Tisbury Circular via Alvediston Walk

This walk heads south from the Vale of Wardour through the southerly parts of the West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is spectacular walking country with some breathtaking views. The walk reaches the hilltop boundary with the Cranborne Chase AONB (with views all the way to the coast, around Bournemouth and Poole). You’ll find picturesque villages and atmospheric pubs in the beautiful undulating countryside, as well as a wooded Iron Age hill fort site and plenty of dry chalky U-shaped downland valleys.
The middle part of the walk especially leads through – or around the rim of – several very pretty coombes. The walk starts ascending pretty much straight from the platform and features a few short and sharp ascents as well as three more prominent ascents, spread out through the day, followed by a gentle descent across fields back into Tisbury, a remarkably unspoilt village.

As the former recommended lunch pub, The Crown Inn in Alvediston, has been shut for a while and currently operates as a seasonal tea room only, on the full walk your pub lunch options are: the very early Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe, an earlier train (or doing the walk in reverse) to reach The Horseshoe Inn in Ebbesbourne Wake in time for food service.
The reverse walk in a clockwise direction is available in a separate pdf.

A Shortcut around lunch reduces the walk by 5.0 km (3.1 mi) and the ascent/descent by 146m. This reduces the effort to 6/10.
The number 29 bus (Shaftesbury to Salisbury) stops outside the lunch pub in Ebbesbourne Wake and in Alvediston (Mon-Sat only, approx. every 90 mins), it gets you to Salisbury Bus Station (a 10 minutes’ walk from the train station) in just short of an hour.

OS Explorer: 118 (Shaftesbury & Cranborne Chase)
OS Landranger: 184 (Salisbury & The Plain)

Tisbury Station, map reference ST 945 290, is 20 km west of Salisbury, 145 km south west of Charing Cross, 94m above sea level and in Wiltshire. It is on the London Waterloo to Exeter St. Davids West of England Main Line. Journey times are 106 minutes Monday to Saturday (hourly) and 114 minutes on Sunday (hourly).

Saturday Walkers’ Club: Take the train closest to 9.20 hours.

The Royal Oak Swallowcliffe, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP3 5PA (01747 870 211). The Royal Oak is located 4.5 km (2.8 mi) into the walk.
The Crown Inn The Street, Alvediston, Wiltshire, SP5 5JY (01722 780 203). The Crown Inn is located 9.7 km (6.0 mi) into the walk. As of 05/23, this pub is closed after a fire.
The Horseshoe Inn The Cross, Ebbesbourne Wake, Wiltshire, SP5 5JF (01722 780 474). The Horseshoe Inn is located 16.3 km (10.1 mi) into the full walk and 11.1 km (6.9 mi) into the short walk.

Plenty of options in Tisbury. See the Walk Directions pdf for details.

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Apr-24 Thomas G