Charlbury is situated 15 miles north-west of Oxford in the beautiful Evenlode Valley, surrounded by glorious Cotswold countryside and the historic towns of Woodstock, Burford and Chipping Norton. The name Charlbury is thought to come from the personal name ‘Ceorl’ and ‘burgh’, meaning fortified place. This area was probably settled in the Anglo-Saxon period. Glove making was previously an important industry, but the last manufacturer closed in the 1960s. Charlbury itself is a small market town, typical of the Cotswolds, with colourful cottage gardens and houses built of local materials. To the south-west of Charlbury lies the remainder of the ancient Wychwood Forest, part of which now makes up the estate of Cornbury Park. Monarchs once exercised their exclusive hunting rights in the forest; deer and other wildlife can still be seen on public footpaths that border the Park. The coming of the railway in 1853 put new life into the market town, and Charlbury retains its picturesque station, the design of which is linked to Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Today, award-winning pubs and inns can be found at the heart of the town, as well as a bookshop, library, post office, other shops and the Charlbury Museum. Local events include the two-day Riverside music festival by the Evenlode River (normally in July), and an Annual Street Fair in September of each year.
This Charlbury Circular Walk is one of several around Charlbury. A downloadable PDF describing this walk – Charlbury Walk 2 (OCC) – and others can be found on the maps page of Oxfordshire Cotswolds.
The walk parallels the Evenlode River through pasture fields and cropland, as well as along tracks and roads, crossing the Evenlode and heading back across rolling hills to Charlbury. Parking is best found in the centre of town at the Spendlove Centre on Enstone Road (N51º 52.443 W001º 28.914), which has some one-hour designated spots but is apparently otherwise free and unrestricted. A few parking spaces might also be found in the lay-by at the bottom of Pound Hill on the B4026, Spelsbury Road (N51° 52.585 W001° 29.246); parking here is riskier but would allow for a slightly shorter walk. Decent footwear is advisable as ground conditions could be wet and muddy in places after wet weather. The 4.8-mile route from the town centre follows the well-signposted Oxfordshire Way in an anti-clockwise direction. Please follow the route as marked and observe the Country Code. There are no stiles on the route, only a series of kissing gates in the pastures in the first half of the walk. The entire route is now dog-friendly, although some fields may have livestock - sheep, cattle or horses - and dog-owners are advised by signs to control their animals in those areas.
There are nine caches at intervals along the CCW. The Bonus cache can be located by compiling the letters that are written in the front of the logbooks and on the inner lids of the caches, with letters (A-J, omitting letter I to avoid confusion with number 1) corresponding to the numbers in the title of each cache. Substitute the numbers for the letters in the formula below:
N51º 52.(C+D-J)(B+F-H)(AxE-G) W001º 29.(C+H-B)(ExJ-G)(A+F-D)
The Bonus cache is a 450ml loc & loc box with room for a travel bug or other small items. Please be careful not to disturb the hiding place when retrieving the cache box and replace it with equal care. There is another cache directly on the walk route, SideTracked - Charlbury, and other caches in the Charlbury area include: £350,000, Sidetracked - Finstock and The Gecko's Grotto.