Burley, Castle Hill, Vales Moor, Long Pond and Shappen Hill

The walk starts just outside Burley, a village dating back to the Iron Age whose name means 'a fortified place in the clearing', referring to the fine hill fort dominating the nearby ridge. Burley clusters around its manor, which survived William the Conqueror's 1079 forest annexation. Historically remote, the village depended on pig herding and notorious smuggling rings (with smugglers storing contraband beneath movable hearths in pubs like The Queen's Head and using sunken tracks to move goods unobserved from coast spots like Highcliffe or Barton).

Following the track along the ridge, the walk reaches Burley Iron Age Fort, offering splendid views over rolling moors to the Avon Valley and Christchurch Priory. Smugglers used a sunken track nearby, led by the Warne family from Knaves Ash (where Lovey Warne would watch for customs men wearing a conspicuous red cloak on Verely Hill).

The route also passes Burley Beacon, associated with forest legends of the Bisterne Dragon vanquished by Sir Morris Barkley. Wildlife on the walk includes herds of deer, ground-nesting birds on the heathlands, and wetland plants around Long Pond and Whitten Pond.

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