Ilmington - Walks on Wheels

Easy 0.75 mile (1.2km) village walk on hard surface with a gentle slope. Suitable for all wheels.

Distance

0.75 miles / 1.21 km

Duration

1 hours

Difficulty

Unsurfaced paths, basic fitness

Mobility aid rating

Pushchair friendly

Shape

Circular

Route description

This 0.75 mile (1.2km) circuit illustrates Ilmington’s apple heritage, passing small orchards and visiting the magnificent Apple Map in Saint Mary’s Church. With gentle inclines, it is mostly on quiet paths with two sections on a public road or pavement and 30 metres on compacted gravel.

Start

Address

Sunrise Cottage, Hurdlers Ln, Ilmington, Shipston-on-Stour CV36 4PT, UK
View start on Google Maps

OS Grid Ref

SP208435

What3Words

frog.page.twitching

Public toilets

Public accessible toilets are at Shipston on Stour and Chipping Campden.

Refreshments

The Howard Arms, Red Lion and the village shop/café on Upper Green.

Travel Info

Take signed minor roads to Ilmington from the A3400 three miles south of Stratford-on-Avon or from the A429 four miles north of Moreton-in-Marsh. Park in Back Street near Saint Mary’s Church.

Navigation

Facing the church notice board in Back Street, turn left and take the pavement alongside the churchyard (site of the old school) gently downhill past the Dower House on your left and a sheep field on your right. See apple, cherry, pear and plum trees. At the village school 1 cross the road and follow the pavement for 250 metres.

Just before a farmyard on your left 2 cross the road and enter a signed footpath on a gravelled driveway between houses. After the second house turn left onto a narrow path past the remains of an old stone stile then turn right alongside a restored drystone wall. The orchard on the left has apple and plum trees that were planted and grafted by a villager who learnt his skills in the village school nearly 100 years ago. Soon you arrive at Lower Green, with the Howard Arms on your left and the village notice board facing you 3.

Here turn right up Middle Street. After a bollard at 150 metres the street becomes a traffic-free footpath beside a stream and the fish ponds. Facing a thatched house 4 you turn right, left and then right again to follow the avenue of lime trees past the church to Back Street.

If you didn’t see the Apple Map before you started the walk, why not now? There’s wheelchair access to the church via a short path to a narrow door near the large stained glass window. The door is opened only from the inside via the main entrance, which has three steps. If your wheelchair is too wide you are welcome to use a narrower wheelchair (and a ramp) kept inside.