Chiltern Walks: Great Missenden and Little Kingshill
View to the south-east from Great Missenden Parish Church
Start & Finish: Great Missenden Station, HP16 9WH
Alternative Start / Finish: Link Road Car Park, Great Missenden, HP16 9AE
Distance: 10 km (6.1 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 112m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Chiltern Heritage Trail, South Bucks Way
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 57, Chilterns Heritage Trail: Hampden Route
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Black Horse (1km in), The Full Moon (5.3km in), several cafes in Great Missenden Town Centre
Map: OS Explorer Map (172) Chiltern Hills East
Links: River Misbourne, Great Missenden, Great Missenden Station, Great Kingshill, Roald Dahl
For our latest River Misbourne based walk, we tackled the river’s source at Great Missenden. The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.
The walk starts at either Great Missenden Railway Station or nearby parking in Link Road. From here take a footpath heading north from the end of Walnut Close across fields back to the Aylesbury Road. Continue north until you reach the Black Horse pub and take the South Bucks way which travels south-east from the pub car park. Here you’ll soon pass the source of the Misbourne.
Continue along the South Bucks Way, crossing over Link Road and through Buryfields Recreation Ground. If you continue along Church Lane and over the A413 you can visit Great Missenden Parish Church of St Peter & St Paul and the grave of famous local resident and writer, Roald Dahl. From here retrace your steps back over the A413 bridge and rejoin the South Bucks Way heading south through Abbey Park. You’ll cross over a metal footbridge over the Misbourne at the south end of Missenden Abbey Lake. The bridge was in disrepair when we were there, so be careful and be prepared for a tricky crossing. Once over the bridge, the South Bucks Way crosses London Road and wiggles round the perimeter fence of the Misbourne School before crossing under the railway line.
After the railway line continue along the South Bucks Way in a south-westerly direction until the Full Moon pub in Little Kingshill. This is a great half-way point for a rest before you’ll leave the South Bucks Way and travel north along the Chiltern Heritage Trail. This latter half of the trip is fairly easy to navigate as you’ll be on the Heritage Trail all the way back to Great Missenden Station.
