by Little Sodbury and Old Sodbury, through Dodington Park and up to Tormarton, sitting pretty on the edge of a motorway hell. Dyrham seems all but forgotten in its leafy dell. Cold Ashton smiles out to the south and, as you leave it along Greenways Lane, so a luxurious bowl of countryside draws you on.
It’s not far then to Bath. Over the Battlefields, along the escarpment once more, round a golf course and across an Iron Age hill fort and you come to Prospect Stile, with the first view of Bath lying in its hollow. Best of all is the view onto Kelston Round Hill, one of the finest of all hills seen since leaving Chipping Campden. The onward route leads round its shoulder and down to Regency Bath, along a maze of elegant streets until at last you come face to face with that gem of an abbey. That sight alone is worth walking the Cotswold Way for.
STAGE 1
Chipping Campden to Stanton
| Start | Chipping Campden |
| Finish | Stanton |
| Distance | 10 miles (16km) |
| Approximate time | 4–5hr |
| Maps | Harvey’s Cotswold Way 1:40,000, OS Landranger 151 Stratford-upon-Avon & Surrounding Area, and 150 Worcester, the Malverns & Surrounding Area 1:50,000. OS Explorer OL45 The Cotswolds 1:25,000. |
| Refreshments | Broadway and Stanton |
| Accommodation | Chipping Campden, Dover’s Hill (2 miles/3km), Broadway (6 miles/9.5km) and Stanton |
On this initial stage of the walk you will experience the very essence of the Cotswolds, the mellow glory of its buildings and the enchantment of the breezy wolds with their extensive panoramas. Chipping Campden is surely the loveliest of all Cotswold market towns but even on this first stage there will be other places, other villages, similarly designed to slow the pace and distract with delights – Broadway is one, Stanton is another.
As soon as Campden’s streets are left behind, the route climbs onto the escarpment where Dover’s Hill rewards with a long view across the Vale of Evesham to the distant Malvern Hills. Breaking away from the scarp edge the way continues along what is known as the Mile Drive, over fields and across the A44 on Fish Hill to the base of Broadway Tower and more fine views. Broadway lies below the tower with field paths leading directly to it, thus allowing an opportunity to walk its famous street before returning to the hills again above Buckland. The continuing route takes you along the scarp edge on a clear track for a while, but on reaching Shenberrow Hill you leave the uplands once more and wander down through lush green meadows to the manicured perfection that is Stanton.
The walk begins or ends at the Parish Church of St James
The official start to the walk is by the Market Hall in Chipping Campden High Street, but it would be more satisfactory to begin at the Parish Church of St James, which is found at the north-eastern end of the town (grid ref: 155 395).
Leaving the church, and the gateway to the long-destroyed Campden House next to it, walk along Church Street passing a row of 17th-century almshouses on your right and a cart wash on the left. On reaching the High Street bear left, pausing as you walk along it to admire the numerous attractive features which make Campden such a delightful place.
BUILDINGS OF CHIPPING CAMPDEN
The elegance of Chipping Campden stems from the wool trade, for many of the finest buildings owe their existence directly to it. The open-sided Market Hall, built in 1627, is an eye-catching feature. Nearby is the 14th-century Woolstaplers’ Hall, which houses the town’s museum; opposite stands Grevel House, dating from 1380. William Grevel, whose home it was, has a large memorial brass in the parish church – reckoned to be one of the best examples of a Cotswold ‘wool church’.
Next to it stand the fanciful gateway and onion-topped lodges that mark the entrance to one-time Campden House, built by Sir Baptist Hicks for an unbelievable £29,000 in 1615. Thirty years later it was burned down by Royalist troops during the Civil War. Alongside Church Street, on a raised pavement, stands a row of attractive almshouses, also built by Hicks, at a cost of £1000, to house 12 of the local poor.
Passing Sheep Street, which breaks away to the left, continue ahead along Lower High Street, but leave this to take the first road on the right by St Catherine’s Roman Catholic Church. The road soon bears right, with Birdcage Walk and Hoo Lane branching left by a thatched cottage. Walk along Hoo Lane, and when the surfaced lane ends a farm track continues ahead, rising easily uphill. This is soon accompanied by a footpath, which begins by some barns and eventually brings you to Kincomb Lane. Bear left for about 100 metres, to find a signpost directing you across the road and between fields on an enclosed footpath.
The path leads to a kissing gate, through which you then turn left along the edge of the escarpment with views extending across the Vale of Evesham – the first of many fine panoramas to be enjoyed along the Cotswold Way. Some seats have been placed here, to make the most of the view, and one of these is found by a topograph marking Dover’s Hill. From here it is said that on a clear day you can see 60 miles (96km) across the Worcestershire Plain towards Wales. Nearby, in the corner of the meadow by a gate leading into a car park, there’s a memorial stone dedicated to Captain Robert Dover.
Owned by the National Trust, at 755ft (230m) Dover’s Hill is one of many fine vantage points along the Cotswold escarpment. It was named after Captain Robert Dover (1582–1652), a wealthy and somewhat eccentric lawyer who organised his first ‘Olympick Games’ there in 1612. The games included leapfrog, wrestling, skittles and ‘shin-kicking’, and apart from an interruption during the Civil War, the games continued annually until 1852. Dover’s Olympics were revived in 1951, and now take place each spring bank holiday.
Pass through the gate and cross the National Trust car park to a path which runs parallel with a country lane where you bear left, then wander downhill, passing through several gates, to a small crossroads. (Weston Park Farm B&B is a short distance to the west. Tel: 01386 840835 [email protected]) Now head to the right, once again following Kingcomb Lane towards Willersey and Broadway. (The left-hand grass verge is the safest place to walk here.) Along this stretch, half-hidden on the right on the edge of Weston Park Wood, is the Kiftsgate Stone, which marks the site of a Saxon meeting place. After about 400 metres leave the lane by way of a stone stile on the left next to a field gate. A few paces later bear right through a gap in a stone wall on the edge of a spinney. This brings you to the Mile Drive.
The Mile Drive is a broad, grassy avenue with views now to the left (south-east) into Tilbury Hollow. Halfway along it you cross a farm drive and continue ahead. At the far end go through a gap in a drystone wall on the right, then half-left across a field corner to a second wall. Continue in the same direction until you come to Buckle Street. Across the road the footpath maintains direction to reach a picnic area with a topograph just above the A44 on Fish Hill. At this point you leave Gloucestershire and briefly enter the county of Hereford and Worcester.
Turn left and descend through the picnic site to a car park. Keep ahead to a toilet block where you bear right, go through a gap in a stone wall and cross the A44 with care. Turn right along a tarmac road to pass a quarry, continue beyond a house on a track, and when this ends a footpath takes you into woodland. Emerge to meadowland gruffed with curious humps and hollows, which may be explained by the fact that the site was used as an Anglo-Saxon burial ground – in 1954 a number
