We turned right at the entrance to the Villa and crossed the road taking the smaller road leading towards Whitsbury Cross.  A short distance along this road we turned left onto the marked footpath.  This path is quite interesting as it takes you along the back of the houses and at times seems to be going through peoples back gardens.  Shortly before the church it goes along the edge of the drive of one of the houses and through a gate that looks as if it leads to another garden!  The church is well worth a look as is the Manor House.  The path also crosses what appears to be  the private garden of the Manor.  Turning right just after the Manor grounds there are some very interesting old buildings.  

The web site http://www.british-history.ac.uk has a fairly detailed history of Rockbourne and includes the foliowing:

The village consists chiefly of one street almost half a mile long. The church is in the north-east of the main street Close to the church, adjoining the north side of the churchyard, is a very interesting group of buildings, consisting of a small L-shaped 14th-century house, now used as part of a modern farm-house, the remains of a large Elizabethan or Jacobean house a short distance to the east, a 13th-century chapel near its south-east angle, and a large 15th-century barn running northward from the chapel. The barn has two large waggon-porches, and at the north end has been divided into two stories for use as living rooms; the chapel is now used as a barn, and its most interesting feature is a north doorway with a cinquefoiled head.

The walk continues across some open fields and woodland before coming out at the immaculately kept Whitsbury Stud.  The path then drops down to the bottom of the valley and joins Long Steeple Lane.  This is not the most exciting stretch of the walk but was enlivened by the presence of a pheasant shooting party.  We had our coffee at Roundhill Cross and watched one of the drives.  This was so exciting that we forgot to go towards Outwick Cross as originally planned and continued up the hill past Roundhill Farm.  We turned left onto a footpath to go around Whitsbury House and then branched off to the right to go on to Radnall Wood and Brookheath.  A field full of young exuberant cows caused another change of plan and so instead of going past Sagles Spring we headed towards Rockstead Copse and then turned left following the road back to the Roman Villa.

We parked in a small car park in front of the village hall and then walked up the road northwards.  There is a sign further up the road saying Private Road to La Lee Farm.  In the past we have parked under the large oak tree where the bridle path turns east but it seems that this is no longer allowed.  At the large oak tree we turned to the east and down to the road.  This is straightforward and the path continues on the opposite side of the road.  There is a fairly grand entrance to Whatcombe House close to the road crossing.
If you look hard you might spot a plaque in The Clump saying  "A Favourite Walk"  Caroline 1955-2012.
Further on the path crosses to the corner of the field near the road.  We missed this and walked straight on until we met the track that leads to Whatcombe Down Dairy here we turned right and on reaching the road we crossed over and walked along the inside of the field boundary before turning left towards the Bungalows.  We then took a left turn back onto a path running through the trees on the edge of the field.  After 600 yards or so another left turn took us back to the road.  Crossing the road the path becomes quite variable.  It starts off wide and easy and then narrows down becoming quite overgrown before emerging into some open fields.  As the path comes level with Little Wood there is a Dorset County Council sign saying "Active Badger Set".  Just after this sign we took the path leading westward towards Winterborne Clenston.  This turning could easily be missed.
There is an interesting derelict barn next to The Manor House at Winterborne Clenston where we crossed the road and took the path into Oatclose Wood.  Just after reaching the wood there is a good view to the left across the valley of the pretty church at Winterborne Clenston.  This path was very muddy in places.  As the path dropped down towards Whatcombe Woods there was a lovely view of the beech woods which were really starting to show their autumn colours.
A very pleasant walk.  Quite a cold morning but bright and sunny when we set off.  The wind strengthened in the afternoon and it became a little bit cooler. 

The Toby, Northbourne scores only ★ because the service was lamentable.  The carvery was very good and excellent value for £5.99.  Clive ordered soup that had not arrived by the time we had finished our carvery meals and the waitress said it was still frozen!  So it never arrived and Clive went home hungry.

It was raining when we arrived at Druscillas but after a short while we decided to set off in a very light drizzle.  This soon died away but the forecast did not live up to expectations.  Rain gear came on and off a few times.
Just after entering Priors Copse there is a small sign pointing to the right we missed this at first but only had to back track 100 metres or so.  The path through the wood was quite wet and obstructed in several places by trees blown down in the recent storms.
After the first 500 metres we left the main footpath and walked along the minor tracks.  These were not to hard to follow.  There were quite a few fungi along various parts of the route.
We stopped for coffee just after crossing the road at Hart's Bridge where another fallen tree provided a good seat.
After Slough House the path follows around the edge of the field rather than across the field to a Ford as marked on the map.  The Ford would have been difficult to cross anyway.
It seems a little strange walking through the grounds at Woodlands Farm which look private but the footpaths are clearly marked.  Having said that we walked up the drive having missed the footpath leading up to Bagman's Farm!  
The path is not clearly marked at North Farm. It actually runs between the farm buildings but it is just as easy to turn left before the first barn.
We also missed the left turn just before reaching the western edge of Haythorn Copse.  There are several paths at this point and no markings but it was obvious that we needed to look again when we came out on the edge of the Vineyard.
We arrived back at Druscillas just in time for lunch.  Drusilla's would have scored ★★ but the steak and kidney pie should have been hotter and the calabrese was nearly raw.  The service was as always very friendly and helpful.
Everyone enjoyed this varied walk in spite of the rather poor weather. 
It could have been even better if only Rob had remembered to bring some sweets!