Abbey Heritage Walk

This walk is based on the “Lost Abbey” project which set up interpretation boards to link the main sites associated with the medieval abbey including both remaining buildings and the sites of those which have been lost.

It begins at St Nicolas Church then takes you through the Abbey Gateway (next to the Guildhall), before moving on to the site of the Abbey itself and the remaining buildings in Checker Walk. From there, the walk leaflet takes you back via Thames Street, the Millstream and Roysse Court or you can choose to extend it via the upper part of the Millstream, over Abingdon Weir and Lock and return via the south bank of the river.

 The leaflet with map can be downloaded from the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society website by clicking here.

Heart of Abingdon Trail 

A short circular route starting in East St Helen Street, and passing many of Abingdon’s most attractive medieval buildings including merchants’ houses, St Helen’s church and the Almshouses, as well as the Thames and Ock river frontage and the Margaret Brown Gardens.

Most of the walk is accessible for buggies and wheelchairs, although users of those may prefer to omit the Margaret Brown Gardens (no.4 on the map).

There are 5 interpretation boards along the route, and you can download a PDF leaflet and/or MP3 audio tour guides from the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society website by clicking here.

Abingdon Royal Walks

Three new walks have been devised as part of the 2022 Jubilee celebrations. Download the leaflets using the links below and, if you want to know more about the places mentioned, check out the History pages on the Town Council website.

Abingdon’s Royal History Walk highlights the town’s connection with royalty from medieval times to the present day.

The Abingdon Victoria Walk is wheelchair accessible and starts and finishes in the Market place, where Queen Victoria’s statue stood until it was moved to its current home in 1946. The walk will take you through the Victorian gardens created by Edwin Trendell and past more recent examples of public art.

The Abingdon Albert Walk is also wheelchair accessible and takes you to the beautiful Albert Park, past many examples of Victorian architecture and other points of interest.

All of these leaflets are available from the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society website by clicking here.

Explore Abingdon using our Picture Clues

Wander through arches and alleyways and discover doors, windows, artwork and other quirky bits of the town that you didn’t know were there. Choose one of three walks, all starting in the Market Square, or combine them to make a longer walk. Download the quiz sheets from this page of the Civic Society website.

Seven Walks using the Buildings and People database

Over the past five years, the Abingdon & Area Archaeooloogy and History Society have built up an impressive web-resource covering the most important buildings, people and streets. By following one of these walks on your phone or tablet you will have the opportunity to dive in deeper for more information at points of interest on your route. Choose your walks at  this page of the AAAHS website.

Radley Lakes Trails

The Radley Lakes Trust has created beautiful walks round Thrupp Lake and Orchard Lake on the outskirts of Abingdon near Radley. They can be reached along the cycle path via the Barton Fields nature reserve (on the other side of the bridge over the millstream near the lock) or via a permissive path from the Thames Path. The Trust has produced a website and map of the area downloadable by clicking here.

The Abingdon Waterways Walk

This is a circular walk of about 8 miles: a free, beautifully-illustrated leaflet wil be available in the Market Place on Heritage Weekend or can be downloaded by clicking the pictures below. It includes lots of information about the places you pass on the way. The route description starts with Culham Lock, but you can start it from the town centre if you prefer, travelling via the Ock Valley Walk to the Ock Mill, then south to Drayton and Sutton Courtenay, returning to Abingdon via the Thames path. As a rough guide, the walk takes up to 4 hours plus stops, but there are several pubs for refreshments on the way. Download the walk in two parts by clicking here.

Wilts and Berks Canal Walk

This walk starts at the Margaret Brown Garden by the river Thames (formerly the Canal Company Wharf) at the end of Wilsham Road near the iron bridge bearing the name of the canal company. The walk follows the old line of the Wilts and Berks Canal which originally joined the river here. It returns via the new Jubilee Junction with the Thames which opened in 2006. In that year, the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust published a leaflet with this guide to the walk and a map. Download it by clicking here.

The Thames Path Abingdon to Oxford

The Thames Path National Trail passes through Abingdon and you can use it to walk along the river either towards Culham and Sutton Courtenay as in the Abingdon Waterways Walk (see above), or you can walk to Radley and Oxford. There is an illustrated description of the walk to Oxford here.

Art about Abingdon

There are a number of interesting pieces of public art around Abingdon, many of them commissioned by the District Council using contributions from the developers of large house-building schemes.  Tracking them all down makes for an interesting walk around the town.

The map and leaflet guide is downloadable by going to this page of the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society website.