Chantry Wood

• Free parking
• Bin
• Benches
• Peaceful wooded hillside and open downland
• Great views
• Magnificent bluebells in spring
• Downland section is fenced and may be grazed
• Walks of 3km or more on unsurfaced paths

Where you’ll find it…

The small free car park is just off Echo Pit Road/Pilgrims Way, Guildford, nearest post code GU4 8AW. Grid reference TQ 00370 48362. What3Words: ticket.trails.entertainer. Where Pilgrims Way becomes Echo Pit Road, you’ll notice a track marked with a small wooden ‘Chantry Wood’ sign and footpath waymarker.

The car park is open 6am till 6pm, with a 5 hour maximum stay.

N.B. We’ve given the nearest postcode, but recommend using the links to look up the detailed location. The centre of a postcode may be up to half a mile from your destination.

What you’ll find there…

It’s not hard to see why people love Chantry Wood, it makes a super walk…especially if you like to tackle a hill! From the car park head up the hill, passing to the right hand side of the tiny white cottage. Follow the spine of the hill, being sure to pause at the top to admire the view of an iconic Guildford landmark! Continue along the spine, taking a right fork to a sweeping track. Then just before the it drops down into a steep hollow, bear right to emerge onto the open downs (TQ 01663 48086). Take a moment to gaze out over Chilworth towards the South Downs before making the return trip across the downs. Follow the fence until you bear right through a gate and back into the woods. There’s a sting in the tail here as you climb back up to the ridge again before dropping down on a track that leads you all the way back to the start.

Short stroll or long walk, you can take your pick, but there’s plenty of scope for the energetic walker here, as the car park is right on the North Downs Way. You can follow the waymarkers west towards the River Wey and Guildford town centre, or east, all the way to Newlands Corner, passing St Martha’s Hill with its perfect little church.

If you were wondering about the name “Chantry”, near the entrance is a wooden sign that explains. “The earliest written record of the wood is 1486, when it was acquired by a Henry Norbridge to establish a Chantry. Chantries were religious institutions endowed with land, goods and money. At their heart was the performance of a daily mass for the spiritual benefit of their founders, and the souls of all faithful dead.”

Gallery…

This ‘Greenspace on your doorstep’ is managed by…

Guildford Borough Council