Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow – Uffington Castle Hillfort loop from The Coombes

Hiking trails & Routes

Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow – Uffington Castle Hillfort loop from The Coombes

Moderate

5.0

(2)

hikers

Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow – Uffington Castle Hillfort loop from The Coombes

04:52

18.2km

210m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

North Wessex Downs National Landscape

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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807 m

Charlbury Hill

Highlight • Summit

Short distance from the Ridgeway and good views over the scarp slope.

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5.28 km

Gravel Track in North Wessex Downs National Landscape

Highlight • Cycleway

Nice quiet section

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6.08 km

Beech Forest Path

Highlight • Trail

Turn into the small wood from main path and you can hike through beautiful high trees

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6.50 km

Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic chambered long barrow. The site was once believed to be the home of Wayland, the Saxon god of metalworking, hence the name. Excavations have revealed that 14 people were buried in an earlier structure on the site. Between 3460 and 3400 BC a second, much larger barrow was constructed on top, which is what you can explore today. The site is managed by English Heritage.

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8.89 km

Uffington Castle hillfort

Highlight • Historical Site

Uffington Castle is an early Iron Age (with underlying Bronze Age) univallate hillfort in Oxfordshire, England. It covers about 32,000 square metres and is surrounded by two earth banks separated by a ditch with an entrance in the western end. A second entrance in the eastern end was apparently blocked up a few centuries after it was built. The original defensive ditch was V-shaped with a small box rampart in front and a larger one behind it. Timber posts stood on the ramparts. Later the ditch was deepened and the extra material dumped on top of the ramparts to increase their size. A parapet wall of sarsen stones lined the top of the innermost rampart.
Excavations have indicated that it was probably built in the 7th or 8th century BC and continued to be occupied throughout the Iron Age. Isolated postholes were found inside the fort but no evidence of buildings. Pottery, loom weights and animal bone finds suggest some form of occupation however. The most activity appears to have been during the Roman period as the artefacts recovered from the upper fills of the ditch attest. The ramparts were remodelled to provide more entrances, and a shrine seems to have been built in the early 4th century AD. Two oblong mounds, one containing 46 Romano-British burials and one containing eight Saxon burials, lie nearby.
An ancient track passes by the northern entrance to the hillfort; it is known as The Ridgeway. It links to the Icknield Way at the Goring Gap, and passes close to Avebury before heading south across Salisbury Plain. It also passes very close to a Neolithic chambered long barrow, Waylands Smithy, about a mile to the west.

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9.17 km

Uffington White Horse

Highlight • Monument

Uffington Castle is an exceptionally well-preserved example of an Iron Age hill fort. The White Horse is the oldest chalk-cut hill figure in Britain, too; perhaps over 3,000 years old. From the summit, you are afforded wonderful views.

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9.50 km

Uffington Castle Hillfort

Highlight • Summit

On White Horse Hill, this large hillfort dates back to the Iron Age and lies next to the extraordinary Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric chalk figure. Combined, they make for a wonderful site to ramble about. The fort lies on the ancient Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road and numerous other hillforts reside in the area.

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