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A five mile circular walk which starts at Salisbury Cathedral and follows the River Avon out to Old Sarum through a nature reserve. Explore the outer rings of Old Sarum including the ruins of the original cathedral (which you can see for free), admire the views over the city, then walk back to town on the other side of the river. This walk divides into three different routes at the mid-way point, so you get a choice as to which one to take. Route A is by far the prettiest and is filled with wildlife, but can be hard going after heavy rain. Route C is the dullest but is mostly paved. Bear in mind that Old Sarum itself can get very boggy after rain. Walking the narrow outer rings after rain on all that chalky clay soil can be quite an adventure as you try not to slip down the steep banks into the moat, or lose your footwear as it gets sucked into the mud. 1. The walk starts at the cathedral, at the statue of the Walking Madonna. (w3w: pram.option.skin) The Walking Madonna in the Cathedral grounds is a life size statue of Mary in her later years (the cathedral is formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary). She is frail after the death of her son but walking with determination to spread the word of the church. You can read more about the meaning behind the statue here >> The statue is facing Old Sarum, home to the original cathedral of Salisbury, and the direction you will be walking in. 2. Walk through the High Street Gate and continue down the High Street in a straight line, you will need to cross a road at the end. You will reach St. Thomas' Church. This medieval church was built for the people working on the cathedral, and is usually open to visitors, if you have the time. It is home to the largest and best preserved Doom Painting in the country, which you can read about in detail here >> 3. Turn left into the Maltings (w3w: ozone.empty.rare) and follow the path of the river, keeping the river to your right. You will pass the spot where the Skripals were found on a bench (w3w: passes.decks.opens) , having become seriously unwell after being poisoned with novichok. The bench has since been removed and not replaced - currently there is a plastic Stonehenge chair in the area, presumably for visitors to take photos of themselves sitting in it. This section of the walk is not the most exciting - you will see the backs of modern buildings and a few run down ones, including the old Boathouse which just looks pitiful now - it was once a lovely pub where you could have a drink with a riverside view, and even hire out a boat to bob around on the river. 4. Keep heading north on the path - you will cross a small road then veer left to go round the old Boathouse, before crossing another road. Stay on the path - it will lead you round over a sluice gate at w3w: sage.spice.intelligible and under a railway bridge at w3w: decks.terms.fight The first part of the walk takes you under a railway bridge and past Grade II listed Scammells Bridge On your right you will see what is known as Scammells Bridge. This once carried the London to Exeter railway over Castle Street, but was moved, by hand, to its present location in 1898. The lattice sides were not part of the original construction, being added when the bridge was moved. The bridge is Grade II listed but looks rather unloved. 5. Keep following the path which will lead you under the dual carriageway at w3w: save.trim.normal and finally out onto a much nicer view. Here on the right you can see the back gardens of some rather nice houses, while you pass Waitrose on your left. Keep on following the path! 6. You emerge at a pedestrian crossing (w3w: crash.gown.ready) on Ashley Road. Cross the road and keep following the path, with the river still to your right. On your right will be a bridge, (w3w: switch.battle.part) which leads to the Five Rivers Leisure Centre, and this is where you get to make a choice as to the rest of your route. Route A is by far the loveliest as it takes you through the Avon Valley Nature Reserve, but it is a little bit longer than the others. Route B is through a different section of the Avon Valley Nature Reserve, not quite as lovely, and Route C is the one you should use when the ground is sodden, as well as being the shortest route. Take your pick now! Route A Route B Route C Route A Don't cross the bridge, keep following the path round, keeping the river on your right and just keep going. This takes you through the Avon Valley Nature Reserve, which has beautiful wetlands as well as the river, and no shortage of wildlife. Part of the walk is on a boardwalk, the rest continues through wetlands and river plain until you reach a bridge at w3w: unroll.overdrive.splendid. Cross the bridge, follow the path until it turns into a road - Mill Lane, turn left at the end and you will walk a short way on pavement through the village of Stratford-sub-Castle. Stratford-sub-Castle has a long history, which you can read about here >> Just before you get to the church, cross the road into a track at w3w: baseline.illogical.bubbles. Follow it and you will see that you are heading up towards Old Sarum. Turn right after the second field (w3w: laughs.fingernails.reshaping) then turn left at w3w: scenes.ordeals.solder. This area is the site of the old Roman-British settlement, although you will not be able to see any remnants of their time here. You are now on the outer rings of Old Sarum. Go to Old Sarum section Route B Cross the bridge and follow the path immediately to your left, which keeps the River Avon on your left and the Leisure Centre on your right. You will walk through part of the Avon Valley Nature Reserve, until the path bends round to your right and eventually puts you on a path at w3w: recent.pave.comically. Turn left onto the path. Follow the path, past the allotments on your left and a small field which usually has horses in it. The path eventually emerges onto a main road in Stratford-sub-Castle. Turn right onto the pavement, walk past the houses, and where the road bends round to the right, you keep going straight on, up the path. This is the Portway. The Portway is believed to be an old Roman Road which ran between London and Dorchester, via Old Sarum. It is far more likely however to be a bypass for the main Roman Road, as the area became increasingly busy. By the MIddle Ages it had become a main throughfare for people travelling to the west from Old Sarum. The Portway will lead you to the bottom of Old Sarum - you can walk either on the track or cross to Hudson's Field next to it, which may be better if the track is too wet. Hudson's Field is named after Alderman J.C. Hudson, Mayor of Salisbury from 1926 -1927, who bequeathed £3000 in his will to ensure that the area remained a green space, and that housing couldn't encroach on Old Sarum. It is a large space, used for rugby, football, dog walking and large events held in the city, such as the Race for Life. Keep on following the path until you reach a set of wooden steps to your left at w3w: disposal.gushes.cello. which were donated by a local Scout troup. Walk up them and you are now at the base of Old Sarum. Walk up the field and on your left is a gate to the castle grounds. Go to Old Sarum section Route C This is the least exciting route, but the one to use if the ground is saturated, as the Avon Valley Nature Reserve can get very boggy after heavy rain. Cross the bridge, walk straight ahead and turn left to join the path. There is a school sports field to your right and you will walk past the backs of houses and two fields of allotments in a straight line. This path is tarmacked which is why it is best used in inclement weather. At the end of the path, follow the instructions for Route B from here >> Old Sarum Once at Old Sarum, you can explore all around the outer rings, including the ruins of the original cathedral, for free. There are some lovely views over the city and a lot of places to just explore. Read more about walking around Old Sarum, its historical background and what you can see >> If it is open, you have the option of paying to go into the inner castle, or it is free if you are an English Heritage member. There are loos above an old World War II pillbox and wireless room in the car park. If you need food or drink, then on the main road is a Harvester which does typical English pub food and has a nice garden. Old Sarum to Salisbury Cathedral For your return journey, why not choose one of the other routes to walk back by? Just reverse the instructions. Or for speed you could just head down Castle Road which takes you back into the heart of the city, but it is a very busy road and you will have to deal with the noise and pollution, particularly in rush hour. The only advantage of that route is that you will walk past the Salisbury Spitfire Memorial, which is an impressive sight. If you do take that route, divert into Victoria Park for some of it so that not all of it is next to the main road.

Just outside the city of Salisbury, Figsbury Ring is a Neolithic and Iron Age hillfort which is a beautiful spot for a walk or a picnic. It has impressive views over Salisbury from the top of the ramparts and is a site of special scientific interest, filled with grasslands and wildlife including butterflies, orchids, fireflies and skylarks. It is owned by the National Trust but is free to visit and is open all year round. Just outside the small village of Firsdown 5 miles from Salisbury, Figsbury Rings lies at the end of a rather potholed track in the middle of the countryside. You enter through a latched gate and walk down a wild hedge-lined path before emerging into a wide open space with ramparts rising up in front of you. You can wander at will, explore down in the ditches or walk the narrow chalky path at the very top of the ramparts. The views are lovely from the top, a patchwork of hills and farmland, the odd farm building dotted amongst them, with distant glimpses of Salisbury Cathedral or Old Sarum. The area is home to a wide variety of orchids, butterflies and insects, including the elusive glow worm. Skylarks swoop and sing in the skies above and the enclosures are filled with a carpet of wildflowers in the summer. A small herd of nine or ten colourful cows graze the landscape, but they are well used to sharing the site with people and there is plenty of space for everyone. There are never more than a handful of people there, usually just a few dogwalkers, and often you can have the whole place to yourself. Kids love Figsbury as they can run up and down the banks and ditches. Usually there is a makeshift rope swing which hangs from one of only two trees on the ramparts, and this will keep them amused for ages as they launch themselves off the bank and into the air. If you visit at the right time of year, the edge of the ring at the back of the site has a wealth of blackberries and rose hips for picking if you are keen on foraging. There are also several geo-cache sites in the area, which are always fun to find. A footpath, part of the 625 mile Monarch's Way, leads off the site at the back, down through farmland to the village of Winterbourne Earls. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FIGSBURY RING What you see first when you approach the site is the univallate hillfort, an oval enclosure defended by a single line of 18 metre high ramparts, surrounded by a ditch. The site was excavated in 1924, which recovered Iron Age pottery, leading archaeologists to conclude that the site was an Iron Age hillfort. Within the ramparts is a Neolithic henge with an oval enclosure and a single ditch, nearly 5 metres deep. This ditch produced animal and human bones as well as Beaker and Grooved Ware pottery, dating it to the late Neolithic. Archaeologists believe that it was probably originally a causewayed enclosure, which would have later been modified into a henge monument. Causewayed enclosures were not permanent homes for the Neolithic population but rather a meeting place possibly used for social, ritual or trade centres in the nomadic society, providing a place of stability for people who were just starting to put down roots. Over time, many causewayed enclosures became settlements, which may well have been the case here, with its transition to henge and then hillfort. Figsbury Ring was known in antiquity as ‘Chlorus’ Camp’, suggesting that the site was also occupied by the Romans at one point, and it does sit near the Roman road. Chlorus Constantine was an Roman Caesar from 250 AD, and it is known that he campaigned in Britain in 305 AD, dying here a year later, so it is entirely possible, although no evidence of the Romans has been found in excavations of the site. The site has only been partially excavated. In 1704, a late Bronze Age sword was found by a farmer which is now in the Ashmolean Museum. Excavations in the 1980s produced flint artefacts, showing that the area had been occupied for longer than was originally thought. If you like hillforts, try Danebury, which is ten miles away and is considered by many to be the definitive hillfort, as much of our understanding of them comes from Danebury. It is also a beautiful place filled with wildlife and has extensive countryside walks. VISITING FIGSBURY RING How to get to Figsbury Ring Postcode: SP4 6DT what3words: firming.mills.headline Public Transport: There is a bus stop, called Figsbury Ring, at the turn-off to the site on the A30. You can catch either bus number 87 or the Park and Ride PR7 bus from the centre of Salisbury. The journey takes about 20 minutes. Find timetable >> Parking: If you are driving, Figsbury Ring is off the A30 between Salisbury and Firsdown. It is well signposted and leads you up a narrow track past a few houses. Keep going until you reach the car park. Parking is free in the National Trust car park, whether you are a member or not. When is Figsbury Ring open? The rings are open from dawn until dusk How much does it cost to visit Figsbury Ring? The site is free to visit and there are no charges for parking either. Are there any facilities at Figsbury Ring? There are no facilities here other than a car park, the site is not staffed and there are no loos or refreshments. Useful tips for visiting Figsbury Ring The track and car park are filled with large potholes so drive very slowly and carefully. The site is exposed and can get windy, and in bad weather you will definitely need walking boots or wellies. Dogs are welcome so long as you clean up after them. In fact, some kind person has added a wooden tennis ball dispenser next to the sign, so you can borrow and return a tennis ball for your dog to play with. Figsbury Ring is on the boundary of the Salisbury Plain Training Area, so don’t be alarmed if you see red flags flying on the nearby MOD land. Just stay out of the MOD land (clearly signposted) and you will not have any problems. One of the homes on the track up to the car park, sells Figsbury Ring honey. Have some cash handy in case there is some available, as you won't get a more local product than that. Find it at what3words: eradicate.puffed.trusts Which is the nearest town to Figsbury Rings? Salisbury is the nearest town. See our Salisbury City Guide for details on how to get to Salisbury, locally owned accommodation, restaurants and shops, further places to visit and things to do.

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