Laverton, Stanton, Snowshill and Buckland

The walk starts in the quietly attractive village of Laverton. The village is typical Corswold with a cluster of cottages and farmhouses built of local Cotswold stone, the oldest dating back at least to the 17th century. There are a number of listed buildings in the village, including some farms, the old post office and even the redundant village telephone box.

From Laverton, the walk follows a straightforward path through fields at the foot of the Cotswold escarpment to Stanton. The village of Stanton is entered through the churchyard of St Michael and All the Angels. The church has a Perpendicular exterior with a pretty spire, but parts of the interior date from the earlier Norman period. The Victorian restorer, Sir Ninian Comper, designed many of the furnishings. The walk continues along the main street of Stanton, which has been described as 'architecturally the most distinguished of the small villages in the Cotswolds'.

From Stanton, you climb fairly steeply up the Cotswold scarp, through attractive woods with many horse chestnut trees. From the ancient settlement of Shenberrow Hill, there is a magnificent view over Stanton to the farmlands of the Severn Plain, with Bredon Hill prominent in the middle distance.

Later, you have good views over the Cotswold plateau - Snowshill village nestles into the side of a hill, while Broadway Tower, a folly, is prominent on the skyline beyond it.

The village of Snowshill is notable for its traditional cottages in mellow Cotswold stone, its setting with fine views over the Severn Valley and its history. Snowshill Manor, owned by the National Trust, originally belonged to the great Benedictine abbey at Winchcombe. It was seized in 1539 by Henry VIII, who gave it to his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr. The house is now remarkable for a collection of furniture and other antiques, the garden and the building itself, a typical Cotswold manor house with parts dating from circa 1500.

From Snowshill the walk drops down into a valley and there is a good view back up towards the village. As you pass Great Brockhampton Farm there is a great vista, down the valley, through a parkland landscape to the much larger village of Broadway and the fields of the Vale of Evesham beyond.

The route now continues northwards, first skirting woodland and then entering the relative darkness within Buckland Wood before emerging into the light again to cross a few fields leading into the village of Buckland. Within the village itself is the medieval Church of St Michael, a seventeenth-century manor house, and what claims to be the oldest Rectory in England. The name 'Buckland' originates from Anglo-Saxon 'Boc-land', meaning land assigned under a charter and there are signs of even older habitation around the village, most notably the Iron Age Burhill hill fort.

Also in Buckland is one of the most beautiful hotels in all of England. Buckland Manor dates back to the thirteenth century, first mentioned in 600 AD, when the land was owned by the Abbey of Gloucester. It was later recorded in the Domesday Book.

From Buckland it is a very short countryside walk back to the start of the walk in Laverton.