Oxfordshire Way: Beckley to Tiddington

The Oxfordshire Way runs across the heart of England, along ancient rights of way, all of which existed long before they were thus joined together, passing through historic settlements and crossing the grain of the country. The old tracks and field paths have been used for centuries. Some are prehistoric, some are Roman, and many were first trodden in Saxon times. They link villages and hamlets mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The inns of these places usually provide food and accommodation, bed-and- breakfast can be found on or close to the route, and there are some campsites. Village shops survive in surprising numbers.

On this section of the walk, The Oxfordshire Way passes the large estate of Waterperry Gardens. Between 1932 and
 1971, Waterperry was famous 
as Beatrix Havergal’s School of Horticulture for Ladies. Gardening courses are still taught here, 
but the main focus for visitors is now on the gardens themselves, which are both a pleasure to explore and a valuable learning resource. There are formal gardens, herbaceous borders, a gravel garden, a rose garden and a waterlily canal. The estate, which is open daily all year, also has a Rural Life Museum, Saxon church, plant centre, gift shops and café.

The Oxfordshire Way leaves Beckley on the lane at the eastern end of the village, and descends on to Otmoor. On the left is a moated mansion, Beckley Park, built in 1540 by Lord Williams of Thame, probably as a hunting lodge. The site once belonged to King Alfred, who excavated the moats. At the bottom of the hill, cross the drive to Beckley Park and follow the waymarks across meadowland to the road between Horton-cum-Studley and Woodperry, where it is possible to break the walk and catch a bus from Horton-cum-Studley to Oxford.

The Oxfordshire Way crosses the road and cuts across two fields to walk two sides of a wood before taking the first hedge and field edge to Danesbrook Farm. Skirting the edge of the farm, it’s then a straight walk on tarmac to Menmarsh Guide Post (don’t expect a post though; nothing remains) and the second shrunken medieval forest on this walk, the royal forest of Bernwood. Medieval kings hunted Bernwood from a hilltop palace at nearby Brill in Buckinghamshire. Pass the forest’s depleted remains at gloriously named Polecat End and Drunkard’s Corner, to cut right to the corner of the very narrow watermeadow then left into a large field.

Cross the field a quarter-left and keeping Parsons’ Farm on your right, to arrive at Park Farm. The buildings seen from Point 3 across the field is Parson’s Farm; you cannot actually see Park Farm until further up the field. Turn right at Park Farm and cross a field to the road at Ledell Cottage, by the M40. Cross the bridge over the motorway and continue along the lane, lined with tall horse chestnut trees, to the crossroads and the little village of Waterperry.

From here it is through a farmyard and meadows, alongside the church and Waterperry Gardens, on to a well-used path to Bow Bridge over the River Thame. If livestock are in the field beyond the farmyard, there is an adjacent public footpath that runs parallel with the Oxfordshire Way for a short distance. The two routes come together within 100m.

Over Bow Bridge, pass Mill House, and turn left into Waterstock. Just beyond the church, turn right over a stile to go through a short paddock then along the inside edge of a golf course. Approximately 25m before the far side of the course, turn right to cut across the course to the A418. On the other side of the A-road, about 100yds (90m) to the left at the far end of the lay-by, the route turns right, crossing the disused railway line and going diagonally uphill before dropping to the village street at Tiddington. This village sits at a crossroads on the A418. It is a good place to break the walk, served by buses.