Wotton-under-Edge to Hawkesbury Upton (Cotswold Way 11)

Almshouses, Wotton-under-Edge

We are now over two-thirds of the way through the Cotswold Way. We picked up the route in the centre of Wotton-under-Edge and soon turned into Church Road where the wonderful Hugh Perry and Thomas Dawes almshouses (above) are to be found. Hugh Perry was born in Wotton and became Sheriff of London in 1632. He left money in hill for the erection of almshouses for six poor men and six poor women. You can go through the central doorway to emerge into a charming small courtyard with the Thomas Dawes hospital of 1720 opposite, with six further apartments and the small 17th chapel to the left.

A bit further on we passed the 13th century church of St Mary the Virgin, with its 14th century tower. A service was underway, so we did not look inside.

There now followed a quite steep climb out of the town and then a dog-leg to the east and back to reach a point with fine views to the south, with the monument at Hawkesbury Upton, today's destination, visible on the horizon.

We almost took a wrong turn here, descending into the valley, seemingly drawn by the lure of the strangely-named Nanny Farmer's Bottom which lay ahead. However, we managed to resist and followed the line of the ridge round to Wortley Hill and down into Wortley.

We left Wortley across a grassy meadow with a fine view of Alderley on the hill on the other side.

Alderley seemed to be a characterful village and we passed the church of St Kenelm, rebuilt in 1802, but with a fine tower of about 1450. We passed also an imposing gateway which clearly led up to what we thought was probably a folly built on the side of Winner Hill.

A bit of Googling confirms that this supposition was correct. It dates from 1779 and has recently been restored. The great house which lay between the gates and the folly has long been demolished.

We headed south east from Alderley, walking under Winner Hill and were delighted by the view along the valley towards Kilcott.

We walked along the narrow road through this hamlet and made one last climb through Claypit Wood to finally walk beside a lovely flower meadow to reach the Monument to General Lord Robert Somerset, on the road just north of Hawkesbury Upton.

It dates from 1846 and is by Lewis Vulliamy. Somerset was a son of the 5th Duke of Beaufort (whose ancestral home was at the nearby Badminton House). He had served with distinction at Waterloo.

Conditions: quite wet.

Distance: about 7 miles.

Map: Explorer 167 (Thornbury, Dursey and Yate).

Rating: four stars.