Wotton, the Tyndale Monument and Coombe Hill

The Wotton, Tyndale Monument and Coombe Hill walk is an 8.5-mile (13.5km) circular walk from Gloucester Street in Wotton-under-Edge. It is moderate, with about 410m of climbing in three ascents, and takes four to four and a half hours. It passes the Tyndale Monument, and carry food: both pubs on the way, the Black Horse at North Nibley and the New Inn at Waterley Bottom, may be closed.

The three climbs are to Nibley Knoll, to the edge below Stinchcombe Hill and over Coombe Hill, on the hills of the Cotswold Edge, with gentler walking in between. The first third follows the Cotswold Way, whose stage 11, from Dursley to Wotton, passes North Nibley and the Tyndale Monument.

Leaving Wotton

The walk leaves Gloucester Street by Tabernacle Pitch, past a chapel of 1850, and climbs to Old London Road. The Tabernacle Chapel has twin turrets and lancet windows. Its listing records it as a museum, its seating removed for a replica of the Roman pavement from Woodchester Park. Wotton Auction Rooms now hold their sales in the chapel and its Sunday school buildings. At the end the route passes the Rowland Hill almshouses of 1815, now called Streamsfield, with two blind pointed arches high on the front, one carrying the inscription and date.

Westridge Wood and the Tyndale Monument

The first climb ends at the Tyndale Monument on Nibley Knoll, reached by a broad bridleway north through Westridge Wood from Old London Road past the earthworks of Brackenbury Ditches hillfort. The monument is 34m high by its charity's measure, with 121 steps inside, built in 1866 by S S Teulon for the second Earl of Ducie and listed Grade II*. Its tablet says William Tyndale was born near here and was martyred at Vilvorde in 1536. The Tyndale Trail, about 28 miles between his sculpture in Bristol and the monument, was ready to walk from 31 January 2026 for the 500th anniversary of his New Testament. Our guide to walking in the Cotswolds lists it with the other long-distance paths, and our piece on famous Cotswold people has more on Tyndale.

Wood Lane drops steeply from the knoll into North Nibley, where the route passes the Black Horse on The Street. The National Trail notes a permanent diversion of the Cotswold Way at North Nibley, so follow its signs where they differ from older maps.

Hermitage Wood, Waterley Bottom and Coombe Hill

The second half climbs to the edge below Stinchcombe Hill, comes back south past the New Inn at Waterley Bottom, and finishes over Coombe Hill. North of North Nibley, field paths and bridleways climb through the woods to the edge, where the route turns east past Hermitage Wood and comes south through Millend Wood to the New Inn. A mile of quiet lanes leads to the last climb, up Sheep Path Lane onto Coombe Hill, one of the three peaks of the National Landscape's walk from Wotton, with Wotton Hill and Tor Hill. From the top a grassy path drops back into the town.

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What walkers report

Walkers on AllTrails describe steep climbs and descents with easier walking between, much of it shaded in woodland and sunken lanes. AllTrails puts about a third of the route on natural paths and a quarter on lanes and roads. Some stretches are high and exposed to the wind. Walkers take care on the slopes when it is wet, and find it muddy in winter and in places in autumn. In August 2026 one walker found paths overgrown with nettles and brambles, while another that month found them clear.

There are many paths in these woods, and several walkers had to keep checking the map to stay on this line. Expect quiet road walking on narrow lanes and long stretches with dogs on leads. One walker in March 2025 made a detour round some curious bulls. Take water for yourself and a dog, as there is none on the way.

Food, parking and getting there

Stroud District Council lists no charge for Wotton's car parks at The Chipping and Potters Pond, and walkers have also parked in residential streets midweek. There are free public toilets on Ropewalk. The route passes two pubs but neither can be counted on: the Black Horse at North Nibley has lost its website and may have closed, and the New Inn at Waterley Bottom says it has gone into hibernation, so carry food and water. Back in town, the Royal Oak on Haw Street is about 170m off the route and opens from midday, Tuesday to Sunday.

From Monday to Saturday, the Stagecoach 60 comes from Dursley bus station about every two hours, the Cotswold Green 40 from Stroud and Nailsworth, and the Eurocoaches Y8 from Yate station. There are no Sunday buses.

Shorter walks from Wotton

For the ridge without the climbs, Wotton Hill and the Tyndale Monument is an easy 3.5-mile loop from Old London Road. Wotton-under-Edge and the Cotswold Way heads south-east by Wortley, and over the valleys to the east, the walk from Kingscote reaches Ozleworth.