On the Real Watership Down
Flight to the Test
The route taken by Bigwig and his Efrafan escapees to the River Test near Overton.
‘They’ll never give up,’ said Bigwig. ‘I warn you, Silver, they’ll be at us before it’s done. There’s thick cover in the water-meadow—they’ll use that. Acorn, come back, keep away from that ditch!’
‘Go back to Bluebell! Go back to Bluebell!’ repeated Silver, running from side to side.
They found Bluebell by the hedge at the bottom of the field. He was white-eyed and ready to bolt.
‘Silver,’ he said, ‘I saw a bunch of rabbits—strangers, Efrafans, I suppose—come out of the ditch over there and slip across into the water-meadow. They’re behind us now. One of them was the biggest rabbit I’ve ever seen.’
‘Then don’t stay here,’ said Silver. ‘There goes Speedwell. And who’s that? Acorn and two does with him. That’s everyone. Come on, quick as you can.’
Chapter Thirty Eight —The Thunder Breaks.
There is a real case to be made for Chapter Thirty Eight, The Thunder Breaks, being the best in the entire novel. In the driving rain of a thunderstorm, Bigwig leads Blackavar and the group of escaping does away from Efrafa and the pursuing General Woundwort. It’s tense, exciting and, somehow, the Watership Down rabbits manage to pull it off, escaping on a punt moored to the side of the River Test.
A diagram in the book details the routes taken by Bigwig and Woundwort during the chase. To add some clarity to how this relates to the present day landscape, I’ve labelled up a photograph with the relevant locations. The black arrows detail the approximate path taken by Bigwig.
Bigwig’s flight to the Test. Photograph taken March 2025.
Though modern farming practices have made some changes to the landscape, they do not majorly detract from the story’s setting. The only significant missing feature is the ‘ash tree in the hedge’, the place where Blackavar is commanded to take the does by Bigwig.
Kehaar gets stuck in to Woundwort on the railway embankment.
The movie makes some minor changes to the escape from Efrara, almost certainly to heighten the drama. Most notably, Kehaar’s disaster-preventing assault on Woundwort occurs on the railway embankment next to the arch, rather than in the field to the south.
