through the gate ahead and continue up a wide, stony track.

After 200m turn left through a kissing gate and climb up the left edge of a field (Chiltern Way). Go through a kissing gate and bear right along the edge of a small wood. Soon continue ahead on a wider track.

After about 50m, at the second bend, bear left between the trees, in the direction of the arrows. Stay on this path through the wood, following the arrows, until you emerge into a field.

(3) About half way across the field turn left at a path junction and go towards some houses. Pass the houses and take the tarmac lane ahead, which soon bends left onto (C) Bix Common.

Follow White Lane along the edge of the Common. Where the Common ends stay on the lane as it goes sharp left and downhill through a wooded area. Turn right at a wide gateway by tall conifer trees and a wooden fence, go through a gate by a ‘phone mast and turn left.

Descend through conifer trees, then go down steps onto a narrow enclosed path. Soon pass through a gate into a field, drop down the left-hand edge and then diagonally across the next field to meet the road in (D) Middle Assendon. Turn left past the Rainbow Inn. Where the pavement runs out cross the road with care and continue ahead, watching out for traffic.

(4) Some 200m after the turning to Bix Bottom, turn right by large metal gates. Ascend half left across a field to a gap in the hedge, then bear left on the path through the trees.

Follow this to a sharp right turn, through a kissing gate, and then continue along the left edge of a field. Keep left at the next gap in the hedge and follow the grassy track along the ridge, eventually passing Coxlease Farmhouse.

Go through a kissing gate then almost immediately turn left through another one and go straight ahead past barns, ignoring a path on the left. Follow the track where it bends right by the side of a wood.

(5) Slightly further along this track is a path on the left that can be used as a short cut back to Stonor. Otherwise, on reaching a lane continue ahead for about a kilometre. Ignore the turning to Southend, but soon turn left along the drive to Kimble Farm. Just after the left-hand bend, turn right on the permissive bridleway. Follow it until it drops to a wood.

(6) On entering the wood turn left uphill on a path to the right of a fence. Go through a kissing gate and continue along the left edge of a field. Ignore the two stiles in the hedge on the left.

At the top of the hill go through the kissing gate straight ahead onto a track by ‘Kiln Cottage’. Follow the track to a lane. Cross the lane onto the track ahead and go through a metal gate onto the Stonor Estate.

Continue downhill through the wood for over 300m and bear left on a path (marked Chiltern Way). Eventually the track becomes much narrower, and soon passes through a high fence into (E) Stonor Deer Park. Continue ahead through the Park following the white arrows, soon with magnificent views of Stonor House and gardens. Drop down to a tall kissing gate and go through it to return to the start. (S/E)

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Start & Finish: The entrance to Stonor House (nearest postcode RG9 6HE). Grid ref: SU 737 891

Terrain: A hilly walk, interspersed with some flatter stretches. Stile-free.

Food & Drink: On or close by the walk – The Rainbow Inn, Middle Assendon; “Pit Stop” café at Stonor House (check website for opening hours). Nearby – Luscombes at The Golden Ball, Lower Assendon and The Five Horseshoes, Maidensgrove Common

Parking: Roadside parking on the B480 near the entrance to Stonor House

Local Transport: None at the start. Bus X38, runs between Oxford and Henley on Mondays to Saturdays and stops on the A4130 near point 7. Train: The nearest railway station is Henley-on-Thames

Stonor Village is currently in the parish of Pishill and Stonor. The name comes from ‘Stanora lege’ or Stony Hill, which is mentioned in King Offa’s charter of 774 AD. Until recently, however, Stonor was known as Upper Assendon.

This walk was created for the book "50 Great Walks in the Chilterns" available from the Chiltern Society or from Amazon.

(A) Maidensgrove Scrubs is common land and part of Warburg Nature Reserve. The scrubs are mostly covered in beech trees which were coppiced over many centuries.

(B) Bix Old Church is of Norman origin, and is a scheduled ancient monument. It is located in the Saxon village of Bix Brand, which has mostly disappeared. The church was closed in 1875 and has suffered significant decay since then. In 2014 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a significant grant to save the building and prevent further damage. This has enabled it to become a much more accessible heritage site now that the necessary works have been completed.

(C) Bix is an unusual name and probably derives from box scrub. The village is made up of two old parishes, Bix Brand and Bix Gibwyn which were amalgamated in the late Middle Ages. Each had its own church and manor house. Bix Brand’s church is mentioned above, but the remains of Bix Gibwyn’s church have never been found.

(D) Middle Assendon: The name Assundene was first recorded in 800 AD and has the lovely meaning of the ‘valley of the wild ass’. In medieval times, Middle Assendon comprised three farms and a handful of cottages. When a saw mill was built in 1866 the village started to expand.

(E) Stonor House and Deer Park: Set in an isolated valley of the Chilterns and sheltered by a wooded hillside, Stonor House dates from the 12th century. It has a 13th century chapel with earlier origins, built on the site of a pagan stone circle. There is a walled garden and an extensive deer park. The house is of considerable architectural interest and contains a remarkable collection of Old Master paintings, European sculptures, stained glass and contemporary ceramics. It has been owned by the Stonor family since it was built. It was a bastion of Catholicism during the Reformation and remains so today.