Newark Park, Wotton Under Edge

(S/E) The walk starts from Newark Park – car park (ST 781 932). Walk back along the driveway to the park’s entrance (ST 785 934).

(1) At the gates turn right onto Park Lane. Continue down Park Lane, passing Fernley Farm on the lower right, to a lane junction at the bottom of the hill (ST 785 935). Continue forward following Park Lane around to the right, (after approx.150m note a red GPO telephone box), continue ahead for approx. a further 250m. As the road begins to turn to the right (ST 793 935), look for a finger-post positioned to the left side of the road, near a gated house, pointing to a wooden gate.

(2) Pass through the gate onto a well-defined path – Ozelwell Park. Follow the path down to a (private) road (ST 793 934), cross over the road to a metal gate, pass through the gate into the field, turn ¼ left. Continue over the field to a 2nd gate, in the far left-hand corner of the field (ST 793 933). Pass through the gate onto the road, and turn right. Follow the road down to a kissing gate (ST 795 928). Pass through the gate into the field beyond.

Turn ¼ right, continue forward. (As a guide, look for the red roof tiles of a cottage beyond the tree line). On reaching the tree line the ground falls away steeply, follow a faint footpath down and around to the right to a wooden stile. Cross over the stile and onto a road, and continue ahead.

(3) Continue past the two cottages on the left, to a road T junction, turn right and continue uphill for approx. 280m. As the road turns sharp left, continue walking straight forward to a wooden gate (ST 793 925), passing Holwell Farmhouse on the left. Pass through the gate and continue to a 2nd gate, and onto a well-used path. Follow the path around and uphill to a large metal farm gate, pass through the gate. From here the ground rises steeply – Hen’s Cliff. Continue to follow the footpath for approx.1k, passing through 2 sets of gates, until it joins a road at (ST 793 916). Turn left, and continue along this road.

(4) After approx. 60m, a road joins from the left-hand side – the Monarch’s Way. Continue ahead for approx.320m, following the road round towards farm buildings – Tresham Farm. Do not go into the farm building area. Follow the road around as it turns left, continue downhill to a road T junction. Turn left and continue ahead for approx. 200m. Look for a finger-post on the right-hand side of the road, pointing to a path leading downhill. Carry on down the hill to a gate, pass through and follow the path down the valley - Monarch's Way.

(5) At (ST769 908) turn right, and pass through a large wooden field gate to join the - Cotswold Way. Continue along the Cotswold Way, passing through several gates, to a road junction on the outskirts of the village of Alderley.

Note: - Caution. There is no sign, or finger-post, advising of the turn onto the Cotswold Way. If you find yourself walking over a small bridge, over a stream, you have come too far. Turn around, and backtrack for approx. 180m, the wooden field gate onto the Cotswold Way will then be on your left.

(6) At a road junction – Alderley Road, turn right and follow the road round to the right, continue ahead passing several houses on the left, to a road T junction. Cross directly over the road into Winter-Spring Lane. Follow the surfaced portion of Winter Spring Lane for - 40 m approx. Stay on the left side of the lane. Look for a Cotswold Way signpost/footpath marker post, as the lane begins to bear right (ST771 910), stay on the left, and follow a well-used footpath downhill.

At the bottom of the hill, the path turns left and crosses over a stream, via a stone bridge. Follow the path through a gate into a field, continue ahead through a farm gate into a 2nd larger, adjoining field. Turn ¼ right, look for a short footpath marker post approx. 20 m to the left of a single telegraph post. Use the footpath marker post as a guide to cross the field to a kissing gate (ST767 916) at the top far-right corner of the field.

(7) Go through the gate onto a road – Hill Mill Road. Cross directly over the road to a wooden kissing gate, pass through onto a well-marked path. Continue forward for approx. 100m, to a wooden gate on the left (ST 767 917), pass through the gate onto a path, follow the path uphill – Wortley Hill, without deviation. Continue up Wortley Hill until the path meets a road – Blackquaries Hill (ST 778 934). Here, look to the right for a wooden kissing gate in a field boundary wall, pass through and turn immediately left. Continue around the boundary edges of the field to a gate, pass through the gate into Newark Park – car park.(S/E)

1) No special equipment is required.
2) There are no facilities on the walk, however, café and toilets at Newark Park.
3) Car Parking - Newark Park car-park is a National Trust, £3 all day.
4) Roads/lanes leading to Newark Park tend to be very narrow. There are passing places to allow cars to pass. Tip - remember where the last one was when driving - you may have to back up!

Newark Park

Newark Park is a Grade 1 listed country house of Tudor origins located near the village of Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. The Park is a beautiful 750-acre estate, at its heart is a charming historic home. The house, built around the year 1550, by Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who wanted a convenient hunting lodge. Poyntz created Newark Park to offer evening respite for himself and his guests after a day of hunting in the area. To supply his 'New Work' Poyntz used stone from the Abbey at Kingswood, which had been destroyed in Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The house occupies a location on the top of the Cotswold escarpment and is surrounded by a landscape of trees and fields with views over the Severn Vale, River Severn, to the Welsh hills beyond. Newark House was originally a Tudor hunting lodge, however, over the centuries various owners and tenants have added to and altered the house, turning it into an impressive and comfortable home to suit its surroundings.

Info source: - Wikipedia

Wotton-under Edge

The small market town of Wotton-under-Edge is tucked under the edge of the high western Cotswold escarpment with Nibley Hill towering above it. The first record of the town is in an Anglo-Saxon Royal Charter of King Edmund 1, who, in AD 940, leased four hides of land in Wudetun to Eadric. The name ‘Wudetun’ means the enclosure, homestead, or village (tun) in or near the wood (wude). The ‘Edge’ in the town's name refers to the limestone escarpment of the Cotswold Edge which includes the hills of Wotton Hill and Tor Hill that flank the town.

The original town was burnt down during the reign of King John (1199-1216); it was rebuilt in 1252 and a charter was granted to Johanna de Berkeley authorizing her to hold a market, and a three-day annual fair, on the Feast of the Cross. In the church calendar - September 14.

The Katharine Lady Berkeley's Grammar School was established in 1384, which makes it one of the oldest surviving schools in England. The school is now a modern comprehensive, situated a short distance outside of the town.

One of the oldest parts of the town is the Almshouses, fronting onto Church Street. They were built in 1638, funded by a legacy in the will of Hugh Perry (1630) who left £300, ‘for an Almshouse to be laid with gardens, etc. as the Trustees should think fit, for six poor men and six poor women.’ He also left funds to provide £8 a year ‘for their shoes, stockings, shirts and smocks’; £5 a year ‘for wood and coals’.

Overlooking the town on the top of Wotton Hill is a collection of trees planted in the 19th century to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. These are situated on the site that housed one of the early warning beacons used to warn England of the approach of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Unlike many Cotswolds country towns where the parish church, marketplace, and the principal buildings, lie close to one another, Wotton-under-Edge has no recognized centre point. Its church and the chippings, or old marketplace, are nearly half a mile apart and separated by the busy Long and High Streets. Shops typical of a small country town, small shops, essential stores, coffee shops, veterinary practices, hardware stores, all find a place, within these central streets. Making the town lively and colourful.