From the site of the medieval castle of Old Sarum, towering above the valley of the River Avon, circle its surrounding Iron Age ramparts past the cathedral ruins. Drop down into the valley, crossing ghostly lines of Roman roads and medieval trackways to the river. Trace its course downstream as it flows to Salisbury, its cathedral spire rising in the distance. Wander the wooded paths through Stratford-sub-Castle, passing sites of vanished mills that once turned the water. Join the Roman road of the Portway, its ancient crossing and the subsequent King’s Bridge, now gone and superseded by the medieval Harnham Bridge in the growing town of Salisbury. Return to the ramparts of Old Sarum on the Portway, past the Parliament Tree and the buried remains of the Roman town of Sorviodunum.
Distance: 3.5miles/5.5km
Time: 2 hours
Ability: Easy.
Max height: 390ft
Min height: 175ft
Total climb: 253ft
Terrain: Tracks, paths, fields and roads.
Start Point: Old Sarum car park (Payment required – English Heritage members park for free). (Postcode: SP1 3YS, Grid Reference: SU139326, What Three Words: professed.helper.second).
Terrain: Roads, tracks, paths and fields.
Map: OS Explorer 130 Salisbury and Stonehenge
How to get there: From Salisbury, travel north on the A345 towards Amesbury. Just as you leave the city behind, turn left, following the signs to old Sarum Castle to find the car park on the right.
Dogs: On leads where livestock is present and in accordance with any notices on the walk and The Countryside Code.
Refreshments: None are available at Old Sarum, or en route, but nearby is The Harvester, The Wheatsheaf in Lower Woodford, and a number of other options in Salisbury.
Toilets: Next to the car park.
Related Walks: Stonehenge, Mistleberry, Win Green, Bokerley Ditch, Badbury Rings and Roman Dorset.
Walk
Old Sarum sits just 3 kilometres north east of the city of Salisbury, looking over the valley of the River Avon. It is an oval shaped Iron Age Hillfort, enclosing c.12ha (30acres) using circular rising ramparts. The main entrances are to the east and west, with the western entrance closed or blocked by the 1st century AD. Another entrance, to the north east, was later established during the medieval period as an arched tunnel. It was excavated in 1795 and 1957 but has since been infilled and closed to the public for both safety and preservation. Suggestions have been put forward that more remains may lie buried under the ramparts.
At the time of the Roman invasion in AD43, the land was the territory of the Atrebates tribe. They soon realised the advantage of aligning with the invading forces, who subsequently constructed a fort within the centre of the rings. Five Roman roads converged outside the east gate, the southern route merging into Ackling Dike continues on to Vindocladia (Badbury Rings) and Durnovaria (Dorchester), two of the largest towns in Roman Dorset, as well as the coast. The west road travels on to Aqua Sulis (Bath) and Iscalis (the Mendip Hills), the north to Cunetio (Marlborough), the north east to Londinium (London) and the East to Venta Belgarum (Winchester).
A Romano- British settlement grew outside the southern ramparts, and when the central fort was no longer required, it was converted into a temple. The settlement became known as Sorviodunum, apparently deriving from the wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis), similar to a Maple, which grew abundantly in the area, and Dunum, which was extended Latin (merged into the Celtic English) for fort.
The name was adapted by the Saxons, replacing ‘Dunum’ with their own translation for fort, ‘Burh’, creating Seresberie or Searisbyrig, which then developed into the modern name of Salisbury. Seresberie grew into an increasingly important site, with coins being minted within the fort at the time of King Ethelred. Defences were heightened but it was William the Conqueror who constructed the large inner Motte, rising to a height of 5 metres, to house a castle. The outer bailey was strengthened using the surviving Iron Age ramparts and Saxon burh. Like the Romans before them, the Normans utilised the existing earthworks and use the additional road system to their benefit. The castle became home to a complex of halls, towers and courtyards while a bustling new city filled the outer enclosure.
After 1075, it was decreed that the cathedral at Sherborne should be moved to Old Sarum and extended to include a precinct for the cathedral canons and Bishop’s Hall. Building began in the north western corner of the outer bailey in 1078 and was completed in 1092. Only five days later a huge storm hit, destroying much of the new building and it wasn’t until 1102 that rebuilding commenced. Efforts were not in vain either, the hillfort was levelled and the cathedral extended. A cloister and Bishops Hall were added later in the century while the gatehouse was refurbished, a new drawbridge was constructed, a treasury was built in the keep and the inner bailey was surrounded by a masonry wall. Old Sarum’s importance as an administrative base grew; the sheriffs of Wiltshire were established in the castle and the new cathedral housed literate clerks who assisted with major projects.
In 1173, King Henry II’s son, Henry the Young, revolted against his own father with the support of his mother, Henry II’s Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. With disagreements over power, two of his younger brothers joined him in the fight but he was unsuccessful. King Henry managed to supress their anger with the distribution of a number of castles, but Eleanor was imprisoned for nearly 16 years in Old Sarum. Nevertheless, she was kept as a queen should be, delivered clothes from London while staying in well maintained, five star accommodation of the time.
However, friction between ecclesiastics and garrison developed, the site was becoming inaccessible and a location lower in the valley grew more attractive. Gradually the settlement moved downhill where a new cathedral was founded in 1220. On 14th June 1226 the tombs of three bishops of Old Sarum, Osmund (d1099), Roger (d.1139) and Jocelyn (d.1184), were moved from the old cathedral to the new and the demolition began, with much of the stone used in the new construction.
The castle remained in use, now isolated from the growing new town, but by the 14th century the old town was abandoned. In 1322 the demolition of the castle was ordered by Edward II, leaving nothing of Old Sarum other than foundations and earthworks grazed by sheep and trodden by tourists today.
From the car park either explore the central motte (payment required) and cross over the site or climb up to the top of the ramparts and circle in an anticlockwise direction. Following the ramparts, climb over the stile next to the toilets and up to views east, including two of the Roman roads. Turn left to the next stile in the north eastern corner which sits on top of the entrance to the tunnel, neighbouring a large raised bank.
Continue around the raised bank to enter the enclosure of the Bishop’s Hall, most likely an area kept private, away from the public and garrison. Circle Old Sarum’s northern edge to skim the foundations of the Cathedral, lying low in the outer bailey, and past the ruins of the Watch Tower, to arrive at the western entrance.
Drop down onto the track to leave Old Sarum behind. Cut through the rampart, over the deep ditch and turn left. Take the next right, through a gate and drop down the hill into the hedge below. Turn right following the channelled path to the next junction and turn left. Skim past the gas station and continue straight on into Stratford-sub-Castle. The village takes its name simply from being placed under the shadow of Old Sarum. It follows the valley road along the banks of the River Avon, with a number of ancient crossings that could have provided its second part of its name.
On reaching the road turn right to pass the 16th century Marwarden Court. It was leased by Thomas Pitt (1653-1726) in 1690 who carried out a number of alterations. It stayed within the family for a number of generations with his grandson William Pitt the Elder (1708-1778) growing up here, later to become the Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Keep to the right to merge onto a footpath into the Church of St Lawrence. The church dates back to the 13th century and is probably constructed from stones from either the demolished cathedral or castle. In 1711 the 13th century west tower was rebuilt by Thomas Pitt with little alterations occurring since.
Curve around the church tower to the northern side of the graveyard. Leave through the gate and turn right to the merge onto a footpath over a stile. Enter the field and keep the hedge on the left up to a kissing gate. Exit onto the road, cross over onto the pavement and turn right. Pass the brick wall of the 18th century Deans Farmhouse, hiding its gardens, and turn left with the bend to reach the river. Cross over the mill leat of the River Avon using Stratford Bridge. An older ford, possibly used by the Roman road to Bath and the Mendip Hills, is thought to be just to the north of the bridge.
Continue along the road, with the River Avon on the right and the water meadows on the left to cross Avon Bridge, embellished with a plaque celebrating its widening. The name Avon is derived from an ancient Celtic word ‘Afon’ which simply means ‘river; explaining why it is attributed to four other rivers in the south west of the country. Its source lies to the north of Salisbury Plain before meandering through Amesbury, past Stonehenge and into Salisbury before traveling south to Christchurch Harbour. Construction of a navigable river from Christchurch to Salisbury was authorised in 1664. Work began in 1675 and the route was completed in 1684, but it fell out of use around 1715. Today the river is reported to have more species of fish than any other British river.
Head straight up to Avon Farm and turn left onto its drive. Skim past the 19th century model farm buildings and out into a field. Keep the hedge on the left to walk gently down back into the valley of the River Avon and under the pylon wires. Head through the metal kissing gate in the far corner of the field and continue in the same direction through the trees for the river to come and join the path below. Gradually the trees thicken to then drop away to an open field and views of Salisbury Cathedral rising in the distance. On meeting a junction of tracks, turn left to walk towards the water.
Cross over the river for the second time just south of the old mill of Avonside, sitting on the banks where the old leats re-join the main water flow. During the 13th and 14th centuries there were at least two mills in the parish, but now only one remains. Stratford Mill was first marked on the map in 1773, and by 1920 it was being used by the Stonehenge Woollen Industry until its closure around 1933. The building dates back to the 18th century but the top floor was rebuilt in 1900 after being struck by lightning.
Join Mill Lane and turn right heading back into Stratford-sub-Castle with Old Sarum rising ahead. Turn right on Stratford Road and take the next track on the left, opposite the timber framed, 16th century, Little Thatches. Climb up the hill to a junction of paths and turn right through a gate, keeping the hedge on the right to the corner.
In the field to the right once stood the Parliament Tree, marking the site of Old Sarum’s notorious electoral history. Old Sarum was a classic “rotten borough” – a constituency with only a handful of voters, yet vastly over-represented in Parliament. This imbalance allowed local patrons to exercise disproportionate influence. When Thomas Pitt purchased the Manor of Stratford and Old Sarum, he gained control of the borough’s nominations, securing political advantage for his descendants. By its final election in 1831, Old Sarum had just eleven voters, all absentee landowners. This made it the most infamous of the rotten boroughs. Elections took place in a temporary booth set up in a cornfield—known as the “Electing Acre”—beneath a great elm tree that once marked the boundary of the medieval town. The constituency was abolished by the Reform Act of 1832, which merged Old Sarum into the larger borough of Wilton. The elm itself died in 1902, but, in 1931, a commemorative tablet, mounted on a sarsen stone, was unveiled near the site by the Right Honourable Stanley Baldwin, M.P., preserving the memory of Old Sarum’s peculiar place in parliamentary history. A sapling was planted on the site of the Parliament Tree on the 7th June 2000.
At the junction turn left onto the Portway, following the route of the Roman Road. To the south it crosses the River Avon and the Nadder to merge into Dorset’s Ackling Dike. However, some theories suggest the route was slightly to the north west, the exact crossing over the river unknown. Nevertheless, earthworks on the southern side are easily followed after crossing the River Nadder. A theory also suggests that the Portway was constructed at a later date to circle the growing town of Sorviodunum (like a bypass), which was placed in the fields on the left. During the medieval period it is believed to have been a main thoroughfare, crossing the River Avon using a bridge called King’s Bridge, near Tadpole Island. When the Harnham Bridge was built downstream in 1245, travellers used it in preference to using Stratford’s King’s Bridge, which then fell into disuse by the end of the 15th century and no longer stands today. The ford, the medieval crossing and King’s Bridge are now little more than ghosts in the landscape, along with the ancient right of way.
Take the next left, keeping tight to the base of Old Sarum’s ramparts. Turn left again at the next track, skimming the busy A345, heading straight for the mighty ramparts. Follow the signs for the castle back to the entrance road and turn left to return to the carpark and your vehicle.
