Distance: 5.35 miles / 8.61 kilometres
Total ascent: 121 feet / 37 metres
Walking time: 2 to 2.5 hours
From The Golden Cross pub in Harvington, turn left and proceed eastwards along Village Street, the direction from which you came. After just 30 metres, turn right onto the footpath that runs alongside Meadow Way. Follow this path southwards for 700 metres, ignoring various opportunities to turn left into the village. Where the path descends a short distance and collides with another path running east-west, skirt the field in front of you by first turning left and then, after 50 metres, right. The path gradually bends left and downhill to reach Stratford Road after 170 metres more.
Turn right onto Stratford Road and walk 230 metres downhill to rejoin the Evesham Road. Turn right and keep to the footpath which runs along the north side of the road for 140 metres, then on the south side for 640 metres and finally on the north side again for 150 metres. After the Evesham Road has bent sharply right to enter the village of Norton, turn left onto the lane leading to Norton Farm and New Farm. Use the bridge to cross over the A46 and then, at the T-junction beyond, turn left. Follow the lane along the ridge for 150 metres. Just before the gate to Norton Farm, turn right onto a track that runs downhill, beside a nature reserve, for 450 metres.
Shortly after seeing an information board about the prehistoric settlement that once existed here, turn right onto a track which takes the gently curving line of a dismantled railway. Keep to the embankment for 430 metres and then join the footpath that follows the River Avon southwards into Evesham.
After walking beside the Avon for around 3.6km (2.25 miles), you will see the close-cropped grass of Jubilee Park on your right. Having passed the children’s play area, turn away from the river and walk 100 metres, past the car and caravan parks, to Common Road. Turn left and continue along Common Road for 100 metres. At the junction with Mill Bank, keep right and continue to follow Common Road for a further 100 metres as it becomes Conduit Hill. This last road soon becomes Swan Lane, which will lead you (after 230 metres) to the A4184 Evesham High Street, where it is necessary to turn left and walk 50 metres. From this point onwards, the two iterations of Leg 3C merge and the instructions are identical.
On your right is 51 High Street (built 1692), known as Dresden House, which accommodated the musical boarding school attended by Tolkien’s wife, Edith, between c. 1903 and 1906.
Keep going southwards for 260 metres along the High Street, which becomes Vine Street. Use the pelican crossing to reach the lefthand pavement and then enter the precinct of Evesham’s parish churches via the gate in the low brick wall.
Straight ahead of you is All Saints Church, one of the churches of Tolkien’s maternal ancestors, where many members of the Suffield family were baptised, married and buried. Inside, on the lefthand wall of the narthex, you can find a monument to one John Suffield (1644-1712). Although the inscription does not say so, his first wife shared the same name of Tolkien’s mother: Mabel Suffield.
Walk around the precinct in a clockwise direction to reach the second of the two churches.
St Lawrence’s Church, built in the 12th century but now redundant, is another of the churches where Tolkien’s Suffield ancestors worshipped.
Emerge from the precinct onto Vine Street via the larger gateway near St Lawrence’s. Turn left and walk 50 metres, past the attractive 14th-century buildings of the Almonry Museum. Where Abbey Road meets the roundabout on your right, use the traffic island to cross over. Then keep to the right of the veterinary hospital to reach Merstow Green. Proceed westwards on Merstow Green for 120 metres, bringing you to the entrance to Boat Lane.
Walk down Boat Lane for 400 metres.
This brings you to the Hampton ferry crossing and the end of Stage 3 of The Shire Way.
Before embarking on Stage 4, you may wish to find overnight accommodation in Evesham. However, if you do not intend to complete the ‘homeward’ stages, you could take the ferry across the river and then walk back to Evesham railway station via the south bank (i.e. Pershore Road and Waterside).
By crossing back over the Avon at Bridge Street, you will have an opportunity to see Bengeworth, where Tolkien’s direct ancestors lived prior to 1810. In total, it is around 3 km from Hampton to Evesham station by this route.
NEXT: Stage 4 of The Shire Way