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New Forest Walks - Walks from Lyndhurst

This walk follows Pinkney Lane, continues through woodlands and then takes in Queens Meadow and Highland Water.

Brinken Wood in spring
Brinken Wood in spring

Overview

From Lyndhurst village centre, this walk follows Pinkney Lane towards the outlying hamlet of Bank. A delightful, relatively traffic-free country lane, Pinkney Lane offers views of Foxlease, passes beside the grounds of the now demolished Cuffnells mansion, and Wilverley House; and provides a taste of the wider countryside quite different to the Crown Lands of the New Forest.

As an alternative start point, limited parking is available at the entrance to Brick Kiln Inclosure. First planted in 1810, Brick Kiln Inclosure features a wide variety of broad-leaved trees, including original oak, beech and sweet chestnut, as well as invasive birch, hornbeam and a relatively small block of conifers. The name recalls an old brick kiln sited here from at least the late-18th century until well into the 19th century. The kiln was marked by Richard, King and Driver on their late-18th century map, which showed the area before the inclosure was created - the site of the kiln then was marked on the map as Butts Lawn Grounds. The kiln was later shown by Greenwood on an 1826 map but it had, however, disappeared by the time of the 1870s Ordnance Survey map.

Hursthill Inclosure is visited, and so are Brinken Wood and Gritnam Wood. Hursthill Inclosure was first planted in 1808 and contains many original oaks together with a variety of other trees of later date. Brinken Wood and Gritnam Wood are fine examples of ancient, unenclosed woodland heavily grazed and browsed by commoners’ stock, and deer. They are an important habitat for a wide range of birds and insects, and are notable, too, for magnificent autumnal displays of fungi of often quite bewildering variety.

Queens Meadow, mid-way along the walk route, is an extensive patch of relatively close-cropped grassland, fenced to prevent disturbance to the fallow deer and red deer that can often be seen there, sometimes in very large numbers, feeding or simply loafing in the sunshine.

Nearby, continuing the royal association, in name, at least, is the riverside woodland of Queen Bower, and the adjacent site of a hunting lodge known to date back to at least the 14th century.

Highland Water adjoins Queens Meadow. A beautifully clear, in places fast-flowing, gravel-bottomed New Forest stream, Highland Water is home to breeding season kingfishers and grey wagtails, whilst occasional little egrets and mandarin ducks can also be seen. Then from the end of May through to August, Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies dance above the water’s surface, jealously guarding their own small patch of sunlight.

The walk
Walk distance:
10 kilometres (6¼ miles) from Lyndhurst village centre. 6 kilometres (3¾ miles) from the entrance to Brick Kiln Inclosure.
Start:
Lyndhurst village centre, or from roadside parking at the entrance to Brick Kiln Inclosure.
Terrain:
Mainly on level ground, but with a small number of gentle gradients; and mostly firm, but as sections can at times be wet and muddy, strong boots are recommended.
Refreshments:
The Oak Inn at Bank is close to the walk route, whilst pubs in Lyndhurst include The Fox and Hounds, The Stag, The Mailmans Arms and The Waterloo Arms. The Crown Hotel, too, serves food and drinks, and there are also numerous tearooms, cafes and restaurants.
New Forest Tour bus route:
Yes - summer only.
The walk route
Route map

Parking

There is a large 'Pay and Display' car park in the centre of Lyndhurst. Limited roadside parking is also available beside the entrance to Brick Kiln Inclosure.

Walk route directions

From Lyndhurst village centre

1. Leave the village centre at the bottom end of the High Street and walk south along Gosport Lane.

A beautiful display of daffodils at Goose Green
A beautiful display of daffodils at Goose Green

2. At the first fork in the road – Goose Green – go right, and almost immediately after, ignore a road joining from the left, and take the next left fork at the same junction – this is Chapel Lane, the road signposted as the A35 to Christchurch and New Milton.

(Immediately on the left here, notice The Old Coach House and the 18th century Old Lodge, both once associated with the nearby Foxlease estate, and the green lane beside Old Lodge, which was once an entrance to Foxlease. (This old entrance is now used as the access road to Deerleap Farm - it is strictly private, is used daily by vehicles and there are livestock in the fields).

Notice, too, across the road, Foxlease Terrace, for here in the 19th century was a Plymouth Brethren chapel, whilst nearby was a school associated with the same organisation).

Continue straight ahead until the 16th century Angels Farm House is reached on the left.

3. Turn left beside the farm house, along Pinkney Lane.

(Almost immediately look left across the fields, and Foxlease will be seen, whilst the land on the right was part of the old Cuffnells estate).

After just over 0.5 kilometres, pass on the left a small Victorian lodge behind large white gates – this is the original Wilverley Park lodge.

Follow the lane, eventually up a gentle hill, until a wide, inclosure gate is reached on the left, opposite a property called Deerhurst, and immediately before the lane bears sharply to the right.

From the roadside parking places at the entrance to Brick Kiln Inclosure

(The Oak Inn at Bank is a short distance along the lane from here, located at the start of section 11 of the walk route).

4. Pass through the gate into Brick Kiln Inclosure, and continue down a gentle gradient along the gravel cycle track. Ignore turns to left and right, and after 1 kilometre, follow the track as it leaves the woodland to cross Butts Lawn. This horseshoe-shaped piece of heath was maybe once the site of Bronze Age burial mounds, or Tumuli, which once were known locally as Butts.

(Notice by the Butts Lawn trackside, a sign advising that fungi picking is not permitted, a reminder that where such signs are displayed, picking, even when for personal consumption, is not allowed. Commercial fungi picking is not allowed at all in the New Forest).

5. Follow the track round to the right and re-enter a straggle of ancient, unenclosed woodland running between Hursthill Inclosure and New Park Plantation. Continue on for a short distance until a junction of gravel tracks is reached.

(Here a sign advises that a Wildlife Conservation Area is about to be entered, and that dogs should at all times be kept on a lead - look out always for the twitch of an ear or flick of a tail that will betray the presence of deer).

Early morning mist in Hursthill Inclosure
Early morning mist in Hursthill Inclosure

6. At the junction, take the right turn into Hursthill Inclosure, almost immediately pass through a gate and continue along the gravel cycle track.

(On the right is an old, dilapidated corrugated iron workmen’s hut, once used at times for the storage of acorns collected for sale, and behind that, an extensive area of relatively recent clear-fell.

Notice, too, the occasional ride-side patches of heather and cross-leaved heath that betray the heathland origin of much New Forest inclosure woodland).

Follow the gravel track as it passes through the wood, ignoring turns to left and right.

7. Eventually go through a gate to emerge beside the extensive, rush-strewn grassland that is Queens Meadow.

Continue along the track until the next corner of the Meadow is reached, cross a small bridge over a narrow stream, and immediately turn right to follow the stream-side path beside the Meadow. Pass the deer observation tower, and continue alongside the stream into the ancient, unenclosed woodland of Brinken Wood.

8. Cross a small side-stream – there is no bridge, but other than after heavy rain, it is possible to simply step across. Then after another 100 metres, or so, cross another side-stream, this time using the plank bridge provided. Turn half-right shortly after crossing the bridge and continue close to the main channel of the river – Highland Water.

(Notice in places along here signs of canalisation - the river’s course is artificially straight, and meanders are present that are no longer connected to the main stream).

Continue on this course for just over 1 kilometre.

9. Turn right to cross the river at the first (and only) bridge and continue straight ahead through the ancient, unenclosed woodland.

(Immediately on the right, notice a group of relatively recently pollarded hollies whose trunks have been cut at a height of around 5 feet to encourage re-generation of new growth, leaving initially just the stumps to stand as woodland sentinels.

Look out also for aged beech pollards, trees with multiple trunks shooting from the place where they themselves were cut before in 1698 pollarding was forbidden by law. Moss now adorns the ancient trunks and limbs, and lichens, too. Sheltered from desiccating winds, these superb indicators of air quality thrive in the midst of these often damp woods).

Go on through the woods, ignoring paths to left and right, until on the left, a small Southern Water Waste Water Plant is reached.

(Bird enthusiasts might wish to spend a little time here, particularly in winter, for such places often attract goldcrests, grey wagtails and out-of-season chiffchaffs to feed on the relatively high number of insects present).

10. Turn right immediately before reaching the gravel track to the Waste Water Plant, follow the path round to the left and emerge onto a small grassy lawn bordered by bramble patches that in July act as a magnet for butterflies. Nearby blackthorns similarly attract September and October thrushes to gorge on the sloes.

The narrow tarmac lane linking Bank and Gritnam
The narrow tarmac lane linking Bank and Gritnam

(Immediately on the right is the tiny hamlet of Gritnam, the Greteha of Domesday).

Turn left onto the narrow tarmac lane, and follow it towards the almost-as-small hamlet of Bank. Pass on the right, standing at right angles to the road, The Cottage, which in the 19th century was the site of the village Reading Room and, for a while, a school.

(A little further along, again on the right, pass Annesley, the large house where lived the popular Victorian author Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and immediately before that Annesley Coach House – notice on the turret supporting the weather vane, the initials of John Maxwell, husband of Miss Braddon).

Continue on to The Oak Inn.

11. Turn right at the adjacent ‘T’ junction, into Pinkney Lane. A little way down here, on the right, can be seen Old Cottage, with the date 1600 prominently displayed, and a little further on, on the left set back from the road, the picturesque thatched cottage fittingly known as The Thatch Cottage.

Follow Pinkney Lane back to the entrance of Brick Kiln Inclosure and beyond, Lyndhurst.


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Content produced by Andrew Walmsley
Content produced by Andrew Walmsley