Always take a map and compass with you. ©Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey. Media 051/190 km 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20200
100
01 2345671
Start/Finish
Win Green car park
GR: ST923205
From the CP skirt through the
field L of the beech tree clump,
joining the Ox Drove just beyond.(^2)
Follow the Drove E along
the ridge, turning R onto a
section of road for 1.5km, before
rejoining the track on the L for a
further 3.5km.
(^3)
About 500m beyond Bigley
Barn, turn L through a small
gate (no Right of Way symbol,
but a sign requesting dog control)
to follow the fence down to a
Right of Way signed gateway, then
a track dropping downhill and
across the valley.
The Ox Drove
Wiltshire ENGLAND
20km/12.5 miles/4 hours
Ascent 278m/910ft^10
AT 277M ABOVE SEA
LEVEL, Win Green is the
highest point of Cranborne
Chase. It’s also a Marilyn.
With the clump of beech
trees marking the summit
not more than a couple of
hundred metres from the car
park at the start of the walk,
this means you can bag a
peak while still adjusting the
straps on your rucksack.
It’s all downhill from here
of course, at least for a while,
and just beyond the hill,
the path drops to meet the
Ox Drove.
Beneath almost all
high country A-roads,
particularly along ridges,
lies an ancient route. Where
Eddie Stobart lorries
now thunder along dual
carriageways, flocks(^4)
After a dogleg, turn R onto
the road, then L at a fork,
almost immediately leaving the
road to take the signed track on
the L to North Hill Farm. Near the
farm, at a footpath signed gate,
leave the track L to follow a
curving path uphill to meet the
Old Shaftesbury Drove.
(^5)
In about 3km, just beyond
the trig point, turn L to
follow a signed footpath SW along
the field edge, forking R after the
old Cross Dyke gate towards a
clump of trees.
(^6)
Skirt below the trees to find
a sunken path that drops to
an old quarry, and a track to the
road, where you turn L.
(^7)
Turn R after 300 metres,
then right again onto a
Right of Way that zig-zags to a
short section of road, turning left
to find a gate on the right and a
footpath that climbs back to the
Ox Drove.
Gradient profile Metres above sea level
Tim Gent
walks ancient
Wiltshire ways
The Great Outdoors July 2019 103