Church trails revamped in a bid to encourage tourists to discover the district’s valleys
Winchester City Council has launched two new leaflets to encourage visitors to experience some of Hampshire’s historically most important churches. The Meon and Itchen Valley Churches Trails have been refreshed and updated making the self-guided walks easier to follow.
The Visit Winchester marketing team have worked in partnership with the Friends of Corhampton Church (Saxon Heritage Programme) and the South Downs National Park to produce the updated Meon Valley Churches trail, linking the heritage trail to the newly refurbished Meon Valley Trail with a route from East Meon to Titchfield. Walkers can now purchase a ‘Journey of Discovery’ DVD produced by Friends of Corhampton Church. The leaflet offers an insight into the development of Church architecture from Saxon to late Victorian times whilst tracing a route from the rolling chalk hills to the river valleys.
The Itchen Valley Churches Trail was produced after consultation with Alresford Tourism Committee, who contributed with insights into the area. This trail picks out the churches dotted throughout the picturesque scenery of the Itchen Valley around Alresford, through the ancient city of Winchester meandering through to Otterbourne. The river flows through many attractive and unspoilt villages each with its own distinctive churches and interspersed with striking water meadows, places to stay and stop for a bite to eat.
Jennifer O’Neill, from Visit Winchester commented:
Both trails have been designed to allow visitors to either walk or cycle the routes and all the churches visited are described individually within the leaflet. A selection of eateries and accommodation are listed in both of the leaflets – all members and supporters of the Visit Winchester and Heart of Hampshire Destination Management Partnership. The changes we’ve made to both publications reflect our commitment to ensuring that the wider district is supported and consulted as we encourage people to discover this picturesque area as the high season for tourism begins.
The leaflets are available to collect from Winchester Tourist Information Centre for free for the first month of their publication and from that point will be on sale for just 50p each and downloadable free of charge from www.visitwinchester.co.uk .