A moderate route in Cotswolds. Check the GPS track on Outdooractive for full details of the route, waypoints, and terrain.
Starting Point: Quarry Car Park, Cleeve Hill Golf Club (SO 989 271)
Terrain: Cotswold Way, Winchcombe Way, Gloucestershire Way, hill edge paths, woods (steep winding path), open fields, tracks, roads (very busy crossing), fairly steep hill IMPORTANT: This is a complex walk with many historical features and numerous turns requiring careful navigation
This is an outstanding circular walk around Cleeve Hill taking in the County Top with wonderful views and remarkable historical features throughout. The Cotswold Way provides excellent walking along the hill edge with views over Cheltenham, the Vale of Evesham, the Malverns, and reaching as far as the Black Mountains in Wales and the Shropshire hills on clear days. The route passes Ben's Tump and The Ring's ancient settlement earthworks before reaching Huddlestone's Table, a cubical stone block marking where King Kenulph of Mercia escorted guests after Winchcombe Abbey's dedication circa 798. The trig point at Cleeve Hill County Top rewards at 317m before the path continues to the impressive Belas Knap, a Neolithic burial mound constructed around 3000 BC used for successive burials until its chambers were deliberately blocked. The return involves complex navigation with numerous turns through woods (including a steep winding ascent), across open fields, and along three named Ways. A critical navigation warning: we drifted right following a hedge at SO 999 286 when we should have kept straight, requiring course correction further down. The very busy road crossing demands care, and a fairly steep hill on the road returns to the start. A rewarding walk combining wonderful Gloucestershire countryside views with exceptional historical features spanning from Neolithic times through Anglo-Saxon history.