Brimpsfield, Syde and Caudle Green

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Our view

"A walk through a vanished castle and secluded valleys."

Walk directions

From the car park turn left and when the road bends right, by the war memorial, go left and up the path, signed ‘church’, opposite. Before you reach the church, leave the track by bearing left onto a worn path to a stile. In the next field, go slightly right to a corner and then go over a stile onto a road.

Turn right and follow the road down to just before Ivy Cottage near the bottom. Turn right onto a drive. After 35 paces drop down to the left onto a parallel path, which will bring you back onto the drive. Just before another cottage, turn left and go down into some woodland. Keeping a stream on your left, follow a path for 550yds (503m), joining a broader track, until you emerge on to a gravel track.

Turn left and follow the track as it rises to the right. After 100yds (91m), where the track bears left, go forward over a stile into a field with Brimpsfield House to your right. Go slightly right to another stile, pass a gate on your right, and bear right down to a stile in the bottom corner of the field (close to the pond) amid scrub. Follow the path to cross a bridge and bear left up to a track. Follow this for 250yds (229m), until you reach a waymarked track on the right, just past two gnarled old willows.

Follow the track along the bottom of a wooded valley for about 0.75 miles (1.2km). After crossing the stream on the right, bear left to continue on a grassy track via a gate, with the stream now on the left. Not far after re-crossing to the left-hand bank, you can go left up the slope to visit the church at Syde. Otherwise, remain on the valley floor and continue until you come to a gate. Go through it, then over a stile to pass to the left of a cottage. Follow a drive up to a road.

Turn left and follow the road downhill until it turns sharp left. At this point turn right over a stile to the left of a gate into a field and walk up a steep bank and over a stone stile to arrive on a road in Caudle Green.

Turn right and continue climbing to the village green. Keep ahead along a track towards a large Georgian house, shortly turning right at a sign for Brimpsfield. Follow a winding path in woodland down to the valley bottom and go through a kissing gate. Turn left through another and follow a path along the valley bottom for another 0.75 miles (1.2km). Eventually you will be funnelled between woods to a stile and gate leading into a field.

Continue along the left-hand field edge, then head across the field to a gate. In the next field, follow the left-hand edge ahead to a road and turn left. Re-enter Brimpsfield village, continuing past a telephone box. Turn left at the war memorial and retrace your steps to the village hall.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Fields, tracks and pavement, many stiles

Landscape - Woodland, steep narrow valleys and villages

Dog friendliness - Some good long stretches free of livestock

Parking - Brimpsfield Village Hall car park (in northwest of village)

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Gloucestershire Dog-friendly walks in Gloucestershire

About the walk

There is something rather poignant about a vanished castle. The manor of Brimpsfield was given by William the Conqueror to the Giffard family. (In early Norman French a gifard was a person with fat cheeks and a double chin.) The Giffards built two castles, the first of wood on another site, and...

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Gloucestershire is home to a variety of landscapes, including the Cotswolds, a region of gentle hills, valleys and gem-like villages that roll through the county. To their west is the Severn Plain, watered by Britain’s longest river and characterised by orchards and farms marked out by hedgerows that blaze with mayflower in the spring; beyond the Severn are the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley.