Sundon Hills and Sharpenhoe Clappers

A walk that’s attractive at any time of year. The route is quiet and peaceful, with magnificent views looking north into Bedfordshire and beyond. Visit the Iron Age hillfort at Sharpenhoe Clappers.

Technical sheet

43300830
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.48 km
  • ◔
    Calculated time: 3h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 105 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 105 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 161 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 82 m

Photos

Description de la randonnée

Start: The Red Lion, 13 Harlington Rd, Sundon (LU3 3PE) Grid ref. TL 045 277

(S/E) Turn left out of The Red Lion pub car park and walk along Harlington Road (A). Just after the junction with Streatley Road, climb up onto the grass verge on the left and continue in the same direction out of the village. Follow the verge around the left-hand bend, stay on the left-hand verge for 200m and then cross to the opposite side of the road. Stay in the same direction for a further 300m to the entrance of Sundon Hills Country Park (B).

(1) Turn right through the car park and the gate at the end onto the hillside. Take time to enjoy the magnificent views towards the north. Continue in the same direction to the left of the hedgerow for 650m to go through a gate on the right at the far corner, turning right on a broad track.

Follow the path ahead as it first bends left, then right and turn right towards a gate waymarked for The Chiltern Way, The Icknield Way and the Bunyan trail. You now follow the Chiltern Way until Waypoint (6) - look out for the waymarks.

(2) After passing through the gate, continue straight ahead on a path between fields. At the end turn left along a path to the left of a wood. At the end of the wood, bear half-left on a stony track and half-left again along another patch of wood. Turn right at the corner of the wood and walk along the top of the field to the corner.

(3) Follow the field round to the left and after 100m turn right into a wood. Follow the Chiltern Way markers, descending a little then bearing right up a slope.

After 300m, follow the path to the right then left to join a grassy track running along the right of the wood. Continue for a further 300m and where the track turns right, go through the gate directly ahead into a field.

(4) Cross the field diagonally, go through a gate and down the steps to a road. Cross and walk through the car park and a gate and along a surfaced path into The National Trust’s (NT) Sharpenhoe site.

Go past the information board, stay on the surfaced track for a further 150m to a left turn on the Chiltern Way. This turning is just before the surfaced track climbs and turns left.

(5) Turn left on the Chiltern Way and follow the track through the woods and scrub. After climbing steps, you emerge on the edge of an open area. Follow the lower left edge to the beech trees of the Clappers (C). Continue between the trees and the steep west slope to the north end of the wood and the top of a long set of steps. Descend the steps to the edge of a field at the bottom.

(6) Turn immediately left, leaving the Chiltern Way, under the overhead cables and go through a kissing gate into a field. Turn left, following the left field-edge for 100m then bear diagonally right across the field, leaving through a kissing gate to a road.

Cross the road to the bridleway opposite and follow the wide track along the field edge for 630m to a path junction at the entrance to the NT’s Moleskin and Markham Hills site. Do not enter – instead turn right downhill, follow the field edge round to the right and go left through a gap in the hedgerow over a stream and into a field.

(7) Keep straight ahead along the left-hand edge of the field to join a wide track. Stay in the same direction past a wood and lake on the right, and continue on the main farm track to meet a lane. Turn left along the lane to a permissive path on the left just before the T-junction at Sundon Road.

(8) Go through the gate, follow the path between the fields and pass through a gate up into a wood. Bear right and walk along the right-hand edge of the wood keeping straight ahead at a major path junction. Go through a gate and up steps past an information board. As you near the crest of the hill, turn left up two sets of steps, through a gate and into a field.

(9) Turn right and follow the fence uphill. Where the fence turns back on itself round the top of a combe, bear right uphill to a gate at the top. Go through it, and the one on the right, to a road. Cross, then turn right along the verge for 50m.

(10) Turn left into a field. Follow the hedgerow on the left to the end of the field. Turn right downhill and left through a gap into the next field. Bear diagonally left over the field to the rough track by the sewage works. Turn left and follow it for a further 400m to return to the pub. (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

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 160 m - The Red Lion, Sundon
  2. 1 : km 0.95 - alt. 160 m - Sundon Hills Country Park
  3. 2 : km 1.84 - alt. 145 m - Gate into fields
  4. 3 : km 2.87 - alt. 161 m - Waypoint 3
  5. 4 : km 3.5 - alt. 155 m - Cross field
  6. 5 : km 3.88 - alt. 155 m - Sharpenhoe Clappers
  7. 6 : km 4.73 - alt. 99 m - Left turn
  8. 7 : km 6 - alt. 90 m - Join wide track
  9. 8 : km 7.32 - alt. 87 m - Through Gate
  10. 9 : km 7.95 - alt. 122 m - Gate into field
  11. 10 : km 8.29 - alt. 155 m - Left on Chiltern Way
  12. S/E : km 9.48 - alt. 160 m - The Red Lion, Sundon

Practical information

Start: The Red Lion, 13 Harlington Rd, Sundon (LU3 3PE) Grid ref. TL 045 277

Parking: The Red Lion have given permission for their car park to be used. They would be delighted to offer you refreshments. NB. If the gate is closed, you can phone the landlord to open it.
There’s also a car park at the Sundon Hill Country Park (Waypoint (1))

Transport: Bus 78 runs between Luton and Upper Sundon, Mondays to Saturdays (2 services per day).

Terrain: An easy stile-free walk on good surfaces. You descend a long steep set of steps and have one steep climb.

Stiles : Stile-free

Refreshments : None on route

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

In the nearby area

(A) Upper Sundon – The parish of Sundon is made up of both Upper and Lower Sundon. The names comes from the Old English Sunna’s Dun or ‘Hill of a man called Sunna’. At the time of the Domesday Book there was one entry showing that William d'Eu held the manor, which was valued at 10 hides. In Lower Sundon is the 13th century St Mary’s Church. Almost opposite The Red Lion is the old Methodist church, which was erected in 1847 and rebuilt in 1913. John Wesley, the preacher and theologian who co-founded Methodism, is said to have visited the area on a number of occasions. Behind the bus stop is Bright’s Pond, which was used by farmers to wash their carts after returning from the fields. It has an interesting information board.

(B) Sundon Hills Country Park The Park belongs to Central Bedfordshire Council and is managed in partnership with the NT. It’s one of the highest points in Bedfordshire and also a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Park is mostly on a north facing escarpment of lower chalk and unimproved grassland. The site is important for many species of flora and fauna, including such plants as the fly orchid, as well as pyramidal, common spotted and bee orchids. It also has sanicle, a relatively unusual umbellifer of beech woods.

(C) Sharpenhoe Clappers is ancient woodland and chalk downland owned by the NT. The name Sharpenhoe comes from ‘sharp spur of land’. There seems to be some debate over the name ‘Clappers’. Some think it derives from the medieval Latin term claperius, meaning a heap of stones or rabbit hole, others believe it come from the French for rabbit warren. The site contains an Iron Age hillfort and is covered in beech trees.

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The GPS track and description are the property of the author.