The Chalk Stream Treasure that is the River Dever

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If all you know of Micheldever is the railway station stranded miles from anywhere, then boy are you in for a surprise if you come on this relatively easy little walk. Once we've covered a few miles of undulating arable fields we'll reach the River Dever and the sequestered stretch of idyllic little villages, fine manor houses, ancient remote churches and vintage watercress beds that it trickles through. This is where the chief interest of the walk will lie: watching the trout skulking beneath the sparkling surface, gazing at rambling roses over cottage walls and dawdling amid weathered willow trees. A line by AE Housman springs to mind: 'On the idle hill of summer, sleepy with the flow of streams'.

The sights:

West Stratton: A pleasant hamlet of cob walls and timber-framed cottages.

Micheldever: A moderately-sized village of black and white cottages around a road junction. St Mary's Church has a perpendicular gothic tower that leads through to a delightful octagonal nave by George Dance the Junior (architect of St Bartholomew the Less in Smithfield, and the façade of the London Guildhall) from 1806.

Stoke Charity: A once larger settlement but much diminished, with the church standing alone in water meadows. It was once accompanied by the manor house of the De la Charité family from whom the village took part of its name. St Mary and St Michael is a picturesque but rather plain building from the C14 and C15, but its glory is internal, as no other church in Hampshire has such a collection of medieval and later monuments. There are brasses to the Hampton and Waller families and a remarkable sculpture of the Mass of St Gregory from c1500. Michaels is a C16 timber-framed house and Old Rectory is mid-C19 neo-Tudor. Norsebury House is from 1919 by Ernest Newton, a neo-Georgian encasing of a Victorian villa, with a matching wing of 2001. 

Hunton: A small settlement with a church alone in the water meadows. St James is a small chapel, c1500.

The route:

We'll walk west along the Andover Road and turn south along Weston Down Road. At Weston, we'll turn west along Winchester Road and soon pick up a footpath to Hunton where we'll take Hunton Lane. At Hunton Church, we'll take a footpath over the River Dever southeast to Stoke Charity for a possible earlier lunch. We'll then head east along Sloe Lane and follow a loop around Micheldever to have a possible later lunch and a pub stop. Footpaths and bridleways will take us east to West Stratton and a lane will take us north to Larkwhistle Farm Road which we'll walk west along back to Micheldever Railway Station.

Dogs: 

I love having dogs on my walks and this one is quite suitable for them despite it having considerable lane walking, a few stiles, and some fields with livestock. A dog off the lead must be responsive.

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(Photo credits: Edge of a wheatfield alongside Hunton Down Lane: Photo © Christine Johnstone (cc-by-sa/2.0); Thatched houses in Hunton: Photo © Peter Whatley (cc-by-sa/2.0); Farmland and cow parsley, Weston Down: Photo © Andrew Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Footpath signpost and stile, north side, Hunton Lane: Photo © Christine Johnstone (cc-by-sa/2.0); Stoke Charity, St. Mary and St. Michael Church, The Hampton Chapel: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Stoke Charity, St. Mary and St. Michael Church c1190 chancel arch: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Stoke Charity, St. Mary and St. Michael Church, Southern aspect: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Stoke Charity: Photo © Peter Jordan (cc-by-sa/2.0); River Dever near Weston Colley: Photo © Peter Jordan (cc-by-sa/2.0); Timber and thatch, Micheldever: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0); Thatched cottages, Micheldever: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0). All images are copyrighted but are here credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/2.0.)