– tea room in village shop; Radcot – Swan Hotel (01367 810220); Kelmscott – The Plough Inn (01367 253543); St John’s Lock – The Trout Inn (01367 252313)The walk starts from the town of Lechlade on Thames and follows the Thames upstream to the hamlet of Inglesham with its unspoilt church before heading off towards Buscot; a short detour can be made to visit the village (owned by the National Trust, with small shop and café). On reaching the Thames south of Kelmscott a decision has to be made: short or long route? The short walk heads back along the River Thames, while the long walk heads off through farmland passing the hamlet of Eaton Hastings to reach Radcot and the oldest bridge over the Thames. From here the walk follows the meandering Thames Path back to Lechlade with a short excursion through the village of Kelmscott, passing the former home of William Morris.
Lechlade-on-Thames, on the edge of the Cotswolds, is dominated by the fine 15th-century St Lawrence’s Church (there is evidence of a 13th-century church on the same site). The Perpendicular-style church, decorated with gargoyles and grotesque sculptures, is built of local stone from Taynton Quarry near Burford, which also supplied the stone for St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Inside there are some good memorial brasses, including one to local wool merchant John Townsend(d. 1458) and his wife Ellen. One of the best features is the 15th-century chancel roof. Only fragments of the earlier church remain, including two stone plaques, one of which depicts the martyrdom of St Agatha.
The late author and architectural historian, David Verey, described the parish church as ‘One of the six finest churches in Gloucestershire’, while in 1815 the great English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1827) was inspired to write about the church in his ‘Stanzas in Lechlade Churchyard’:
Thou too, aereal Pile! Whose pinnacles
Point from one shrine like pyramids of fire
Obeyist in silence their sweet solemn spells,
Clothing in hues of Heaven thy dim and distant spire
Around whose lessening and invisible height
Gather among the stars the clouds of night.
At the bottom of Bell Lane, off the High Street, is the site of the old wharf and the point at which the river was crossed by means of Tidford ford, in use until Ha’penny Bridge was built in 1792. The bridge is named after the amount of toll levied to cross; the toll-house still stands on the bridge and forms part of the eastern parapet.
The oldest bridge on the Thames, at Radcot
1 SU215995 From the Market Place go west along the High Street and then left into Thames Street (A361) to cross over Ha’penny Bridge. Immediately turn right following the Thames Path, later passing the confluence of the River Coln and the point where the disused Thames and Severn Canal joined the Thames. The Round House on the opposite bank was built to accommodate the lock-keepers and is one of several along the route of the canal.
The Thames and Severn Canal was built in the 1780s to connect with the Stroudwater Navigation, built a few years earlier, thereby linking the Rivers Thames and Severn – the first inland waterway route between London and the Midlands. However, the opening of the Kennet and Avon Canal captured most of the Bristol trade and the coming of the railways in the mid-1840s started a slow decline in trade; the last boat travelled along the canal in 1911. The Cotswold Canals Trust is working to re-open the canal.
Cross the footbridge and follow the path away from the river towards Inglesham, cross the stile to join a tarred lane; to the right is the interesting Church of St John the Baptist.
Inglesham is Wiltshire’s most northerly hamlet, and borders the counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Although very small, the hamlet has two points of interest: St John the Baptist’s Church and Inglesham Polo Club at Lynt Farm. The church, now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, may date back to late Saxon times, but has remained substantially unaltered since the early 1500s. Inside are the original box pews, while a carving on the north wall of the Mother and Child is believed to be Saxon.
Turn left along the road (away from the church) and then right along the main road (A361). At the junction follow the lane left towards Buscot for ¾ mile (1.2km). Turn left towards Buscot Wick Farm, and after passing a small grassy area and tree, go right past a house. Follow the track round towards another house and take the gate on the right; keep to the left field boundary and follow the track past a new barn. Later head diagonally right across the field, passing to the left of a large oak tree. Go through a gate by another oak tree and follow the field edge. Turn left through a gate to diagonally cross the corner of the field to a gate and road (A417).
2 SU225981 Cross over and take the path opposite with Buscot Parsonage over to the left. Cross the stile at the far side of the field and turn left along the lane towards St Mary’s Church in Buscot.
Buscot, formerly the most northwesterly village in Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire), is owned by the National Trust and can be visited by a short detour from Buscot Weir. However, the route does pass St Mary’s Church, which is definitely worth a visit. The church, which dates from about 1200, has an interesting pulpit with wooden panels believed to have been painted by the early 16th-century Flemish artist Jan Gossaert (1478–1532), while two of the beautiful stained-glass windows are by the pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones.
Bear right through the churchyard and leave via the lych-gate. Continue across the field and through a kissing gate, then follow the enclosed path to reach a lane at Buscot Weir. Turn right, away from the river, for a short distance before heading left across the grass to the far right corner. Cross the footbridge and stile and continue with the field boundary on the right. At the corner go right and left into the next field, with the field edge and house on the left; keep ahead and cross the stile next to the gate to go right along the track (byway) towards the A417. Just before the road turn left through a gate and walk diagonally across the field. Keep ahead through a gap in the hedge, cross the footbridge and follow the path right and left before going over a gentle rise, keeping the hedge on the left. On reaching a large footpath sign, bear diagonally left over the field and along the track towards the river, passing through a gate.
St Mary’s Church at Buscot
Shorter walk
Follow the path round the right-hand side of a building to cross over the river via the bridge and turn left along the Thames Path (see Point 5) back to Lechlade and the Ha’penny Bridge.
3 SU247985 Before reaching the river, cross the stile in the fence on the right and follow the left field edge; continue through several fields. Cross a footbridge to the left of The Grange and later a concrete track leading to Rhodes Farm. Continue over the footbridge and field to reach a stile and tarred lane. Keep ahead, passing St Michael’s and All Angels Church in Eaton Hastings; the route is now following part of the D’Arcy Dalton Way.
Although today a parish of scattered settlements, Eaton Hastings was once a thriving village. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word tun, meaning ‘homestead or village by a river’; ‘Hastings’ derives from Ralph
