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The little church of St Michael and All Angels at Broad Campden behind clipped hedges

DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Chipping Campden from Broad Campden

A 3.3-mile (5.3km) circular walk from St Michael's church in Broad Campden, easy and mostly level, in about an hour and a quarter. It draws a figure of eight over the fields to Lady Juliana's Gateway, along Chipping Campden's High Street, by St James's and back.

Distance
5.3 km (3.3 mi)
Difficulty
Easy
Time
1 hr, 15 mins
Ascent
60 m
Circular
Circular

The route

Starts at St Michael’s Church, Broad Campden Muddy in winterLivestock in fieldsDogs on lead near sheepRoad walkingCafé on route Download GPX

Map of Chipping Campden from Broad Campden: the route drawn around its start
© OpenStreetMap contributors

Elevation Highest 158 m, lowest 128 m, climb about 60 m

Step by step

  1. A grassy path through an old orchard of bare fruit trees in winter

    Step 1: Broad Campden to the Cam

    From St Michael’s Church in Broad Campden, walk up Angel Lane past Quaker Cottage and take the public footpath on the right, which can be hard to spot. Follow it north across the fields for about 1.2km, crossing the Cam, a stream, near Cam Farm.

    • Muddy in winter
    • Dogs on lead
  2. A roofless stone arched gateway in a field, with a church tower seen through the arch

    Step 2: Into Chipping Campden

    Keep on the footpath to Lady Juliana’s Gateway and its stone bridge, then past Haydon Mill and along Badgers Field and Calf Lane to the High Street by the Noel Arms.

    • Café
  3. A tall pinnacled church tower above a churchyard of old headstones under a blue sky

    Step 3: The High Street to St James’s

    Walk along the High Street past the Town Hall and the Market Hall, Woolstaplers’ Hall and Grevel’s House, then turn along Leysbourne, Cidermill Lane and Church Street to the gateway of Old Campden House and St James’s Church. Take the path beside the churchyard to Station Road.

  4. Sheep grazing a sunlit pasture with a church tower and trees beyond

    Step 4: Back across the fields

    Follow Station Road a short way with care, then take the public footpath south-east across the fields for about 1.8km, past the tennis club, crossing the sheep field again, back to Broad Campden by the Friends’ Meeting House.

    • Dogs on lead
    • Muddy in winter

Sights on the way

The sights this walk passes, numbered as on the map.

The walk in detail

The Chipping Campden from Broad Campden walk is a 3.3-mile (5.3km) circular route from St Michael's church in Broad Campden, a mile south-east of Chipping Campden. It is easy and mostly level, with 60m of climbing, and takes about an hour and a quarter. Campden's High Street is halfway, and walkers recommend the Bakers Arms by the start.

It is the easiest walk we cover around Campden, mostly on field paths. It comes back by St James's Church on a second loop, so the route draws a figure of eight. Allow longer if you stop in town.

Broad Campden

The walk starts and ends in Broad Campden, at its church and its Quaker meeting house. St Michael's was built in 1867 and 1868 by J. Pritchard of Llandaff, with a round belfry at its west end and an apse at its east, and is listed Grade II. The walk ends a few doors away at the Friends' Meeting House, a cottage of probably the seventeenth century. Its listing says it is probably the cottage called the Quakers' Meeting House in a deed of 1757. It later became a Baptist chapel, then a cottage, and is a Friends' Meeting House again.

Across the Cam to Lady Juliana's Gateway

The way to Chipping Campden is across level fields and over the Cam, a stream, by a footbridge near Cam Farm. As you reach the edge of the town you pass Lady Juliana's Gateway, an archway of the early or middle seventeenth century approached by a vaulted stone bridge with no parapet. Its listing places it in the layout of Campden House, the mansion Sir Baptist Hicks began in 1613.

Through Chipping Campden

The halfway stretch follows Chipping Campden's High Street from the Noel Arms past the Market Hall. You come out by the Noel Arms and pass the Town Hall, remodelled in 1897 and said to contain stone from a Norman chapel of St Catherine dedicated in 1180. The Market Hall, built in 1627 for Sir Baptist Hicks for the sale of dairy produce and poultry, is listed Grade I and owned by the National Trust. A carved stone beside it marks the start of the Cotswold Way.

Further along are Woolstaplers' Hall, mostly fifteenth century, and Grevel's House, with its two-storey bay window and gargoyles, both Grade I. The Bantam Tea Rooms are on this stretch of the High Street, and walkers recommend the town for coffee and cake at the halfway point.

Twin domed stone lodges either side of an ornate gateway on a grassy drive
The lodges and gateway of Old Campden House Photo: David Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Old Campden House and St James's

The second loop goes up Church Street past the gateway of Old Campden House to St James's. The lodges, gates and archway were built by Hicks around 1613 and repaired by F. L. Griggs around 1930; the two square lodges have ogee stone domes, and the pedimented gateway carries a coat of arms. The house itself was burnt by the retreating Royalist garrison in 1645. Court Barn, the museum of craft and design, is beside the route on Church Street, and our guide to the Arts and Crafts movement tells its story.

St James's, listed Grade I, is mostly of the fifteenth century, with a five-stage west tower; our story on the wool churches of the Cotswolds includes it. Inside are the brass of William Grevel, who died in 1401, and Hicks's marble tomb. The walk takes the path beside the churchyard to Station Road and turns back across the fields.

What walkers report

Walkers describe this as an easy, mostly flat walk on clear paths, with livestock in the fields. The first turning off the lane after the start can take some finding. They report a field of sheep that you cross twice, horses in other fields and footbridges over streams, and keep dogs on a lead by the sheep and in town. In winter the fields are muddy, and in late summer parts are overgrown. One walker found it quiet in the early evening.

Parking, buses and food

Parking is the weak point, so think about starting in Chipping Campden. Walkers report only roadside spaces in Broad Campden, and one suggests starting in town instead, where the Cotswolds National Landscape asks walkers to use the free parking in Back Ends. The small Market Square car park is free for 20 minutes, then £1 for an hour or £2 for two, by card or phone. The public toilets on Sheep Street cost 50p. Stagecoach buses 1, 1A, 2 and 2A stop in Chipping Campden about every one to two hours from Monday to Saturday.

Several walkers recommend lunch at the Bakers Arms on Angel Lane in Broad Campden, by the start; its website gives food from noon to 9pm Monday to Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sundays. In Chipping Campden, the Eight Bells on Church Street is a short step from the route. To stay the night, see places to stay in Chipping Campden.

Longer walks from Chipping Campden

Three longer walks start in or near the town. The National Landscape's Chipping Campden and Dover's Hill climbs the edge north-west of the town, and Chipping Campden to Blockley goes through Broad Campden on its way south to Blockley. North of the town, Mickleton, Hidcote and Kiftsgate visits two of the best-known gardens in the Cotswolds.

Places on the way

Stay near the start

Inns, cottages and hotels within a short drive of where the walk begins, so you can set off early.

Where to stay in Chipping Campden

Questions about Chipping Campden from Broad Campden

How long is the walk from Broad Campden to Chipping Campden?

The Chipping Campden from Broad Campden walk is a 3.3-mile (5.3km) figure of eight, with about 60m of climbing, and takes about an hour and a quarter.

Where does the Broad Campden walk start, and where do you park?

The Chipping Campden from Broad Campden walk starts at St Michael's church in Broad Campden, where walkers report only roadside spaces. You can start in Chipping Campden instead, where Back Ends is free and the Market Square car park is free for 20 minutes, then £1 for an hour or £2 for two.

Can you take a dog on the Broad Campden walk?

Yes. Walkers take dogs on the Chipping Campden from Broad Campden walk and keep them on a lead in the sheep field, which you cross twice, by the horses and in town.

Is there a pub on the Broad Campden walk?

Yes. Walkers on the Chipping Campden from Broad Campden walk recommend the Bakers Arms in Broad Campden, by the start, and Chipping Campden's High Street, with the Noel Arms and the Bantam Tea Rooms, is halfway round.

Is the Broad Campden walk suitable for children?

Yes. The Chipping Campden from Broad Campden walk is short and mostly flat on field paths, with a stop in Chipping Campden halfway. Walkers report sheep and horses in the fields.

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