The Seven Shires Way is a 234 mile long walk around the Oxfordshire county boundary. The route criss-crosses the boundary taking the walker into seven shires from Gloucestershire to Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire.

The full walk can be found in the book, The Seven Shires Way, by Elaine Steane, ISBN 1-873877-51-X. This web site has been designed to give an overview of the walk The book is divided into twenty-one sections, all of which have suggested access points for shorter distances, a list of useful accommodation and information about public transport.

Each walk is accompanied by the relevant section of the Ordnance Survey map and is vividly illustrated throughout, giving the archaeological, historical, botanical and literary detail.

The path passes through a wide variation of scenery: from the marlstone scarp slope of Edgehill in Warwickshire to the ironstone villages of North Oxfordshire, the clay vale of Aylesbury, the beech woods of the Chiltern Hills, the riverbank of the Thames, the open downland of Berkshire and Cotswold villages in Gloucestershire.

The map below shows the route of the walk. Click on a number to be taken to the short description of that day's route.

About the author

Elaine Steane (née Fullard) is the daughter of a cartographer and geographer, so grew up being able to identify glacial moraines and U-shaped valleys together with an enduring love of maps. She trained as a nurse specialising in the prevention of heart disease and stroke. In her work on the ‘Human M.O.T.’ project, promoting walking across the countryside was among the recommendations for benefiting both physical and mental well-being. Elaine is a member of the Council to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Oxfordshire Ramblers Association. She is currently studying for an Advanced Diploma in Environmental Conservation at the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education.

Copyright, text, Elaine Steane © 2002. Copyright, illustrations, John Steane © 2002.
Written and researched by Elaine Steane. Illustrations: John Steane.