On the Real Watership Down
Cannon Heath Farm & Down
From where General Woundwort launched his attack on the Watership Down Warren.
By the early evening—about the same time as Dandelion was beginning the story of Rowsby Woof—the Efrafans had skirted an enclosure of pigs east of Cannon Heath Farm and were slipping into the combe south of Cannon Heath Down.
Many were tired and, in spite of their tremendous respect for Woundwort, there was a certain feeling that they had come a long way from home. They were ordered to take cover, feed, rest and wait for sunset.
Chapter Forty Three —The Great Patrol.
Chapter Forty Three, The Great Patrol details how General Woundwort, his troop of Owsla and ‘promising youngsters’ travel to make their assault on the Watership Down warren. After passing north through Caesar’s Belt, the Efrafans pass close to ‘an enclosure of pigs east of Cannon Heath Farm’ and subsequently muster in ‘the combe south of Cannon Heath Down’.
The combe on Cannon Heath Down, now used as gallops for schooling horses.
Cannon Heath Down is the contiguous hilltop immediately to the east of Watership Down, marked by a notable southern turn along the escarpment line. The view northwards is, as on its neighbour, limited by the presence of the same gallops.
The combe, or valley, in which the Efrafans assemble is unmissable, having become another gallops area for the training of racehorses. Nonetheless, you can still imagine Woundwort, Campion and Vervain quietly waiting, crouched in the undergrowth that would have been here. Stood close to the northern end of the combe, you can appreciate how it would have concealed the attackers before they passed onto the ridge and were intercepted by Hazel.
Further south is Cannon Heath Farm, owned by the Sydmonton Court Estate. Whilst unremarkable in itself as just another farm complex, it is situated just one field’s length from the eastern section of Caesar’s Belt.
Cannon Heath Farm and the treeline of Caesar’s Belt in May 2025.
Cannon Heath Down is another of the locations from the book that receives short thrift in the movie. The journey of Woundwort’s fighters is reduced to a single shot in which we see the back of Efrafan heads looking towards Watership Down.
