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Start at Back Lane Car and Coach Park in Winchcombe, using the pedestrian exit and steps to Cowl Lane. Walk down to the High Street, follow Abbey Terrace, then cross carefully into Vineyard Street and over its stone bridge. The signed Cotswold Way leaves through a gate on the right and crosses fields to Corndean Lane.
Follow the lane uphill to the signed drive by the cricket ground, then take the gated footpath up the hillside. At the road junction leave the Cotswold Way for the lane past Hill Barn Farm, continuing along the track before turning left towards Belas Knap. This Neolithic long barrow has stone chambers and a false entrance. Use the stone-wall crossings and gates, then descend on the Cotswold Way along the field edges beside Black Barn Plantation. Keep to the boundary path rather than cutting diagonally across the field.
From the lower road gate turn right along the lane to the Winchcombe Way track near Humblebee Cottages. Follow the waymarks past Wadfield Farm and down between hedges, then use the stiles and footbridges through the Sudeley Valley fields. Join Old Brockhampton Road and return past the Sudeley Castle entrance, keeping to the public lane before retracing Vineyard Street and Cowl Lane to the car park. Castle admission is separate from this walk.
Allow about 3 hours 30 minutes for the full circuit, including the sustained climb and a pause at the barrow. Expect grass and earth paths, muddy sections after rain, gravel tracks, gates, stiles, stone-wall crossings and short steep slopes. Several stretches use narrow country lanes without a pavement; watch for traffic. Keep dogs under control around livestock. Cafes and pubs are in Winchcombe. Back Lane is a council car park with a current £1.50 all-day tariff during chargeable hours; check the signs when arriving.
Route reference: National Trails Cotswold Way Circular Walk 4 and Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers, Winchcombe to Belas Knap. Parking details: Tewkesbury Borough Council.
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