The Cotswold Way. Kev Reynolds

and farmhouses (Stanton, or Stan Tun, meaning ‘stony farm’) built from local stone in such a sympathetic manner that they seem to have grown straight out of the ground.

      When Sir Philip Stott came to Stanton Court in 1906 he found the village rather neglected, and from then until his death in 1937 he spent much money and architectural talent on restoring it to the splendour we see today. Unlike Broadway, Stanton has not been overrun by the motor car, or by advertisements. As such one wanders through in a dream of past centuries.

      For refreshments at the Mount Inn (food available 12–2pm), turn right when you reach the main street. B&B may be found at The Old Post House, Shenberrow Hill, Stanton Guildhouse and The Vine.

STAGE 2

      Stanton to Winchcombe

Start	Stanton
Finish	Winchcombe
Distance	8 miles (12.5km)
Approximate time	3½–4hr
Maps	Harvey’s Cotswold Way 1:40,000, OS Landranger 150 Worcester, The Malverns & Surrounding Area 1:50,000, OS Explorer OL45 The Cotswolds 1:25,000.
Refreshments	Hailes and Winchcombe
Accommodation	Wood Stanway (2½ miles/4km), North Farmcote nr Hailes (6 miles/9.5km) and Winchcombe

      Apart from the steep climb above Wood Stanway, this is an easy, gentle stage. It wanders through peaceful countryside with soft views to enjoy, not only from the scarp edge, but also from the foot of the slope, where you gaze off to isolated hills (outliers) such as Alderton Hill near Toddington, and Oxenton Hill north-west of Winchcombe.

      A series of field paths leads the continuing way out of Stanton to Stanway, then along the foot of the slope to reach Wood Stanway from where a steep ascent is made to Stumps Cross. The only real climb on this part of the walk, it’s followed by an easy track (the ancient Campden Lane) to Beckbury Camp and Cromwell’s Clump, from where it is said Thomas Cromwell watched as Hailes Abbey was dismantled. Field paths take you to a narrow lane that leads beside orchards to the remains of Hailes Abbey (worth a visit), then across more fields to Winchcombe.

      On entering the village street in Stanton, turn left and wander between honey-coloured cottages (note the medieval village cross halfway through), and bear left where the road forks shortly after passing the church. When it curves to the right, go straight ahead on a farm drive, and after about 80 metres pass a red, corrugated-iron Dutch barn, then bear right through a gate. The continuing footpath skirts the base of the hills, while off to your right spread the lowlands of the Vale of Evesham, broken here and there by groups of individual hills and distant green ridges topped by woodlands, a soft, gentle landscape to admire.

      The Cotswold Way enters Stanway through Stanway Park

      This is a fine, easy stretch of the walk, the path leading alongside meadows and finally bringing you to the parkland of Stanway House, where long avenues of stately oaks and chestnut trees throw welcome shade on a hot summer’s day. Across the parkland, guided by oak marker posts, come to a country lane (note the thatched cricket pavilion perched on staddle stones opposite). Bear left and walk into the hamlet of Stanway, noting on the way the huge tithe barn in the ground of Stanway House behind the church.

      Stanway, or Church Stanway as it is also known, is even smaller than Stanton – a clutch of buildings in the shadow, so to speak, of the Jacobean manor, Stanway House. The village has an air of feudalism about it – the church, the houses, even the trees, appear to come under manorial patronage. In almost 1300 years’ ownership the manor has changed hands only once (except by inheritance), so perhaps it is not surprising that the community should appear so closely knit.

      As well as the manor and 12th-century Church of St Peter (with much Victorian reconstruction), note the massive tithe barn, the three-storey Jacobean gatehouse with gables adorned with scallop-shell finials, and the 13th-century watermill that once belonged to the abbots of Tewkesbury.

      The lane winds in front of the church and past the fanciful south gatehouse of Stanway House (grid ref: 061 323). A few paces beyond this you leave the lane by a large yew tree and turn left. A narrow footpath takes you left of a blacksmith’s workshop and the remains of a watermill, crosses a small meadow and brings you onto the B4077. Go left for about 40 metres, then head to the right on a continuation of the Cotswold Way along a path enclosed by a hedge and a fence containing a plantation.

      This path soon entices across low-lying fields towards the hamlet of Wood Stanway. (Stanway, which you have just left, is sometimes known as Church Stanway to avoid confusion.) Behind and above the hamlet runs the Cotswold skyline on which you can see a line of individual trees. The route eventually angles up to the left-hand end of these.