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WALK 2

Ashampstead and Yattendon

Start/Finish	North edge of the recreation ground in Ashampstead (SU 565 769); limited roadside parking
Distance	6.9km (4¼ miles)
Ascent	65m
Time	2hrs
Map	OS Explorer 158
Refreshments	Casey Fields Farm Shop at Ashampstead; The Royal Oak (01635 201325) and village shop at Yattendon
Public transport	None

This easy walk meanders through fairly level farmland and visits two interesting villages, Ashampstead and Yattendon. Step inside St Clement’s Church near the start of the walk to see its medieval wall paintings, while the Church of St Peter and St Paul at Yattendon is the resting-place of a poet laureate. Yattendon is also home to the award-winning West Berkshire Brewery.

Stand facing the large green in Ashampstead and turn right to a crossroads. Go left down Church Lane for 100m before turning right through a gate to enter the churchyard. Follow the path passing just left of St Clement’s Church, and leave the churchyard through a gate on the western boundary.

Ashampstead dates back to at least the time of the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror gave the lands to William FitzOsborn. St Clement’s Church dates from the late 12th century, with later additions. The church contains a real treasure – surviving fragments of 13th-century medieval wall paintings. Those on the north wall of the nave depict scenes from the birth of Christ, while on the chancel arch can be seen the remains of the Last Judgement, with the figures of Christ and the Apostles and souls being admitted to heaven (left) or dragged down to hell (right). The paintings were uncovered only in 1895, having been plastered over following the Reformation in the 16th century.

Medieval wall paintings inside St Clement’s Church, Ashampstead

Head west across two fields separated by a gate and turn left along the concrete track (bridleway). Just before Casey Fields Farm Shop turn right following a track through trees. Enter a field and continue alongside the trees on the right for 175m to a track and marker post. Turn left across the field, passing just left of a tree to the trees on the far side. Keep ahead through a gate and follow the left-hand field edge. Go through gates either side of a track and continue between the trees (left) and hedge (right). Go through another gate and follow the hedge on the right. At the field corner turn left for 75m, still following the hedge, and then turn right through a gate.

Head diagonally left across the corner of the field, cross the boundary into the next field and turn right following the right-hand field margin for 200m. At the marker post head diagonally left across the field, passing a wooden electricity pole mid-field. Cross a stile, continue through the small paddock and leave over another stile. Bear left up the road to a junction in Yattendon beside The Royal Oak, with the village store opposite.

The Royal Oak at Yattendon

Like Ashampstead, picturesque Yattendon was mentioned in the Domesday Book, when the manor was held by ‘William son of Ansculf’. Inside the 15th-century Church of St Peter and St Paul is a memorial to Sir John Norreys (d.1466), a distinguished soldier in the reign of Elizabeth I and lord of the manor who built the present church; the Norreys family, and their descendants, held the manor of Yattendon until the 19th century. On the north wall of the nave there is a tablet (Latin inscription) commemorating Harriet Molesworth, her son Robert Seymour Bridges (1844–1930) and his wife Monica Waterhouse. Robert Bridges, a doctor by profession, became poet laureate in 1913; his works include ‘London snow’ (1879).

The village is also home to the award-winning West Berkshire Brewery, originally established in 1995 in a barn at the Pot Kiln pub (Walk 1). The brewery and shop is located 400m south of the church along Church Lane and then left along Chapel Lane (SU 554 741).

Keep left past The Royal Oak, and shortly after passing the village hall turn left at the footpath sign. There are two paths here; follow the second option through the churchyard, passing just left of the Church of St Peter and St Paul before leaving through a gate in the far corner. The first path stays outside the churchyard and then turns right, rejoining the other path at the gate.

Continue north-eastwards between trees (left) and a hedge (right); the woods have a good display of bluebells in late spring. At the end of the wood keep ahead through the field for 600m following the right-hand boundary to a crossing track; Calvesleys Farm is to the right. Keep ahead, now with a wood on the left and open field to the right. At the corner follow the field edge round to the right (marker post) for 250m. Shortly before the next field corner, turn left at the marker post and head north-east down through the trees to a track. Turn right (east) along the dip in the field to a crossing track – Pinfold Lane.

Turn left up the track back to Ashampstead, later following Church Lane past St Clement’s Church and turning right at the crossroads to get back to the start.