Description
With Silchester so close it would be rude not to visit the Roman remains of Calleva Atrebatum. En route to Bramley, this linear walk passes the ancient city’s amphitheatre before following the line of its imposing flint wall and delving deep into the surrounding woods. The Romans weren’t the only ones to have once walked this way. The eagle-eyed will spot several Camino Ingles signs, marking the route pilgrims from the Middle Ages took from Reading to Southampton – the official start of the Camino de Santiago from English soil. To learn more about this trail visit www.britishpilgrimage.org
Walk Instructions
- At the main road turn left & walk down to the roundabout. Turn left again & walk 250m before yet another left in the direction of the church. Bend left past the church wall. At the end turn right to follow a garden edge out towards the fields. Continue for 300m until you reach a footbridge. Cross & turn left following the field/stream bank. You will go through a couple more kissing gates & bridge before the path finally bends to the RHS in the field corner.
- Follow the path towards a red brick house in the distance. Go through the metal kissing gate to reach a lane. Turn left & follow the road for 600m, passing Brocas Lands Farm. After the farm there is a track straight ahead with a metal barrier overhead. Take this & follow it all the way to the road.
- At the road turn right & immediately right again to visit the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre. After looking around the ruins take the path to the right of where you entered. Cross the road to reach the track along the Roman wall. Follow this to the right all the way to a crossroads with a main gravel path. Go straight ahead.
- A short distance further on there is an offset junction. You want the wide path on the far RHS marked Silchester trail. Stay on this for 700m until you reach two roads in swift succession. Cross both. After the second continue ahead until you reach a clearing. Here bend left across the common towards the pub/picnic benches/pop-up café.
- With the pub ahead look for Dukes Ride on the RHS. Walk a short distance until you see a black bin & fingerpost on the RHS. Take the path ahead into the woods. Stay on this for 1km (ignoring signs to Upper Inhams Copse Nature Reserve), until you reach a junction in a clearing with a sign to Pamber Forest Reserve ahead.
- Turn left & cross the bridge. Stay straight ahead on this path for 1km, until you reach the road. Cross diagonally to the right to a black bin in order to rejoin the path through the woods. After reaching a field of Guinea Fowl turn left & head towards a gate and road. At the road turn left & left again at the next junction.
- Just before the Silchester sign take the path on RHS and follow this along the field into the woods. Keep the picket fence to your right through the woods. This path eventually comes out beside the entrance to the Electricity Sub Station. Turn left onto the lane & follow all the way to the main road.
- Turn right & walk along the pavement down to the main junction where you turn left to walk back to the station.
Useful Link
The Calleva Arms, Silchester Tel: 0118 970 0305. Open from 12, closed Mondays. Also, Pop-up Café in Silchester on Weds & Friday 8.30-4.30. Both have toilets
Start and End
Mortimer / Bramley
Distance
8 miles
Time
3 hours 30 walking time plus breaks
Grade
2/10 – very flat
Accessibility
Not push/wheelchair accessible
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