The Tillingbourne at Work Walk is a captivating route through the Surrey Hills, where history and scenery go hand in hand. Tracing the River Tillingbourne, it reveals how this modest stream once powered a remarkable variety of industries. Today, the valley offers a tranquil landscape of flowing water, woodlands, and charming villages.
There are actually two versions of the Tillingbourne at Work Walk: a shorter route that gives a snapshot of the river’s industrial heritage, and a longer one that covers more ground. This blog post is all about the long walk, which not only showcases the valley’s scenery but also links more villages and uncovers additional sites along the Tillingbourne’s course.
Logistics of the Tillingbourne at Work Walk
- Distance: 8.7 miles (13 km)
- Ascent: 581 ft (177 m)
- Highest Point: 397 ft (121 m)
- Lowest Point: 148 ft (45 m)
- Walking Estimate: 3 hrs 40
- Difficulty: Easy
How to get there:
- Start: Train from London Waterloo to Guilford then change for a local train to Chilworth. The journey takes about 1 hour in total.
- Return: This is a circular walk finishing back at Chilworth Station, so a day return ticket is all you need.
What to Pack
- Essentials: Snacks, packed lunch, water, and a backpack.
- Weather Prep: The trail mixes open countryside and shaded woodland, so come prepared. Pack waterproofs for sudden showers and gaiters for muddy sections. On sunny days, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat are recommended.
Additional Information
- There are no toilets at Chilworth Station
- There are no public toilets on this walk, so you will need to use facilities in cafés or pubs along the route.
- There are 4 stiles on this walk, and only one has a dog gate
- This is a dog-friendly walk
Where to eat and drink:
- Percy Arms, Chilworth
Map of the Tillingbourne at Work Walk
Do you want to do this walk? Simply download the GPS map for free by clicking on the button below. Learn how to open the GPS map onto your navigation app by following my-step-by-step guide here.
Highlights of the Tillingbourne at Work Walk
- Chilworth Gunpowder Works
- Albury Village
- St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Albury
- Albury Warren
- Shere
- St James’ Church, Shere
- Newlands Corner
- Apostles Chapel, Albury
The Tillingbourne at Work Walk
So now we covered the basics, let’s get to the walk!
The Chilworth Gunpowder Works
Our walk starts at Chilworth Station. From there, turn left on Dorking Road and then right onto Vera’s Path just after Chilworth Infant School. This path leads directly to the Chilworth Gunpowder Works. Before reaching the remains of the factory, you’ll pass an outdoor display of sculptures that sets the tone for this fascinating site.
Gunpowder production here began around 1625–1626, established by the East India Company. The works relied on water-powered mills, drawing energy from the steep gradient of the River Tillingbourne to guarantee a steady flow. By 1630, the factory had been granted a royal monopoly for producing gunpowder for the King.
The works expanded rapidly, with the site divided into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Works, producing powder for military and industrial uses. At its peak, Chilworth was one of England’s most important gunpowder centres. But after demand fell sharply following the First World War, the works closed in 1920. Buildings were dismantled or left to nature, and the site became overgrown.
Today, much of the historic fabric remains — over 100 structures and features, including mill buildings, tramways, and water channels. While the Upper and Lower Works are on private land, the Middle Works are open to the public via a heritage trail which we are following.
Postford Pond
From the Gunpowder Works, the walk continues through woodland before opening into a field where horses often graze. This section includes the first two stiles of the route.
The path then leads between open fields of crops before arriving at Postford Pond, a mill pond that once provided the vital water power for local industries in the seventeenth century.
It also marks the point where the walk later closes its loop, bringing you back towards Chilworth.
Albury
Our next stop is the village of Albury. The name is thought to come from the Old English ald burh, meaning “old fort,” perhaps a reference to an early settlement or defensive site.
Albury is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it already had farms, mills, and the Old St Peter and St Paul’s Church, parts of which date back to Saxon times. In the 19th century, landowner Henry Drummond reshaped the estate, moving much of the village westward and leaving the church and manor isolated within Albury Park.
South of the Manor lies the Warren, a sandy heathland with woodland. In 1253, John D’Abernon was granted the right to keep a “free warren” here — a licensed hunting ground for rabbits and pheasants. Remarkably, this warren lasted for centuries and appears in a 1645 engraving of Albury Park.
Today, walkers can recognise the Warren by its ditch-like contours, while the landscape between here and Shere blends woodland with pine trees, open fields, and horse paddocks.
Shere
At roughly the halfway point, we reach Shere, a picturesque village and a perfect spot for a break. Options for refreshments include The White Horse, made famous as a filming location for The Holiday starring Jude Law and Cameron Diaz.
The pub also has a more shadowy history — during renovations, a hidden cellar was discovered that local legend links to Shere’s smuggling past. Many cottages and inns here are rumoured to have concealed chambers and cellars, aided by the local greensand rock, which is soft and easy to carve. This made the village an ideal hideaway for contraband.
But Shere’s history stretches back far earlier. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, and grew around farming, mills, and later the Shere Manor Estate. At its centre stands St James’ Church, dating from the 12th century. One of its most fascinating stories is that of Christine Carpenter, an anchoress who in 1329 chose to live enclosed in a small cell within the church walls, devoting her life to prayer and contemplation.
Albury Park
Leaving Shere, the route continues through Silver Wood, once part of the landscaped grounds of Albury Park, laid out in the 17th century by the diarist John Evelyn.
Although the walk does not pass through the main park or manor, you soon encounter the Apostles Chapel, tucked among the trees.
When Henry Drummond bought Albury Park in 1819, he quickly became a major influence in both politics and religion. He hosted annual conferences here that shaped the emerging Catholic Apostolic Church, which broke away from the Church of England in the 1830s. To reflect this shift, Drummond commissioned two new churches: a mortuary chapel inside the old Saxon church, and this Catholic Apostolic Church at Sherbourne, completed in 1840.
The Pilgrim Way
From Shere, the walk joins the Pilgrim’s Way, a historic route running about 120 miles (190 km) between Winchester and Canterbury. Canterbury was one of medieval England’s most important pilgrimage destinations, after Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral in 1170 and canonised shortly after, drawing thousands of pilgrims to his shrine.
Related Content: Winchester Winter Market Walk
Although long believed to be the exact path used by pilgrims, historians now think the Pilgrim’s Way was originally an ancient trackway along the North Downs, renamed in the 19th century to capture the romance of pilgrimage.
Along this section you glimpse Newlands Corner, widely described as one of Surrey’s most scenic viewpoints. It also played a part in modern history: in 1926, it was where crime writer Agatha Christie’s car was found during her mysterious disappearance.
The path continues in the imagined footsteps of pilgrims to St Martha’s Hill, before turning south to re-join Postford Pond.
The River Tillingbourne
On the return leg, the route follows a quiet towpath beside the River Tillingbourne. The river runs for about 15 miles (24 km) from its source on Leith Hill down to the River Wey at Guildford. Flowing along the base of the North Downs, it passes through villages such as Shere, Albury, Chilworth, Gomshall, and Wotton, dropping nearly 120 metres along the way. Its strong current once powered a remarkable range of mills and, most famously, the Chilworth Gunpowder Works you encountered at the start of the walk.
From Postford Pond it’s a straightforward stretch back to Chilworth Station to complete the loop. If you’d like to make the most of your day, consider stopping at the Percy Arms in Chilworth, a popular local pub with a spacious beer garden that’s perfect for relaxing after the walk.
Bon Appetit!
Final Thoughts on the Tillingbourne at Work Walk
The long Tillingbourne at Work Walk is just one example of how the Surrey Hills combine beautiful countryside with a rich industrial past. If you’d like to explore further, there are plenty of other routes in the area that showcase different aspects of the landscape and history — you can find a selection of them in my guide to the best walks in the Surrey Hills.
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