The Farm, Snitterfield – Stratford-upon-Avon Waterside loop from Snitterfield

Hiking trails & Routes

The Farm, Snitterfield – Stratford-upon-Avon Waterside loop from Snitterfield

Moderate

5.0

(1)

hikers

The Farm, Snitterfield – Stratford-upon-Avon Waterside loop from Snitterfield

03:17

12.2km

150m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily walkable paths. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: September 10, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

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949 m

The Farm, Snitterfield

Highlight • Cafe

Great place to stop if you are walking this section of the Monarch’s Way. Good range of food and drinks and if you mention Monarch’s Way you can get a small discount.

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3.49 km

The Welcombe Hills and Clopton Park offer delightful walks through grassland and woodland. Woolly thistle, quaking-grass and the diminutive adder’s-tongue grow in the grasslands where ant hills created by yellow meadow ants are a distinctive feature. The woodland contains oak, horse-chestnut and beech with English elm. Birds are plentiful, with great spotted woodpecker, sparrowhawk, little owl, treecreeper and finches enjoying the woodland where ravens breed in spring. Brimstone butterflies are numerous in the spring sunshine.

History of the Welcombe Hills: a Shakespearean tale

The reserve may have got its name from a historic well found here with its inscription 'SJC 1686'. Margaret, daughter of William Clopton who died in 1592 supposedly drowned here. It was around this time that Shakespeare was writing his famous play, Hamlet, and its believed that this tragic event provided the inspiration for his 'Ophelia' and her lonely death.

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5.34 km

Stratford-upon-Avon Waterside

Highlight • Rest Area

Refreshing and plenty to see. Well worth the short walk

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5.75 km

Bancroft Basin, Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

Highlight • Rest Area

From here it is 'just' 185 locks to get to London ;-)

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5.77 km

Stratford-upon-Avon Lock No. 56

Highlight • Bridge

Stratford-upon-Avon Lock No 56 is a minor waterways place on the Stratford-on-Avon Canal (Southern Section) between Winding Hole above Stratford Top Lock No 52 (4½ furlongs and 4 locks to the northwest) and Junction of Stratford Canal and River Avon (¼ furlongs to the south).

The nearest place in the direction of Winding Hole above Stratford Top Lock No 52 is Bancroft Basin; ¼ furlongs away.

The nearest place in the direction of Junction of Stratford Canal and River Avon is Stratford Lock Junction Footbridge; a few yards away.

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5.78 km

Warwickshire Firefighters Memorial, Bancroft Gardens

Highlight • Monument

More often than not there is someone performing here as it makes an intimate little ‘theatre’. Musicians, a man dressed as Shakespeare reading monologues off by heart or as in the photograph, a lady playing a violin with great skill. Grab a coffee or an ice cream from somewhere close by and spend a relaxing time here. As you leave think once again of those brave firemen

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5.90 km

Gower Memorial to William Shakespeare

Highlight • Historical Site

Statue of William Shakespeare seated on the edge of a cruciform chair, his left arm over its back and hand holding a rolled up manuscript. His right forearm rests on his right knee, thumb and index finger together (once holding a bronze quill). His head is angled slightly downwards but his gaze is straight ahead. At his feet are four bronze wreaths.
Directly below these wreaths on the four striking pedestals are four bronze masks with foliage and flowers, each is individually modelled. Two of the masks are tragic and two comic, although they are understated. The masks is symbolic of the character of the additional statue which stands directly in front, and which in turn represents one of four themes:

History:

PRINCE HAL - Henry, Prince of Wales - eldest son of Henry IV; nicknamed 'Hal' or 'Harry', later Henry V of England. Character in the history play Henry IV.

Mask with English roses and French lilies.

Comedy:

FALSTAFF - Sir John Falstaff, fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare, among them The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Mask with hops and roses.

Tragedy:

LADY MACBETH - Macbeth's wife, and later Queen of Scotland, in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth.

Mask with poppies and peonies.

Philosophy:

HAMLET - Prince of Denmark, in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as relativist, existentialist, and sceptical.

Mask with ivy and cypress.

Bronze plaque:
These figures were designed and modelled by LORD RONALD GOWER, who presented the Monument to the Town of STRATFORD-UPON-AVON in 1888.
The work was executed in Paris and took twelve years to complete Associated with LORD ROLAND in his task were his assistant, Monsieur L. MADRASSI;
the Tirm of TASSEL, who made all the figures save that of Hamlet, which was entrusted to Messieurs GRAUX and MARLEY; and the House of DE CAUVILLE
and PERZINKU, who cast the wreaths, the masks, the fruit and the flowers. The stone used in this Monument is partly Boxground Bath, partly York. The group was erected on its original site by MR. FREDERICK TAYLOR, Contractor, under the supervision of the Architects, Messieurs PEIGNET and MARNAY, of Paris

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6.93 km