THE ULTIMATE DAY TRIP
This daytrip -
by car - has it all: the
dreaming Spires of Oxford, Gothic architecture of
Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge: too well known for
its own good, the largest stone circle in the world
at Avebury (one of our
favourites), unspoilt countryside, thatched
cottages, beautiful villages,ancient Iron age burial mounds and a mysterious white horse carved
into a hill 3000 years ago.
The good news is that you can see it
all in a day - and you can add on other bits, or
subtract things you've already seen. It's about a
270 mile (400 km) round trip from London. You do
have to drive it as it's impossible to get it all in
by public transport, and some things are way off the
beaten track. You can do this in two directions - we
assume you'll do an anti-clockwise circuit:
We start by taking the M40 out of London - it comes
in virtually to the centre - straight out to Oxford
- just under an hour. The M40 in the west of London
is very very busy during rush hours - and on a
Friday that begins at noon. Look out for the 1940s
Hoover building on your right as you course through
the outer suburbs.
From where the motorway cuts down through the chalk
cliffs onto the Oxford Plain the scenery starts to
get better. Oxford is
well signposted and there's plenty of parking in the
town centre - at a unitary price of £1.50. If
you don't want to pay that there's usually 2 hour
parking to the left of you as you come down the hill
from Headington into Oxford proper, between the
Cowley and Iffley roads.
As you go through Headington - a village suburb of
Oxford, look out on your left for the old High
Street. A large shark seems to have crashed through
the roof of a house - this creative loft addition
was opposed by the council until art lovers united
to make it a monument.
Spend 2 hours in Oxford: Christchurch, the college
started by Cardinal Wolsey of Hampton Court fame -
before Henry VIII decided to kill him - it would
have been called Cardinal College and have had the
largest cloisters in the World - sadly only the
pediments were completed before Wolsey's pediment
was severed from his fundament.
Magdalen
has a stunning deer park, beautiful cloisters and a
superb altarpiece in the chapel.
New College is only new in relative
terms - ie: newer than Merton (built 1264), the Old
Library at Merton is the oldest in the
world, with much of the book collection still
chained up in chests, and the timbers coming from
the Spanish Armada, as legend goes. Merton's chapel
(1287) was planned to be much larger, only Walter de
Merton ran out of money and it's in a T shape rather
than a cross. However the shape became a fashion and
now all college chapels are built like that.
Some of the colleges charge admission - if money's
tight one college should do - either
Christchurch or Magdalen. The rest of the colleges
can be seen by peering in through the gatehouses:
Brasenose, Lincoln, Corpus Christi, University, Johns, and All Souls are on
the main circuit. Also walk up Turl Street, Broad
Street, High Street and through the Bodlean
library's centre court.
The Covered Market, off High Street is not what it
was (it was famous for its game butchers, with huge
haunches of venison, and all manner of small game
hung outside their shops - but council regulations,
BSE and foot and mouth have put paid to that). Have
coffee there and if the weather's fine, buy
provisions for a picnic lunch on White Horse Hill
(vide infra).
Next, you have a choice - North to Woodstock Village
for a detour round Blenheim Palace - Churchill's old haunt and a
magnificent pile with amazing grounds - it's
£3 to enter the grounds, and another £6
to see the house. Worth visiting the herb garden and
butterfly house - both free. If you're an
archaeology fan, 10 miles further north on the
Chipping Norton road are the Rollright stones which are a
small set of standing stones - only for
archaeology fans really - clearly signposted from
the road.
However if you leave Oxford towards Swindon you go
down the Vale of The White Horse . Worth going
up to the top of the hill as the views are superb,
though the horse itself is best viewed from further
off. Close by is Waylands Smithy standing
stones - the legend says that a horse tethered to
them overnight will be shod by the ghostly smith. We
think it really is worth wandering about on these
ancient hills - they still hold druidical ceremonies
on Dragon Hill, a man-made edifice just below the
white horse. According to legend (certainly not
fact) it's the site where St George killed the
dragon.
Allow about an hour at the site: it's ideal for a
picnic if you've bought supplies at Oxford's covered
market.
From
the vale of the white horse we proceed to one of
England's most impressive sites: Avebury. It's the world's largest
stone circle - so large there's a village within it,
with a picturesque pub church and manor house - an
icon of rural life. Make sure you walk round the
dyke that surrounds the stones as the best views are
to be had from up there. There's free and open
access to the stones - which is a major draw,
considering the fencing-off of Stonehenge.
A mile or so west is Silbury Hill the largest man
made hill - beginning to subside so you can't climb
it - it's right alongside the road so
there's no real need to stop. What's worth the walk
is West Kennett barrow - on the other side of the
road - a well-preserved long barrow pre-historic
burial chamber that you can actually go into - about
10 minutes walk from the parking place.
From these two sites we follow the A345 south as it
winds through a succession of beautiful towns and
villages, full of thatched cottages
to die for among them Upavon, Pewsey, Marlborough and Devizes (just
off route but famed for it's canal with 29 locks,
the second longest flight in the country rising 239
feet over a distance of 2.5 miles). The best
villages nestle just off the main road - north of
Amesbury - look out for interesting church spires
and visit one at random.
Southwest of Andover on the A303 is Stonehenge , perhaps the
world's most famous stone age monument. It's
unfortunately situated at the junction of two busy
roads and you can't really access the stones
themselves. We don't really think it's worth that
much of a visit - the site has been spoiled, you can
see the entire thing very well from the roadside. It
used to be that you could explore the whole site,
but a police drive against hippy travellers resulted
in its being fenced off.
From Stonehenge proceed south to Salisbury to
visit the Cathedral
(built 1220) has the tallest spire in the country
and houses one of the 4 surviving copies of the
Magna Carta - England's 'constitution' and bill of
rights - signed by King John (although it isn't even
mentioned in Shakespeare's play of the same name).
If the scaffolding is still up for the restoration
work there's a tour of it, enabling you unique views
of the gargoyles. The guides get consistently good
reviews. Lots of pleasant old buildings round
Cathedral close.
That's it, all that remains is to head back for
London....if, however you want to spread the trip
over into two we recommend staying at the Old Red
Lion in Salisbury (now part of the Best Western
Group)- about £84 a double room, some of them
600 years old - or at the White Hart which is much
cheaper and has a good, moderately priced
restaurant.
STAY OVERNIGHT: If you're after a two-day
trip see also our trips
page. But if you want to do this trip more
slowly - and Wiltshire has amazingly beautiful
countryside - the downs are fantastic and there are
lots of minor architectural and historical sights
worth visiting (including some smaller white horses)
then stay at a local pub or B and B we can recommend
The Royal Oak, Wootton Rivers - which is not far
from Marlborough - a small village miles from
anywhere down single track lanes, but next to the
canal. It has a single pub The Royal Oak which does
accommodation and food. The rural life of the
village has been spoiled by rising property prices
and most of the houses are occupied by weekenders
from London - which accounts for its pristine
condition - and lack of general amenities/rural
folk.
Road map click Part one ~ Part two
The full road directions:
From London follow Marylebone Road (past Madame
Tussauds) onto the flyover A40, M40 - clearly
signposted Oxford.
(For Blenheim take the Woodstock road out of Oxford,
signposted Woodstock, Blenheim Palace is in
Woodstock. For Rollright stones continue on towards
Chipping Norton - Rollright is signposted as a left
turn off the road - follow signs to the Stones.)
From Oxford take the A34 towards Abingdon, past
Abingdon turn off right on A415 to Marcham to join
the A420 at Kingston Bagpuize, turn left to Pusey
& Hatford on the B4508 At Fernham, turn left to
Uffingham, follow signs to White Horse.
From White Horse Hill take the B4507 to Ashbury,
follow signs to Swindon, preferably via Idstone,
Hinton Parva and Wanborough. At Swindon suburbs take
the A4361 through Wroughton to Avebury village.
From Avebury cut across on the B4003 to West
Kennett, turn right on the A4 towards Beckhampton
Sillbury Hill is fairly evident on the left of the
road, West Kennett barrow is on the right. Go back
on yourself on the A4 into Marlborough then take the
A345 through Pewsey, Upavon to Amesbury (look out
for cute villages on the left side of road between
Upavon and Amesbury) turn right onto A303 Stonehenge
is at the fork of the A303 and the A344.
From Stonehenge continue on the A303 and turn left
onto the A360 to Salisbury.
From Salisbury take the A 338 towards the A303 which
joins the M3 running into London
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