Chiltern Walks: Hambleden & Rotten Row
View from the east of Hambleden
Start / Finish: Car park next to the Stag and Huntsman, Hambleden, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6RP
Distance: 6km (3.7 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 113m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): Chiltern Way, Shakespeare’s Way
Other Routes Touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway
OS Trig Pillar: TP4092 - Huttons Farm
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Stag and Huntsman at the start and finish
Map: OS Explorer 171: Chiltern Hills West, Henley-on-Thames and Wallingford
Links: Hambleden
This is part of a series of short circular walks in the Chilterns. The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.
Hambleden is a great choice for a Chiltern walk with several options for routes and ample free parking at the Stag and Huntsman. This one starts at the pub with a short walk through the village before turning right onto the first road off Pheasants Hill, Frieth Road. You’ll see a sign for Huttons Farm and some retractable entry bollards. It's a public right of way so continue on up the hill. At the top of the hill take a right, then a left at the path junctions as the route goes round the well-kept Huttons Farm estate.
The Trig Pillar that I based the walk on is buried in the hedge on the North side of the road before the East entrance to the estate. It was easy to spot on this mid-winter’s day but likely harder to find in the Summer. After the Trig Pillar, continue on for about ~0.5 km before taking a right hand turn following a path into the woods. Continue in the same North-Easterly direction to an obvious junction and follow the fence into a clearing in the trees. In ~0.5 km you’ll meet the Chiltern Way. Take the right-hand / Southerly direction up a steep bank to the road. From here follow the Chiltern Way / Shakespeare’s Way signs for 2 km through Rotten Row back to Hambleden.
The North-east Hambleden Circular route is a longer version of this walk but doesn’t include the Trig Pillar.
