Ridgeway - Southend to Pewsey (★★★★★)

I had planned to complete the remaining length of the Ridgeway National Trail in August - having already done the eastern end of the trail from Goring to Ivanhoe Beacon earlier in the year.

In the end I got as far as booking that walk, just to postpone it after picking up a minor injury. But now a month on, I am heading back to walk the same trail, but with the less ambitious goal of just walking the stretch west of Marlborough.

The very western end of this trail does, however, present something of a dilemma - because whilst it finishes in a very lovely part of the world, the actual route of the Ridgeway isn't as lovely as the wider countryside it sits in

And so although I am here with the intent of completing the western end of trail, I will actually turn off the trail 1.5 miles before it's official end point.

This is an unusual thing to do whilst completing a National Trail, but on this occasion I think this makes the most sense.

Ultimately, the aim of these walks is not just to complete some arbitrary tick list that occupies a portion of time between birth and death - but rather to explore and enjoy.

And whilst National Trails are usually the gold standard of walking, the Ridgeway National Trail has something of an Avebury problem - or more precisely, a lack-of-Avebury problem.

In this whole area, Avebury is probably the site of greatest interest - and is not only a beautiful village, but also has the world's largest prehistoric stone circle, and is surrounded by numerous Neolithic (or otherwise ancient) sites.

Whilst the Ridgeway National Trail does stop near one of these sites (The Sanctuary), and does stop near Avebury, The Sanctuary is probably the least of the ancient sites, and Avebury is also bypassed by this route.

In an ideal world you would follow the route as set out, and then turn off at Overton Hill and head up the Stone Avenue to Avebury to complete the walk - but with that now being a road, the best option to get from Overton Hill to Avebury is probably to cross over the A4, and to then do my walk in reverse from East Kennett to Avebury.

But here I have a second objection - which is that having got so close to the very excellent southern ridge of the North Wessex Downs, I would also like to explore the area around there - particularly since the ancient route of the Ridge Way also passed through that area.

And so in the end I have decided that the best option is simply to skip that 1.5 mile section of the official trail - and instead soak up as much of this fabulous stretch of countryside.

This means that we will head out from Southend (just to the north of Marlborough and just to the south of Ogbourne St George) loyally following the Ridgeway, until we reach a crossroads with the Wessex Ridgeway.

From that crossroads we will follow the Wessex Ridgeway down into Avebury (on what was once a medieval military route), before then following the route of the White Horse Trail down past Silbury Hill and West Kennett Long Barrow to the Wansdyke earthworks near Milk Hill.

From Milk Hill we will follow the Pewsey Vale Circular Walk along the steep-sided ridge that sits at the southern end of the North Wessex Downs, until just past Oare - and from there we will once again be following the White Horse Trail down into Pewsey.

If you are solely here for a writeup of the official section of the Ridgeway this choice may disappoint you, but by the end of this walk you will hopefully see why this is the route that trail should have followed in the first place.

Following the Ridgeway National Trail

Today we start the day in Marlborough - having traveled down on the previous day - and from here I'm heading out on one of the first buses of the day to a bus stop at Southend (just to the south of Ogbourne St George).

As we get off the bus, we immediately head down the side road, and as we make our way down this minor road we immediate find ourselves following the route of the Ridgeway National Trail.

From here it isn't long before this road turns into a track - and it is this track that we continue to follow round until we pass the western end of Ogbourne St George - at which point the trail turns to head west along Smeathe's Ridge.

Heading out along Smeathe's Ridge

This section following Smeathe's Ridge is an excellent section of walking to start the day with - heading up onto a grassy ridge, with wide views out across this rural stretch of country.

From here we follow this ridge round until we make our way round to Upper Herdwick Farm - passing a horse being taken out along the gallops on the way.

Looking back along the ridge

From here we make our way across a very minor road, before heading on towards Barbury Castle - which the Ridgeway cuts directly through - and this here is an Iron Age hillfort, that was also in use during the Roman's occupation of Britain - and which at one point contained forty circular huts.

An aerial view, Source: Mealithic Portal

But whilst the official route of the Ridgeway cuts through the middle of the fort, here I instead opt to head round on the longer footpath that follows round the southern edge of the fort - and this path sits outside of the main earthwork, but still on top of the second outer earthwork (you can see the path in the above photo).

View out from the southern side of the fort

An up-close view of the earthworks

On the far side of the fort the two paths re-unite - and then we head down to cross over a minor road that sits just beyond it.

From here we are following a track that generally has limited views through the foliage on either side - but there are points where the views open up, and in particular we get a number of views out from Hackpen Hill.

The trail map from Hackpen Hill

Looking out through one of the gaps in the foliage

After passing a field of very cute looking goats our path starts to bend towards the south - and as it does the views across the countryside open up, giving a better idea of the landscape we are walking through - which is very sparsely populated, and fairly agricultural.

And up ahead we can also see the northern side of the southern ridge that marks the end of this upland region, and the start of the broader Vale of Salisbury.

More expansive views as we head south

From here we have a straight run ahead of us to the furthest end of the Ridgeway National Trail (somewhere in the dip ahead in the photo above) - but it isn't too long until we reach the crossroads with the Wessex Ridgeway where we have already planned to turn off, and head across to Avebury.

Creating a more fitting end to this trail

Having reached this crossroads, we turn onto an old medieval military path that runs down towards Avebury - and this military path has been used by the Wessex Ridgeway as it makes it's way between Marlborough and Avebury (following a route that passes some distance to the south of the one we have followed so far today).

That route along the Wessex Ridgeway is one I have an interest in - and we will be looking to find time to walk sections of that trail in future years.

After a bit of time this lane turns into a road, and having made it past a few farms and houses, we arrive on the eastern end of the stone circle of Avebury.

But this isn't just any stone circle - for it is the largest pre-historic stone circle in the world, and was built around 4,600 years ago.

And as we start to get a view of what lies ahead of us, it is clear that this is quite a large site - with 

the bank and ditch running around it's edge being almost a mile in circumference - and the stones themselves aren't small either, with the largest stone weighing over 1000 tonnes.

My hastily arranged plan here is to turn right, and explore the northern end of the ring - before then turning back to head around the southern end of the ring in full - and with this plan formed, we head off to begin a wander around the stones.

Some of the larger stones in the northern section of the ring

Two more fairly substantial stones near the centre of the village

Once we have almost made it round to the center of the of Avebury, we turn back and head back to where we started at the eastern end of the ring.

And from here we can now follow the path round in the southern direction, where we find more numerous (but generally much smaller) stones.

Heading through the stones on the southern end of the ring

And smaller roads on the other side of the road

Having made it through the south-eastern quarter of the ring, we cross over the road - but here we don't just have any road, for if you follow this road down it is bordered by a stone avenue.

This used to mark the route down from Avebury to another stone circle (that no longer exists) called The Sanctuary - with Open Access land on the west of this road allowing you to walk most of the way down this stone avenue (with the ability to also join up with the White Horse Trail to the west of Waden Hill and either head on to West Kennett Long Barrow or back into Avebury).

Just off this road also sits a group of Bronze Age burial mounds known collectively as the Seven Barrows (although it is no longer believed that there are exactly seven of these).

A map of the major sites of interest (the You are Here marker is from later in the walk)

Were it not for our busy modern roads, I would have continued on down to Overton Hill, and then cut up this Stone Avenue to Avebury - but unfortunately these roads are not suited to walking.

But we are able to we cross over this road, and then make our way past the even smaller stones in the south-western quarter of the ring - and into the pretty core of the village (where you can also find a museum and a lot of pretty houses).

Now in the centre of Avebury

If you were to take the time to explore Avebury further there would be plenty to see - and the village has a very regular procession of buses heading through for any onward travel - with connections to Swindon, Devizes and Trowbridge via the 49 bus, and to Calne or Marlborough via the slightly less frequent 42 bus.

All of these towns offer up accommodation, with Swindon, Devizes and Trowbridge offering up a very cheap overnight stay on most nights of the year - and so it would be possible to pause here, and continue the walk on the following day.

But today we plough on - and leave Avebury behind - with our next point of interest ahead on our path being Silbury Hill. 

To reach this we follow the route of the White Horse Trail, which takes us down from Avebury to a busy car park - after which we cross over the busy A4 road, and continue along an now empty path on the far side (we left behind the crowds at the car park).

Here we are following the route of the River Kennet (at this point very close to it's source just to the west of Avebury, and with no water in it after a very dry summer), with Silbury Hill soon coming into view as we look ahead.

Silbury Hill comes into view

Silbury Hill is not a natural hill, but was man-made at some point around 2400-2300 BCE - and is the tallest and second largest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe (whilst also being one of the largest in the world).

At 129 feet high it is comparable in height with the smaller Pyramids in Egypt, but remains a lot smaller than the biggest of the ancient mounds - and it would have initially been built as a series of steps, before being filled in to create the smooth mound that we can see today.

An explanation of the construction phases, Source: Kenny Arne Lang Antonsen

And whilst this isn't quite up there with the Great Pyramid of Giza it shouldn't be underestimated just how big a challenge this would have been to construct in ancient times - with it being estimated that it would have taken around eighteen million man hours of labor to build, which equates to five hundred men working for a period of about fifteen years.

This scale of labor suggests that it was built by a combination of ancient tribes, rather than by a single tribe - purely because the size of the tribes that existed at the time of it's construction wouldn't have had enough people to build it, working as a single tribe.

But even as we pass this site by (and get ready to cross the A4 road), our next site already sits close ahead on our path - and it isn't long until we are over the road, and meeting up with the turn off to go up visit West Kennett Long Barrow.

Here there is a permissive path that heads up from the main footpath to the barrow (and once we have visited the barrow we will have to turn back on ourselves to return to this point).

And once we make it up the ridge to the long barrow, what we find is a very large (and long) barrow, that dominates the landscape on this ridge.

West Kennett Long Barrow

The best estimate for the age of this long barrow is between 3670 and 3635 BCE - and the bones of numerous men, women and children were added to the barrow over time, with it serving as a community burial chamber (serving a bit like a graveyard does today). 

A view of the actual burial chamber, Source: Jarkeld

After a period of not being used after 3635 BCE, it seems that the site was once again used as a burial place between 3620 and 3240 BCE.

And then at some point in the Late Neolithic age, the entrance to the long barrow was blocked up - with the addition of the large boulders that can be seen in the top photo.

This site is impressive - and along with all the other sites in the area marks the shift in the way people lived from a more nomadic hunter gather lifestyle (from 14000 to 10000 BCE) and semi-seasonal nomadic lifestyle (10000 to 4000 BCE) to a more settled farming lifestyle from 4000 onwards.

And what we are seeing here with this long barrow, is a bit of a celebration of the fact that we now have a settled community, that obviously has a bit of spare labor that can be devoted to projects like these.

But having done a loop of the long barrow, it is time to head back down the path we used to reach it, and then we turn right to continue to make our way along the White Horse Trail.

Here we soon reach a crossroads of paths that gives us the option of cutting across to East Kennet, and then up to The Sanctuary (at Overton Hill, and by the end of the Ridgeway National Trail).

This would have once been another particularly impressive site to view, as can be seen in the illustrated reconstruction below:

Illustrated reconstruction, Source: National Trails

But these days there appears to be less to see, and so I opt to continue on, rather than risk arriving in Pewsey too late from my onward train.

But all the same, this is another impressive demonstration of the prehistoric human activity in this area.

Continuing on we are passing through very quiet countryside (we will not see a soul until the next car park we reach) - and soon pass by East Kennet Long Barrow (which cannot be visited on public footpaths), before heading up onto Harestone Down.

Heading up onto Harestone Down

Soon our next target comes into view on the far ridge - and this target is the Wansdyke earthworks.

Wansdyke (or Woden's Dyke) are medieval era earthworks that consist of a ditch and embankment - and whilst not much is known about these, they are believed to me a more ceremonial marker, rather than a more substantial defensive barrier.

The earthworks are, however, four meters high, and when we reach them at the top of the ridge, it is clear that crossing over them is not particularly easy - so they could have served a defensive function of sorts if needed.

From here you can just about see the Wansdyke ahead (it looks like a hedge on the ridge)

Wansdyke up close

Once we reach it we clamber over the Wansdyke, and then head past a very friendly group of cows (which whilst slightly skittish do also come over for a few head scratches) to the ridge at Milk Hill.

Crossing over Wansdyke

Hello! Hello! Hello!

Cows and views (the cow on the left was very friendly)

More cows and views (preparing to give a lick)

Meeting up with such a friendly bunch of cows was a highlight in itself, but here the views out from this ridge are absolutely fabulous - and this stretch alone makes the onward journey down from Avebury seem worthwhile.

Following round the ridge

The onward path

The photos don't quite do this section of path justice, and the ridge is up there with the very best bits of the South Downs - and if you check out the contours of this area on a map, you'll understand why I was so keen to extend the walk this way during the planning phase of this walk.

Here we follow the path round until we reach the southern end of this ridge - and here we have views out across the Salisbury Plains - with All Cannings and the Kennet & Avon Canal sitting fairly close to us below this ridge.

Looking out from the ridge

Our task now is to follow this ridge round, and up ahead we have a fairly short stretch from here (past one of the many White Horse figures carved into the chalk) to Adam's Grave Long Barrow, on Walkers Hill.

Heading out along the ridge (with a white horse partially visible)

Further round on the ridge

Looking back towards the carved horse

Looking ahead to Adam's Grave Long Barrow

At Adam's Grave Long Barrow (named I believe after Adam from Adam & Eve) we have another burial chamber - with this one being of the Severn-Cotswolds tomb type (which are a form of chambered long barrow). 

And since this long barrow lies on Open Access countryside, I divert off to go visit it - and then cut back across the Open Access area until I rejoin the path on the far side.

At Adam's Grave Long Barrow

From here we cut up to a car park by a road (where we see our first people since East Kennett Long Barrow), but not any road - for this road here forms part of the original Ridge Way ancient route (which extends beyond the route of the current National Trail).

From here that trail would have headed on past Salisbury, before continuing on to Exeter - and for those wishing to walk a similar route today, you are best continuing on from here along the Sarsen Way (past Old Sarum Castle at Salisbury), before finishing up by following the Wessex Ridgeway to Lyme Regis (I'm not certain would the best route would be if you wished to extend on to Exeter).

Here we head across the road, and then through the car park - before following a path up the slope ahead to Knap Hill Neolithic Camp.

The earthworks here are thought to date back to a point after 3700 BCE, with a series of ditches and causeways being used for an unknown purpose.

The site itself obviously has defensive qualities - being sat on the ridge - but the mix of ditches and causeways are thought to be more indicative of a normal settlement, than on a site built purely as a defensive fortification.

Two barrows lie within the enclosure, with at least one lying beyond it  - and there are also the remains of a Romano-British settlement on the site (and evidence of scorched earth and a buried sword suggests that the Roman camp ended with a brutal battle).

View back towards Adam's Grave from Knap Hill

From here we cut back across to the route of the Pewsey Vale Circular Way, and follow this along the front of the ridge that lies ahead.

Cutting back across to the ridge

Looking back once on that ridge

Looking back from here we have the sight of rolling green downs, but up ahead the ridge is no longer a purely grassy one - and here we wander through sheep fields as we head on towards Gopher Wood.

View out whilst on our way to Gopher Wood

When we do meet up with Gopher Wood, we turn away from the edge of the ridge, and head round the wood on the northern side - before following a track that continues on, and along the next ridge.

At Huish Hill we are back heading past sheep and hay fields - and having crossed over the busy A345, we head out along a wooded track through Oare Hill - before then cutting across a wheat field (recently ploughed so no clear path), before we head out along a jutting ridge upon which sits Giant's Grave Settlement.

Giant's Grave Settlement was a promontory fort (a defensive fort located above a steep cliff connected by a small neck of land, that is naturally easy to defend).

This fort would have overlooked the Vale of Pewsey, and current sits around the area of the trig point, which we pass on our way down off the ridge.

Heading down off the ridge (looking towards the ridge we had been following)

Once off the ridge, we turn to head southwards - and now we are in the final stretches of our walk, and closing in on the village of Pewsey.

Before we reach the village, we cross over the Kennet & Avon Canal - and then it is a short stretch before we meet up with the houses on the edge of the village, and turn to head west and meet up with our train home.

Crossing the canal

Across the day this has been an excellent walk, but it is a bit of a strange walk to have done - with all the major highlights of the walk having come after we left behind the Ridgeway National Trail.

Here I don't think the route of this trail is as good as it could be - and I would recommend that everyone who comes to walk that trail, does some sort of modification to explore some of the great sites around Avebury, and to ideally come down and explore this ridge between Milk Hill and Oare.

Because this countryside down here has been some of the best countryside I have explored - whilst the walking along the Ridgeway can only really be described as being decent.

Total Distance: 23.9 miles (8.2 miles on the Ridgeway)

Total Ascent: 2,142 feet (768 feet on the Ridgeway)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Click for a connecting walk along the Kennet & Avon Canal from Devizes to Great Bedwyn.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 173 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Ridgeway guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked