Wootton

St Peter's, Wootton

We decided to venture further afield than usual for our mid-week walk - to Wootton, south west of Oxford. Fairly dismal weather limited the photographic record. The walk begins at the church and initially follows a lane towards Old Boars Hill. After a while you leave the lane and cross fields and then walk through a straggling area of houses to rejoin it higher up. A bit pointless really.

You then enter the Jarn Mound and Wild Garden, owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust. The artificial mound was constructed in the 1930s for Sir Arthur Evans, a famous archaeologist, and apparently commanded fine views of Oxford in its day.



Now, alas, the view is almost completely obscured by trees.

Leaving the Wild Garden - more realistically, a pleasant enough public garden - you pass an entrance to the Open University HQ at Boars Hill, once Ripon Hall, and enter an area of meadows with lovely views towards Oxford.




You can just make out Christ Church in the centre of the vista.

A series of fields and a path across common land led to a track which later became a road leading back down into the village. There were again some nice views from the common. After the common, the track had the odd juxtaposition of a Carmellite priory on one side and an activity centre for scouts on the other - both were well set back however.

The route diverted via another plot owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust, the Elizabeth Daryush Memorial Gardens. This too promised fine views - over the Berkshire Downs - but again trees interposed themselves.

Distance: 5 miles.

From: Chilterns and Thames Valley (Pathfinder Guides).

Map: Explorer 180 (Oxford).

Rating: two and a half stars. Oversold. Some nice views in the middle, but overall too much on roads and too suburban in feeling. The expected views were largely absent.