Ashdown House and Wayland’s Smithy Walk

A delightful stroll which is rich in history!

Enjoy the charming 17th Century hunting lodge, Ashdown House, and continue on to the neolithic barrow at Wayland’s Smithy.

The route also takes you along the ancient Ridgeway. 

Ashdown House love furry friends, so feel free to bring your dogs on leads while wandering through the woodland!

Accessible toilet available.

Nestled in a beautiful valley on the Berkshire Downs, this extraordinary building looks like something out of a fairytale, surrounded by lovely woodland.

Ashdown House was lovingly built by Earl William Craven in 1662 as a special home for the queen he adored, Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia.

While Ashdown House is tenanted, when open, you’ll be able to explore the hall, climb the staircase (100 steps), and even enjoy the roof!

Access to the house is through pre-booked guided tours only, available Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2, 3, and 4pm, for groups of up to 16 people. 

Wayland’s Smithy is about a mile’s walk along the Ridgeway from the Uffington White Horse and free to enter.

This Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb site was built around 3700 BC, at Ashbury – which had been associated with a Germanic smith-god called Wayland since Saxon times. 

According to legend, a traveller whose horse has lost a shoe can leave it with a silver coin at the smithy and return the next day to find it re-shod.

Human remains found on the site indicate that 14 people were interred in an earlier burial structure between 3590 and 3550 BC.

Between 3460 and 3400 BC a second far larger barrow was constructed on top.

It is the atmospheric ruins of this that can be explored by visitors to the site today.

The walk offers stunning views across the downs, and the wildlife-rich woodland and meadows truly enhance your experience, especially on warmer days.

• 5 miles / 8km
• Start point & parking: Ashdown House National Trust Car Park (free), Upper Lambourn Road, Lambourn, Hungerford, RG17 8RE