Days out:A country walk

I want to be alone. In the Cotswolds?

Before his death in 1982, Lord Sherborne bequeathed 4,000 acres of Cotswold countryside to the National Trust to secure its future as a working country estate. Consequently, you leave the 21st century firmly behind when you exit Ewepen car park for a tranquil eight-mile hike across the estate.

Departing Ewepen's 1860s barn, turn right and trace a drystone wall eastwards, eventually passing a cricket pitch. Leave the track and turn left through a wrought-iron gate into Quarry Woods. Following a clear trail through a flurry of yews, you pass a 19th-century icehouse. Shortly, a yew encircled by an iron seat marks the largely obscured pleasure grounds of Sherborne House. Swing right here and head downhill skirting behind Sherborne House until exiting at the war memorial. Here, turn right into Sherborne village's delightful high street to continue, but detour briefly left for a better view of Sherborne House.

Passing through the village, take the left-hand fork of the junction marked "Clapton 3", and continue along the road for several hundred yards, before turning right before Northfield Barn on to a bridleway. This soon leads to a junction of paths, so turn left into Picardy Copse and follow the National Trust's signs through the woods northwards to the water meadows.

On reaching a footbridge – now facing the meadows and river Windrush – you can detour left to a wattle hide to spy on redshank and snipe. But to continue the walk, turn right, and trace the meadows southwards along a grassy path for several hundred yards before picking up the first bridleway to the left which crosses the Windrush.

Over the river, turn sharply left and trace the Windrush northwards through a grey-poplar plantation. The footpath exits Chessels Wood, directed by a signpost, and then goes diagonally across rolling fields with the church spire of Great Rissington church to guide you.

Entering Great Rissington's south-west corner, turn right on to a drive backed by a conifer hedge, and veer leftwards via a row of cottages to St John the Baptist Church. The walk proceeds through the churchyard, and begins crossing several fields towards Lissaw Lane. But rather than leave the ridged field prior to the lane, pass through a stile on the field's western boundary, then cross another field, and exit on to a skinny lane bearing westwards. This runs to the humpback New Bridge.

Turn left beyond the bridge, pass through a gap in the fence, and ascend the muddy fields of The Steeps to Broadmoor Farm. Loop anticlockwise around the buildings, before continuing on the footpath. Turning right, follow the well-signed footpaths for about 1.5 miles back to Sherborne. The footpath exits north of Sherborne brook and a crossroads. Beyond the this, continue along the road southwards for 15 minutes before turning left for Ewepen car park. Ewepen car park is reached via the A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford. Leave the A40 shortly after Northleach or Burford. Allow four hours for the walk.