Farnborough, High Elms Country Park and Downe

This walk passes several 17th- and 18th-century cottages and begins in the churchyard of Farnborough Church. St Giles was rebuilt in 1639 following a storm, and the giant yew was planted outside the west door at the same time. Look out for the gravestone of Levi Boswell, the gypsy chief who died in 1924, and his wife Urania (Gypsy Lee) beside the path (whose funeral drew thousands of spectators).

Emerging from St Giles churchyard, you are confronted with a rural view before reaching the wooded slopes of High Elms Country Park. High Elms Clock House was once the home farm of the estate, featuring a white-painted wooden bell tower added in 1829. The estate was acquired in 1808 by banker John William Lubbock. His grandson, born in 1834, was a distinguished scientist, president of the Linnaean Society, and MP responsible for the Bank Holiday Act and the Preservation of Ancient Monuments Act.

The route passes through Cuckoo Wood into the country village of Downe, with its flint-faced cottages and 13th-century St Mary's Church. You will also pass Down House, the former home of Charles Darwin, where he lived and worked for 40 years and wrote 'On the Origin of Species'.

The trail descends into a beautiful long valley before crossing Shire Lane near the 144-mile London Outer Orbital Path (London LOOP). Passing a stone boundary marker initialed 'JL' for John Lubbock's estate, Tye Lane brings you right back into the heart of Farnborough.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.