Wallingford's history on foot: ramparts, castle, bridge and Christie

In Wallingford the history is not behind glass. It is in the shape of the streets, the grassy banks children roll down and the bridge everyone drives over on the school run. Most of it can be seen in a morning on foot. (Wallingford was in Berkshire until 1974, worth knowing when you search older books.)

Alfred's ramparts: the Kine Croft and Bull Croft

Start with the oldest thing in town. In the ninth century King Alfred enclosed Wallingford with earthworks as one of the fortified towns, or burhs, that defended Wessex against Viking attack. Local historians describe a roughly rectangular enclosure of around 41 hectares, with a street grid laid out in its southern half.

The banks still stand. Historic England protects the Wallingford Town Walls as a scheduled monument, and the town council notes that 9th-century Saxon ramparts border the west and south sides of the Kine Croft and run along the eastern edge of the Bull Croft. Both are open every day; the Kine Croft is also the town's main events field, home to Bunkfest and Bonfire Night.

Wallingford Castle, the Anarchy and the Civil War

Walk north to the castle site. According to the town council, Robert D'Oilly built a motte-and-bailey castle here around 1067–71 on William the Conqueror's orders, and it was greatly enlarged in the Middle Ages.

The castle sat at the centre of two civil wars:

• The Anarchy. During the war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda, Stephen besieged Matilda's supporters at Wallingford several times. In 1153 a stand-off between the armies at Wallingford ended in a truce that led to the settlement under which Stephen kept the crown for life and Matilda's son Henry was named his heir. The formal agreement was made at Winchester that November and proclaimed at Westminster soon after, but the name "Treaty of Wallingford" has stuck.
• The English Civil War. Wallingford was a Royalist garrison under Colonel Thomas Blagge. Parliamentary forces under Sir Thomas Fairfax besieged it in 1646, and the garrison held out for months before surrendering on 27 July 1646. On 17 November 1652 the Council of State ordered the castle demolished.

What survives is mostly earthwork, with a few fragments of masonry. The Castle Gardens off Bear Lane hold the best-preserved remains, those of St Nicholas College, a college for the royal chapel built around 1278. Historic England grant-aided their conservation from 2021. A curved fragment on a raised earthwork, listed Grade I, is traditionally thought to be part of the Queen's Tower. The gardens are dog-free apart from guide dogs, and their gates keep seasonal hours, which are shorter in winter.

Beyond the gardens are Wallingford Castle Meadows, run by Earth Trust for South Oxfordshire District Council: big earthworks, Thames-side meadows and a Victorian grotto by a small pond. The meadows are always open and dogs are welcome on a lead, though cattle often graze, so take care.

The bridge over the Thames

From the castle it is a short walk to Wallingford Bridge, which links the town to Crowmarsh Gifford. A bridge here is recorded from 1141. Historic England lists the present structure at Grade II* and dates its origins to the 14th century, with 19 arches in all, five of them across the river itself. Its history mirrors the castle's: in 1646 arches were removed and replaced with drawbridges, and after flood damage it was rebuilt and widened in 1809. Some ribbed arches are probably 15th-century stonework.

St Leonard's Church

Back across town, on St Leonard's Lane near the southern edge of the old burh, is St Leonard's, the oldest of Wallingford's three surviving churches. Historic England lists it at Grade II* and dates its tower to the 11th century. Look for the herringbone stonework below the nave eaves on the north side. The Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust records that Parliamentary troops used the church as barracks during the 1646 siege and left it a ruin. The apse and south aisle are from Henry Hakewill's mid-19th-century restoration. It is a working parish church, so check ahead if you hope to look inside.

Wallingford Museum and Agatha Christie

Wallingford Museum occupies Flint House on the High Street, a medieval building that looks out over the Kine Croft ramparts. Run entirely by volunteers, it covers the Saxon walls and royal castle (including a castle model), a Victorian street scene and the town's Agatha Christie connections. Admission is charged; the ticket gives repeat visits for the season. The ground floor has level access, the upper galleries are reached by stairs, and accompanying carers go free.

The museum's season has usually run from March to the end of November, so it closes over winter. Ask the museum about guided town and castle walks.

Outside the museum is a life-size bronze of Agatha Christie by Ben Twiston-Davies, unveiled in 2023, with room to sit beside her. Christie and her husband Max Mallowan bought Winterbrook House, on the southern edge of town, in 1934, and it was their home until her death there in 1976. It is a private house with a blue plaque, so view it only from the front gate. She is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot the couple chose themselves.

The Cholsey & Wallingford Railway

The neatest way to Cholsey is by train. The Cholsey & Wallingford Railway runs heritage trains on the old branch line known as "the Bunk", which opened in 1866, lost its passenger service in 1959 and has been run by a volunteer preservation society since 1981. Trains leave from its station on Hithercroft Road for Cholsey, where the line meets the main line; a round trip takes about 45 minutes.

It does not run a regular service. Trains run on special event days, with the busiest stretch in the run-up to Christmas, so check what's on and book before you go. Access is limited on the 1950s coaches, though a wheelchair user and companion can travel in the guard's van with a ramp if you contact the railway in advance.

Planning your walk

• A loose circuit works well: Kine Croft ramparts, the museum, Castle Gardens and Meadows, the bridge, St Leonard's, then back to the Market Place.
• Check opening times before you travel, particularly for the museum in winter and the Castle Gardens gates.
• For company on longer walks in the area, Didcot & Wallingford Ramblers lead group walks locally.

For more places to explore, see our museums directory and the Wallingford town page.

Cover photo: Wallingford Bridge, by Sciencebloke at English Wikipedia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.