Laindon Circular Walk

20.9 km (13.0 mi), with 336m ascent/descent. For a shorter walk see below Walk Options.

5 out of 10, with 4 hours 45 minutes walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 7 hours.

This is an energetic and varied figure-of-eight walk through some tranquil, hilly parts of Essex, mostly through woods, both ancient and modern, and through flower-rich meadows and some farmland, which are all parts of Langdon Hills Country Park and the neighbouring Langdon Nature Reserve (which itself consists of five separate reserves). The hills form a crescent shaped ridge running West-to-East, giving panoramic views over the Thames Estuary from many points: out to Canvey Island and Fobbing Marshes in the East, across to Kent and to London’s Skyline in the West.
The lunch destination Horndon-on-the-Hill is a conservation area and features several noteworthy buildings as well as a multi-award winning pub. On the return you walk through more beautiful, undulating woods and then through the Dunton Plotlands part of the Nature Reserve, an interesting area formerly full of bungalows and chalets for Londoners, now with a brand-new large visitor centre and café.
This walk contains some arable field crossings around lunch (about 1000m in total), where it is also afflicted by some road noise from the nearby A13 for a while.

A couple of shortcuts cut out 2.4 km (1.5 mi) and 2.6 km (1.6 mi) respectively.
Cutting out the outer loop to Horndon-on-the-Hill reduces the walk by 5.5 km.
Bus Line 11 (Mon-Fri) takes you from Horndon-on-the-Hill to Purfleet or Basildon stations (every 2 hours).

OS Explorer: 175 (Southend-on-Sea & Basildon)
OS Landranger: 177 (East London)

Laindon Station, map reference TQ 680 881, is 39 km east of Charing X, 44m above sea level and in Essex. It station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness in eastern Essex, with four trains an hour Mon-Sat and two on Sundays, journey time is between 30 and 34 minutes. All trains stop at one or more of the following DLR, Overground or Underground Stations: Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster.

Saturday Walkers' Club: Take the train nearest to 09.30 hours.

The Bell Inn High Road, Horndon-on-the-Hill, SS17 8LD. Located 10.4 km from the start of the walk. The Bell is featured in all the 'serious' guides and has won numerous industry awards. Consequently, the restaurant area is often fully booked well in advance. The bar area operates on a first-come-first-serve basis though, but serves a different menu.
The Swan 121 High Road, Horndon-on-the-Hill, SS17 8LD. Located 10.4 km from the start of the walk and now a freehouse.

Langdon Visitor Centre Dunton Plotlands, Lower Dunton Road, Basildon, SS16 6EB. Langdon Visitor Centre is located 3.1 km from the end of the full walk. After a complete rebuild, the new centre has opened in summer 2021.

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-21 Thomas G