Downton Distance: 3 miles Map: OS Landranger 184 - Salisbury and The Plain Start: The Moot scenic gardens car park. Enter Moot Lane from Downton High Street and the car park is 20 yards on the right just past the entrance to the Moot gardens. For a scaleable map showing the start point, please click here. The Walk: After parking in the gravel car park, return to Moot Lane and turn right. Walk past the doctor's surgery and look for the Avon Valley Path signpost opposite Moot Farm pointing you across the road and up the side of one of the renovated barns of the farm. Reach the top of the track, and as it bends right to enter a garden, continue ahead and cross a stile. Continue ahead between two fields, following the line of the electricity pylons. Cross a second style next to woodland and carry on to ascend the right hand side of a field. Approximately three quarters of the way to the top of the field, cross a stile on the right and continue half-right ahead up to a stile at the top of the field ahead of you. Climb the stile out of the field and onto a farm track. If you turn and face the stile for a moment, at 10 o'clock you may notice Breamore House in the distance. This lovely abode is visited in the Breamore walk. At 1 o'clock you will see Downton Church in the village and further afield at 2 o'clock, the spire of Salisbury Cathedral in the distance. After climbing the stile, turn right onto the track and climb very gently before ascending to a stile. Cross this stile, the track and then a second stile into a field. Continue quickly downhill to the bottom of the field and climb another stile out of the field. Continue ahead up the left hand side of the pasture, climbing steeply at first to the far side and leave the field by stile or gateway. Turn right and ascend down a track, passing a sandpit on the left which is now occasionally used for moto-cross trials in the summer. Continue ahead to the farm building you now see in front of you. Pass through a gate and continue along the track to the left of the farm. Remain on the track until you reach a road (Moot Lane). Just before reaching the lane, you may notice on the right the kilns of a disused brickworks. Turn right onto Moot Lane and start towards Downton. Soon you will cross the site of an old railway track and reach the edge of Downton. By the village sign, turn sharp left onto a driveway towards the waterworks. As you reach the waterworks main gate, bear left onto a signed footpath which follows the path of the old railway line past the waterworks and to the edge of the River Avon. The area on which you now stand was the scene of an horrific rail accident in the days of steam, and of which more details can be found on a new site featuring the history of Downton, "Downtonweb". Turn right onto the new Millennium Green and take the mown path which meanders by the river's edge, passing some handily situated resting points by a sundial which, I promise you, does give a very accurate time if the sun is out! Stay by the river to reach the far end of the Millennium Green and leave it by means of a stile. Keep your dog on a lead now, staying by the rivers edge and passing an upstream fork opposite a housing estate. Your track takes you through a five bar wooden swing gate into a far corner of Downton Moot. Remain by the river until you reach a brick structure by which you turn right to walk further into the Moot with a lovely pond on the right. Looking back you notice the brick structure has been cleverly painted to look like a series of ornate columns which can be quite deceiving from a distance. Remain by the pond edge to reach the left hand edge of a series of grassed steps. Here, take the lightly gravelled path running to the left next to the terrace. The path continues ahead crossing a bride and bearing to the left up some brick steps to emerge at the top of an amphitheater like structure. Skirt the right hand edge of the amphitheater and descend the steps with Moot House opposite you. The path leads you back to the road at which point, turn right to complete the few yards back to the car park. Home / Salisbury & Wessex / New Forest / Guestbook / Links / Your page / Other Interests