[1] Turn left out of the station (SU743235), then quickly right down Station Road. Take another right down Chapel Street and follow the road as it bears round to the left. When you reach the main square, with its statue of a mounted King William III (of Orange), turn right to pass the church and walk down Sheep Street. Turn right again at a T-junction. After about 300m, turn left down a street marked ‘Alderfield’, cross a bridge, and join a path that takes you through a housing estate. Take a left at the first T-junction and, at a second T-junction, turn left again. When you reach the main road, turn right and continue over a roundabout, proceeding straight on for around 1km until you see a small lane on your left. Follow it to the pretty village of Buriton, then turn left again down the High Street to reach the village pond (SU739200).
[2] Just before you come to the pond, take a small lane on your right and climb up the hill through thick woodland. When you reach a road, cross straight over and walk through a car park, then follow the Shipwrights Way signs along sandy tracks into Queen Elizabeth Country Park – 1,400 acres of open access down and beech woodland planted mostly in the 1930s. When the route forks, turn right and walk down to a small road. Turn left and follow the road to a car park (SU719181).
[3] Bear left uphill past the car park. After just over 1km, turn right at a clearly marked crossroads and soon a second R-turn will link you up to the Staunton Way – the ‘walker’s alternative’ to the Shipwrights Way. Follow it to a stile on your left, and take this L-hand route across open downland to the beautiful, half-timbered 16th-century Red Lion at Chalton (SU731160).
[4] Turn left out of the pub and walk through the churchyard, then cross two stiles and pass through a gate. This takes you into an open field, where you’ll take the path on your right. Continue straight along the Staunton Way for approximately 3km, until you reach the road near Finchdean. Here, turn left into the village (SU737127).
[5] When you come out opposite the pub, you can choose to double back left and see the medieval wall paintings at St Hubert’s Chapel (some of the oldest known and most complete examples of their kind). Otherwise, turn right and then take a second right uphill. After approximately 500m, take the path on your left that takes you to a T-junction at the edge of Rowlands Castle. Turn right and then bear left down a residential lane. This brings you to the road, where you’ll turn left downhill. Rowlands Castle station is on your left after around 300m.