Sunday Walk - King's Sutton Circular: Undulating Northamptonshire (with plenty of pubs)

#2026-05-17T11:03

Length: 18.2 km (11.3 mi) [Longer Walk possible, see below] 

Ascent/Descent: 232m

Net Walking Time: ca. 4 hours 

Toughness: 3 out of 10

 

Take the 10.00 Birmingham Moor Street train from Marylebone, arrives Kings Sutton 11.03. 

Return trains: 15.44, 17.44 and 19.44 direct (64 or 73 minutes), plus 18.05 (via Oxford).

 

This circular walk passes through four small Cotswold villages each with a good pub serving real ale. 

There are some great long views, much is out in the open across the large fields, with less variety than for some walks. The villages are noteworthy (apart from the pubs): churches in most of them have unusual features (e.g. medieval wall paintings in Croughton, spire and weird monument in Kings Sutton, tablets in Aynho), the fine Grammar School in Aynho, Aynhoe Park (grand 17th century house, with John Soane involved in design and gardens by Capability Brown) is private but one gets a very good view of the house from the road, handsome houses such as Souldern House and others.

Note: For the first 2-3 km, depending on the speed and direction of the wind the nearby M40 can be noisy. On other days it's a far-off sound.

Walk Option: you can extend the walk by starting or finishing at Banbury (better train service), this adds 6 km.

Lunch: Cartwright Hotel & Restaurant (4.2 km) in Aynho (this may be out of business), The Fox (6.7 km, food to 14.00) in Souldern, The Blackbird Inn (10.9 km) in Croughton (this may be closed looking for a new tenant) or The Rose & Crown (14.2 km, food to 15.30) in Charlton.

Tea: The White Horse or The Butchers Arms (Hook Norton brewery) in Kings Sutton.

For walk directions, map, height profile, some photos and gpx/kml files click here.

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