Start at the car park at Farley Mount (N 51° 03.695 W 001° 25.212), which is signposted 'Monument'. Take the path (which is part of the Clarendon Way) up the hill and take a moment to appreciate the lovely views from Frank Crawford’s seat (N 51° 03.649 W 001° 25.667) and then move on to where you leave the Clarendon Way by taking the 'Restricted Byway' path to the left (through the gate blocking vehicle access which is the reason for it being labelled 'restricted'). Here you will be walking alongside some beautiful Beech coppice within Parnholt Wood, underneath which is a carpet of bluebells in the Spring. Wildlife abounds on this route including deer and buzzards. The sound of the Skylark is never far away. The walk then crosses Parnholt woods and out through some stunning Hampshire farmland. At the furthest point (12.), you head back past Hoplands Farm (which is the only short stretch of single lane road) and onwards to the Clarendon Way.
(The Clarendon Way) is “a 24 mile walk joining the two Wessex cities of Winchester and Salisbury. The Clarendon Way crosses the Test Valley between Kings Somborne and Houghton. It starts beside the waters of the Itchen in the heart of Winchester and ends near the Avon at Salisbury Cathedral. It provides a splendid variety of scenery along the way, ranging from the water meadows of the valleys with their charming villages through woodland - ancient as well as modern - to downlands with far-ranging views. The Clarendon Way is named from Clarendon Park on the eastern edge of Salisbury. The Park contains the site of Clarendon Palace, a royal hunting lodge for Norman Kings, but later expanded by the Plantagenets into a great county house. Almost nothing remains now, only a few feet of flint wall lying a few yards from the Clarendon Way.” During various times of the year, there are a few charity runs/walks along the complete length of the Clarendon Way (including a marathon!).
Here is a suggested route, which shows other caches you can bag on the way round:
Then do Parnholt loop 1 to 4
Then backtrack for Parnholt 5 to 13
On the way to Parnholt 14 you can do Chilihouse's Battle of Britain (GC23Q3X)
Then it's Parnholt 14 to 19
***Updated in June 2015 - a slight re-numbering to include some of the caches along the route and a few new Letterbox caches, despite the majority of the caches being 35mm film canisters, this now allows for a few extra sizes/types en-route, essentially on the designated paths.***
The majority of the paths are firm under foot, but there are places which are really muddy with big puddles after heavy/persistent rain and so suitable footwear is recommended. There is a bit of a steep hill to climb on the way from 17. to 19… the 2/3.5 rating takes into account conditions on the complete loop.
Please replace all caches as found and log any interesting aspects/photos of your walk round. I hope you enjoy the walk which should result in 21 traditional caches, 1 mystery cache, 2 multis, 2 letterboxes and 1 virtual if you do all those listed above.
11th Dec 2012: Series opened to all members
Here's the weather at Parnholt:
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