With a sunny spring day forecast what better way to experience it than with a walk in the Cotswolds. We decided on a 5 mile circular route from Winchcombe via Belas Knap, one of the best preserved long barrows in the area.
Walkers welcome
I hadn’t realised that Winchcombe is the unofficial walking capital of the Cotswolds. It lays claim to more long distance walking routes than any other town, holds its own walking festival and has ‘Walkers are Welcome’ status. Hence there was an abundance of booted middle-aged walkers (er, us) wandering through the town.
Winchcombe isn’t the Himalayas though, or even the Lake District. Think leisurely afternoon rambles through Cotswold scenery followed by a cream tea instead.
After lunch and a visit to the bakery for mid-walk cake supplies we headed out of town. Our route took us gradually uphill through a field of lambs, probably one of the springiest spring sights. Fortunately they weren’t too bothered by four humans traipsing through their field.
As we gained height we had a great view back over Sudeley Castle, a private residence which is open to the public. The castle is supposedly haunted by Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII, who is buried in the chapel. Of course, with my cynical head on this may just be a rumour for the tourists.
Onwards and upwards we walked. Our jumpers were off by now, partly due to the sun’s warmth and not just the exertion. Spring really had arrived! A skylark was singing somewhere above us and gorgeously tactile pussy willow adorned several branches. Ominous small patches of stinging nettles were just starting to grow again too, ready to ambush walkers in the months ahead.
We passed a small copse with an intriguing building in amongst the trees. Someone’s house? A woodland retreat? A sauna? The Keep Out sign made it clear we wouldn’t be able to investigate.
Belas Knap
As we neared Belas Knap we joined up with the car walkers. The long barrow is sufficiently away from the road that you’ll still face a 15 minute uphill walk even if you do choose to visit by car.
Belas Knap is a hilltop long barrow estimated to have been built around 3000 BC. The ancient tomb has several burial chambers, including a false entrance. During the 19th Century several excavations uncovered the remains of 31 people, some of whom are thought to originate from the early Bronze Age. You can crawl into and explore a couple of the chambers if you’re brave enough!
The barrow is a popular picnic spot for visitors; slightly surreal given it’s history but I can understand the appeal. There are great views in all directions and the surrounding stone wall offers protection from the wind. It certainly proved a good cake stop.
Back to Winchcombe
Our return to Winchcombe was all downhill. We dropped down quite steeply, past a ménage where a rider was practising dressage, to walk beside a cricket pitch. We were intrigued by the number of stiles punctuating two fences but I can only imagine it was to allow easy access to wayward cricket balls. The last stretch followed the Cotswold Way into town where I was happy to find the tea rooms still open.
We’ll definitely head back to Winchcombe for more walks. In addition to several long distance paths which pass through the town there’s also the remains of a Roman villa, an abbey and a castle to explore locally.
More info
- We followed the route in our AA Walks in the Cotswolds walks book. Whilst I cannot find the exact route online it’s near enough the one here – but in reverse.
- I thought parking in Winchcombe was going to be a nightmare as cars were parked on either side of the main road when we first drove through. However we followed signs to the long stay car park which was only a 5 minute walk to the town centre. There were plenty of spaces and it only cost £1!
This sounds like a great family walk! I’ll keep this in mind for the summer, thanks! 🙂
Thank you. It’s a good walk as long as you don’t mind an uphill stretch.
Winchcombe looks so lovely and just the place we’d love to go on a family walk. Even though I’ve been to area a lot, we haven’t ventured here yet. The history of Belas Knap is very interesting – and a bit creepy – 31 remains! A great story to tell though!
It’s a town I’d never been too either but we’ll definitely be returning as there’s so much to see locally.
Another good walk. Thanks for reminding me about the AA walks. I really must check out the ones closer to home, too. I can just imagine the discussions about the best place to put the stiles in the cricket wall.
We do lots of walks from the AA books, I have a large selection covering all the counties around us!
Hi Christine, I couldn’t help but chuckle that not only did Catherine Parr manage to keep her head, but you kept your cynical one too!
This walk out of Winchcombe sounds pleasant, let’s face it any walk where cakes are involved has to be good! Not sure I’d want to crawl into a burial site, no matter how interesting the history is. I’d definitely be creeped out!
Love the term car walkers too – a bit of a contradiction in terms.
xx
Have really enjoyed your website for quite a while. Now fast approaching our dotage but it brings back memories bringing up our four children and trying to keep them amused on wet days and holidays. They are now grown up but still enjoy similar outings. We have a group of friends living in London with whom we like to keep in touch and although we now live in Herefordshire we organise trips for about a dozen of us. Your London bucket list has come in very useful and this year visited the Huguenot House, Brick Lane and the Canal museum. I am now trying to get another year’s worth of meets cobbled together and Highgate cemetery is high on the list. Not sure what they will think about that as we are all “in God’s waiting room” but we have a very good laugh together when we meet. We were all the same cycling club in our youth, about 65 years ago, so have many happy memories between us and one City Guide voted us his favourite group of all time. Keep up the great work but I bet your children cringe at times. How did you get them to pose for the camera so many times?
Hi Therese, glad to hear you enjoy the blog. My children are teens now so don’t appear on the blog so much but I’m very glad I have this as a record of our days out. The tour of Highgate Cemetery is well worth doing, just need to hope you are lucky with the weather!