Burghclere, Sandham Memorial and Beacon Hill

Starting from Beacon Hill car park, there will be an option to meet in the car park at 10:15am to scale Beacon Hill to have a peep at Highclere Castle, weather permitting. If you prefer NOT to walk up Beacon Hill, the walk will start at 11:00am. (See route on OS Maps.)

Walking poles are recommended, especially for the optional walk up Beacon Hill, especially if there has been wet weather as it may be muddy on the path and slippery on the exposed chalk of the hillside. We will make our way up at a gentle pace. As well as being able to see Highclere Castle from the trig point on top, there is also a grave at the top of the hill, the final resting place of George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866-1923) who was the financier, and with Howard Carter, co-founder of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt in 1922.

The main walk will be a mix of fields, woods and quiet lanes and although mostly well maintained paths, it will be muddy in places and one short downhill may be slippery. We will head north via the outskirts of Burghclere towards the National Trust Sandham Memorial Chapel, where we will stop for lunch and you will have the option to visit inside the Chapel, before heading south back to the start point.

The chapel was built to honour the 'forgotten dead' and hosts paintings by Stanley Spencer based on his experiences as an orderly and soldier on the Salonika Front and also his time as a medical orderly at Beaufort Hospital. Entry to the chapel will require NT membership or a cost of £11 (£12.10 with gift aid). However, the staff are happy for us to have lunch in the picnic area and access the toilet, but would appreciate us, those that have one, scanning our National Trust cards, as they receive extra funding based on visitor numbers.