Michael Dibb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cotswold Way: Wood Stanway to Winchcombe
A 5.4-mile (8.8km) one-way walk on the third section of the Cotswold Way, from Wood Stanway to Winchcombe, moderate and about three and a quarter hours: a steep climb to the top, Beckbury Camp, the old track down to Hailes Abbey, then lanes into the town.
- Distance
- 8.8 km (5.5 mi)
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time
- 3 hrs, 15 mins
- Ascent
- 172 m
- Circular
- One way
The route
Starts at Wood Stanway, below the edge south-west of Stanway follows the Cotswold Way for a while Steep sectionMuddy in winterLivestock in fieldsDogs on lead near sheepStilesRoad walking Download GPX
Step by step
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Step 1: Wood Stanway up to the B4077
Start at the gate on the lane in Wood Stanway and follow the Cotswold Way up the fields to the south-east. The climb starts at once and is steepest past Coscombe Wood.
Go through a run of field gates and a kissing gate, gaining about 140m in 1.7km. Go through the gate at the top and cross the B4077 with care.
- Steep section
- Muddy in winter
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Step 2: Along the top to Beckbury Camp
Follow the track south-west along the top of the edge through four more gates, over the highest ground of the section at about 275m.
About 3.3km from the start the path runs beside Beckbury Camp. A waymarker post below the trees marks the short, steep climb to Cromwell's Seat in the corner of the fort.
- Dogs on lead
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Step 3: Down the old track to Hailes
Go through two gates and a kissing gate and turn down the stony track beside Hailes Wood. It drops about 120m in just over a kilometre to the valley floor.
At the foot, pass Hayles Fruit Farm and its campsite close to the path, and walk on along the lane to the ruins of Hailes Abbey and the church opposite, about 5.2km from the start.
- Steep section
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Step 4: Salter's Lane and Puck Pit Lane
Go through the gates beyond the church and follow the bridleway to Salter's Lane. Walk along the lane, then leave it through two gates on to the field paths.
Cross a stile and go through a kissing gate, then cross two more stiles close together by Stancombe Wood, about 7.2km from the start.
Join Puck Pit Lane, gravel at first and then tarmac, and follow it to Broadway Road, the B4632, on the edge of Winchcombe.
- Stiles
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Step 5: Into Winchcombe
Follow the pavement of Broadway Road into Winchcombe, over the River Isbourne, along Hailes Street and up the High Street past the White Hart.
The section ends on Abbey Terrace by St Peter's Church, about 8.8km from the start, where the next section turns down Vineyard Street.
Sights on the way
The sights this walk passes, numbered as on the map.
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Beckbury Camp, Hailes
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · Winchcombe
An Iron Age hillfort on the Cotswold edge above Hailes, near Winchcombe, its bank still up to 4m high, with the nineteenth-century monument called Cromwell's Seat, where the story goes that Thomas Cromwell watched Hailes Abbey burn. On the Cotswold Way.
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Hailes Church
Sight · Church · Winchcombe
A little twelfth-century church at Hailes, near Winchcombe, older than the abbey across the lane, with fourteenth-century paintings of heraldry and beasts, a giant St Christopher, medieval tiles and screen, and seventeenth-century pews. Grade I.
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River Isbourne
Sight · River · Winchcombe
The River Isbourne rises at a spring on Cleeve Hill above Winchcombe and runs north past Postlip, Winchcombe, Toddington and Sedgeberrow to join the Avon at Evesham. A waymarked path of some 14 miles, the Isbourne Way, follows it.
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St Peter's Church, Winchcombe
Sight · Church · Winchcombe
St Peter's is Winchcombe's Grade I parish church, built in one campaign in about 1458 to 1468, with some 40 carved grotesques round its walls, a fan-vaulted tower and two stone coffins tied to the St Kenelm story. Usually open daily.
The walk in detail
The Cotswold Way from Wood Stanway to Winchcombe is a 5.4-mile (8.8km) one-way walk from the hamlet of Wood Stanway, below the edge near Stanway, to Abbey Terrace in Winchcombe. It is moderate, climbs about 170m and takes about three and a quarter hours, with a tearoom at Hayles Fruit Farm about halfway (closed on Mondays).
It is the third of the fifteen sections of the Cotswold Way, after Broadway to Wood Stanway, and Winchcombe is where the fourth, to Cleeve Hill, begins. The National Trail warns that the climb out of Wood Stanway is steep. After the drop to Hailes, the second half is nearly level.
What the section is like
The first half is a climb and a walk along the top. The path goes straight up the fields from Wood Stanway, about 140m in under 2km, crosses the B4077 and follows the edge, where the National Trail points out the view across the Vale of Evesham to the Malvern Hills. After Beckbury Camp it drops down the old track to Hailes.
From Hailes it is lanes and field paths: Salter's Lane, a few stiles by Stancombe Wood, then Puck Pit Lane, which brings you out on the B4632. The last kilometre is on the pavement of that road into the middle of Winchcombe.
Beckbury Camp and Hailes Abbey
Beckbury Camp is an Iron Age hillfort on the edge of the scarp, a roughly rectangular enclosure with a bank up to 4m high on its south and east sides. In its corner stands Cromwell's Seat, a nineteenth-century stone monument where Thomas Cromwell is said to have watched Hailes Abbey burn after it was dissolved in 1539. Historic England's record calls the story an allegation, and the monument is about three centuries later than the event.
Hailes Abbey was founded in 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, after a vow made in a storm at sea, and from 1270 drew pilgrims to a relic said to be the blood of Christ. The ruins open on the first weekend of each month for tours booked online, free to National Trust members who book with the members' code and show their card. Across the lane, Hailes church is a small twelfth-century church, older than the abbey, with medieval wall paintings that include a giant St Christopher.
Our walk from Hailes up to Beckbury Camp is a 3.5-mile loop over the same ground. It starts at Hayles Fruit Farm, which has a farm shop, the Orchard Kitchen tearoom and its own cider.
The section ends by St Peter's Church, built in one campaign in about 1458 to 1468, with some 40 carved grotesques round its walls. Just before it, the trail crosses the River Isbourne on Broadway Road.
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Where to eat and sleep at Wood Stanway and Winchcombe
Winchcombe has the food and beds. We list nothing at Wood Stanway, so bring what you need for the climb. The White Hart, on the High Street the trail walks up, has sixteen rooms, five of them next door in Wesley House, with pet-friendly rooms for dogs at £10 a dog a stay, and serves food from breakfast until 9pm. The Lion Inn on North Street is a restored fifteenth-century coaching inn with nine rooms.
Up on the edge near Beckbury, North Farmcote is a farmhouse bed and breakfast built about 1840 as a dower house for Lord Sudeley's mother. Our page on places to stay in Winchcombe has more.
Getting back to Wood Stanway
There is no bus at Wood Stanway. The Pulhams 606 runs from Winchcombe towards Broadway about every two hours, Monday to Saturday, and its nearest stops to Wood Stanway are the Stanton turns on the main road. There is no Sunday service. It is often simpler to walk this section on from Broadway in a longer day, or to leave the car in Winchcombe and take a taxi to the start.
In Winchcombe, the Back Lane car park (GL54 5PZ) charges £1.50 for the day (2026). The 606 also links Winchcombe with Cheltenham, about 48 minutes away, and Stagecoach's W runs from Cheltenham about hourly, Monday to Saturday.
When to walk it
After a dry spell, if you can: the climb from Wood Stanway is steep and the track down to Hailes is stony, and both are harder going after rain. Clear days give the long view to the Malverns from the top, and Beckbury's bank is easiest to read in winter, when the grass is short. Walk it on the first weekend of a month if you want to go inside Hailes Abbey.
Places on the way
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Hayles Fruit Farm
Farm shops and delis · Winchcombe
A fruit farm at Hailes, about 3 miles by road from Winchcombe, with a farm shop, the Orchard Kitchen tearoom, pick your own and its own Hayles cider.
Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Hailes Abbey
Historic houses and heritage · Winchcombe
The ruins of a Cistercian abbey near Winchcombe, founded in 1246, once a place of pilgrimage, now open for booked tours on the first weekend of each month.
Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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North Farmcote
B&B · Winchcombe
Bed and breakfast in a farmhouse above Winchcombe, built around 1840, its owners say, as a dower house for Lord Sudeley's mother.
Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The White Hart Inn
Inn · Winchcombe
An inn with sixteen rooms on Winchcombe's High Street, with dog-friendly rooms and a restaurant and bar open all day to non-residents.
Dog-friendly · Wedding venues · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Lion Inn
Inn · Winchcombe
A restored fifteenth-century coaching inn on North Street, Winchcombe, with nine rooms, run by Butcombe.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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Sudeley Castle and Gardens
Historic houses and heritage · Winchcombe
A castle on the edge of Winchcombe where Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's last queen, is buried, with gardens, a Tudor history and the Dent family's home.
Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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 Stanway-
Diston's Cottage
Self-catering · Snowshill
A National Trust cottage for two on the street in Snowshill, opposite the manor, with a multi-fuel stove, a terraced garden and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Snowshill Manor Farmhouse
Self-catering · Snowshill
A National Trust holiday house for nine opposite Snowshill Manor, the old farm manager's home, with an open fire, five bedrooms and walks from the door.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Temple Guiting Manor & Barns
Self-catering · Temple Guiting
A Grade I manor house and four converted farm buildings in 14.5 acres at Temple Guiting, let for exclusive-use holidays, celebrations and weddings for up to 32 guests.
Family-friendly · Hot tubs · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
More like this
More walks to try
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Cotswold Way: Broadway to Wood Stanway
Walk · Starts in Broadway · 3 hrs, 15 mins · Dog-friendly
A 6.5-mile (10.5km) one-way walk on the second section of the Cotswold Way, from Broadway's green, moderate and three to three and a half hours: a long climb to Shenberrow, a steep descent into Stanton, then field paths by Stanway's church and gatehouse to Wood Stanway.
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Cotswold Way: Winchcombe to Cleeve Hill
Walk · Starts in Winchcombe · 2 hrs, 45 mins · Dog-friendly
A 5.6-mile (9km) one-way walk on the fourth section of the Cotswold Way, moderate and two and a half to three hours: from Winchcombe by Sudeley up to Belas Knap, down through Breakheart Plantation to Postlip's Norman chapel, then up to the golf club on Cleeve Hill.
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The Cotswold Way
Walk · Dog-friendly
The Cotswold Way is a 102-mile (164km) National Trail walk from Chipping Campden to Bath along the escarpment, in 15 sections; the official guidebook suggests seven to ten days, and its frequent steep climbs make it hard going.