Wotton Hill and the Tyndale Monument

The Wotton Hill and Tyndale Monument walk is a 3.5-mile (5.8km) ridge loop from Old London Road above Wotton-under-Edge to the Tyndale Monument on Nibley Knoll and back. It is easy, with only about 60m of ups and downs, and takes an hour to an hour and a half. The nearest pub is the Royal Oak in town.

Once you are on the ridge it stays level, on broad woodland tracks and grass. Much of it follows the Cotswold Way, whose stage 11, from Dursley to Wotton, passes North Nibley, the Tyndale Monument and Wotton Hill's Waterloo enclosure.

Wotton Hill and Jubilee Clump

The walk starts with the open grass of Wotton Hill, a short stretch south along the edge of the wood to the trees of Jubilee Clump. The National Trail describes it as a walled enclosure of trees planted in 1815 for the Battle of Waterloo; the Historic England listing records that the first trees were cut down in 1856 and the clump was replanted inside its wall in 1888, after Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Walkers like the benches along the top, set where the views are best, and the Cotswold Way runs over the hill on its way between North Nibley and the town, so you share the path with long-distance walkers here.

Westridge Wood and Brackenbury Ditches

The middle of the walk runs north through Westridge Wood, mostly on bridleways and broad tracks, past a hillfort. Halfway along it passes an information board and the banks of Brackenbury Ditches, hidden in the trees. Historic England schedules it as Brackenbury camp, a slight univallate hillfort with outworks, and the National Trail gives its main rampart as up to 3m high above the steep natural slopes. The path then comes out onto the grass of Nibley Knoll.

The Tyndale Monument

The Tyndale Monument, the walk's turning point, is a tower 34m high by its charity's measure on Nibley Knoll, built in 1866 by S S Teulon for the second Earl of Ducie and listed Grade II*. Its tablet says that William Tyndale was born near here and was martyred at Vilvorde in 1536. The 500th anniversary of his New Testament in 2026 brought a new long-distance path, the Tyndale Trail, which runs about 28 miles between Bristol and the monument and was ready to walk from 31 January 2026, and our guide to walking in the Cotswolds lists it with the other long-distance paths. Our piece on famous Cotswold people has more on Tyndale.

A spiral stair of 121 steps climbs to the top. The National Trail says the monument is usually open; if it is locked, a key can be had from a cottage in North Nibley named on the notice board. It is free, and the Tyndale Monument Charity relies on donations to keep it safe. The way back passes the edge of Nibley Quarry and returns through the woods on a lower bridleway.

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What walkers report

Walkers on AllTrails call it an easy ridge walk with wide paths, but report loose stones and mud on the ridge paths, slippery after rain. AllTrails' surface data puts most of it on natural ground, with about a fifth on grass. Carry the map: there are many paths in the wood, and this line keeps to the bridleways and footpaths described here. On fine weekends it is busy, with plenty of dogs off the lead, so keep yours close if it does not mix.

Parking and food

The walk starts by a small parking area beside Old London Road, which walkers report and which is mapped as free roadside parking. Wotton-under-Edge, a short walk down the hill, has council car parks at The Chipping and Potters Pond, for which Stroud District Council lists no charge, and free public toilets on Ropewalk, open 7am to 7pm. There is nothing to eat on the ridge. In town, the Royal Oak on Haw Street, a neighbourhood pub and kitchen, opens from midday, Tuesday to Sunday, and is closed on Mondays.

Longer walks from Wotton

For a full day, the 8.5-mile loop from Wotton to the Tyndale Monument and Coombe Hill continues down to North Nibley and round by Hermitage Wood. Wotton-under-Edge and the Cotswold Way heads south-east instead, by Wortley and its woods. Over the valleys to the east, the walk from Kingscote reaches Ozleworth's six-sided church tower. Our guide to the Cotswold Edge follows the escarpment end to end.