A Hampshire pilgrimage

English icons along St Swithun's Way

From Jane Austen's House to Gilbert White's Garden, old-world Winchester to the Watercress Line, this inviting corner of Hampshire is strong on quintessential English charm. Winchester, the ancient capital of Saxon England, sets just the right tone. Alluring little side streets weave around the handsome cathedral where Jane Austen is buried and where medieval pilgrims paid homage to St Swithun, who is said to have drummed up a dreadful storm on 15th July 971, the day his bones were moved to his new cathedral shrine. Part of that early pilgrimage route now takes his name as it follows the River Itchen out of Winchester, heading for the market town of Alton through the still-unspoilt countryside where Jane Austen's heroines strolled, flirted and fell in love. Jane's most popular novels were written while she lived at nearby Chawton, close to the delightful village of Selborne where Gilbert White wrote his enduring Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne and created his own wonderful 18th-century garden.

In the early 1900s, the gentle beauty of these East Hampshire landscapes also inspired the paintings of artist W. H. Allen, whose evocative oils and watercolours now hang in their own gallery in Alton. Enjoy a guided walk of Alton, taking in its interesting shops and uncovering its treasures and tales from 11th -century St Lawrence Church to the scene of its Civil War battle or the sad story of Sweet Fanny Adams, commemorated in the town cemetery. Walk on to explore the lovely East Hampshire scenery on foot or down memory lane on the Mid Hants Railway, the Watercress Line, which takes it name from the local watercress beds. Powerful steam trains serve its four stations from Alresford to Alton, each one a perfect period piece faithful in every detail.

Your country escape

Follows the Alresford-to-Alton stretch of St Swithun's Way, which links Winchester to historic Farnham. From the car park of the Watercress Line in the thriving market town of Alresford, turn left into Jacklyns Lane and walk down to The Cricketers pub on the A31. Turn left here and pick up the waymarked trail on Tichborne Down Road to walk the mile to Bishop's Sutton, with its Ship Inn and the partly-Norman church. Three miles of country lanes and fields bring you then to pretty Ropley, with pubs and post office, cottages, church and pond and a quaint country station of the Watercress Line, in 1950s' style. Press on for four miles through copse and fields to the garden centre at Four Marks, turning left if you want to reach Medstead & Fourmarks station, restored in the Southern green of the 1920s - 40s. From Four Marks, the trail skirts woodlands where thieves once preyed upon medieval pilgrims and a gibbet hung in the forest that now forms part of Chawton Park Wood. This three-mile stretch dips down and over the A32 and into Chawton, for rest and refreshment at Jane Austen's House, Cassandra's Cup Tea Room and the Greyfriars pub. Walk the last mile into Alton, to ride back in style on the Watercress Line.

Fact file

Distance 12 miles, with shorter options; time 4 hours. Waymarked throughout with a shell (symbol of pilgrimage) and two bishops' crosiers. Map ref: OS Explorer maps 132 & 144 (E). A walker's pack detailing the entire route of St Swithun's Way is available priced £3.99 from Hampshire County Council Information Centres or by calling 01962 870500.
Websites: www.hants.gov.uk/walking/swithuns;
www.watercressline.co.uk

To complete your break you might also visit:
Jane Austen's House, Chawton;
The Curtis Museum and Allen Gallery, Alton;
Gilbert White's House & The Oates Museum, Selborne;
Avington Park, Itchen Abbas;
Winchester Cathedral.

Tourist Information Centres

Winchester:
The Guildhall,
Broadway,
Winchester
SO23 9GH
Tel: 01962 840500
Fax: 01962 850348
Email: tourism@winchester.gov.uk
Website: www.visitwinchester.co.uk

Alton:
7 Cross and Pillory Lane,
Alton
Tel: 01420 88448
Email tourism@easthants.gov.uk
Website: www.altonevents.co.uk
or www.visit-easthampshire.org.uk

Travel by train to: Alton