The Hamlets around Bisley Village

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Our view

"From beautiful Bisley, this ramble follows undulating field paths taking in small villages and hamlets along the way."

Walk directions

From your parking spot in Bisley village, walk down to the main street. At the T-junction opposite the post office, turn right and take the first turn left up a street to a junction. Go straight on, signposted ‘Waterlane’, then follow the road sharply right.

After 400yds (366m), turn right through a gate opposite Rectory Farm and walk through two fields. Go through a gate and drop to a road. Cross to a stile to the left of a stone stable, then go through a paddock to another stile. Go straight on across two further fields, then slightly right to a gap in the hedge and along the field margin to a hedge gap in the corner. Turn slightly left across the field to a stile in the corner and head for the stile at the trees’ edge. Descend along a path through the trees to a small field. Go slightly right to cross a track and a stile. Cross to a path beside houses, bearing left soon after to descend to a track in Bournes Green.

Turn right to reach a junction and turn left. At the next junction, descend straight across to a lane via a grassy bank. Follow this lane steeply down across a stream and uphill to a hairpin bend. Turn right over a stile and go immediately left through a bank of trees to a double stile. Continue slightly right across the field to a stile onto a road. Cross the road to enter another field via a stile. Cross two fields to a road and turn right.

Take the second lane on the left (signed ‘Frampton Mansell’), which descends steeply. Turn left just past the stone water pump and war memorial, following a sign for Far Oakridge. Stay with this lane as it bears right at Whitespring house and up and out of the village. At a junction with a wider road, keep ahead.

At a crossroads in Far Oakridge, turn left onto a track to the right of Birds Frith Farm. Continue to a junction with a road in Waterlane and take the leftmost of the two lanes to the right towards Bisley. Drop to a crossroads and take the dead-end lane straight ahead. At a farm, bear left onto a track, keeping ahead at a fork to a gate and stile.

Cross the stile and go straight on uphill to a stile at the crest of the field. Continue ahead to a stile into woodland and descend steeply into a field. Before reaching the bottom, turn left towards a stile and continue through fields alongside a stream and ponds. Cross one further stile then, approaching the end of the field, go right, across the stream via stone slabs. Follow the left edge of the field uphill to a stile and lane.

Turn left and walk all the way to a junction, then go right along a track and enter a field via a kissing gate. Go slightly left to the other side through a kissing gate and then left along a footpath to a road. Cross the road (watch out for traffic here as it can be busy) and descend some steps to central Bisley, and the starting point of the walk.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Tracks, fields, lanes, many stiles

Landscape - Secluded valleys, villages, open wold

Dog friendliness - Little livestock, but lots of stiles

Parking - On-street parking near the Bear Inn in Bisley

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Gloucestershire Dog-friendly walks in Gloucestershire

About the walk

There are many beautiful villages in the Cotswolds, and this walk takes you to one of the loveliest. Bisley is well known in the area for its well-dressing ceremony, which takes place on Ascension Day – a Thursday 40 days after Easter. This tradition, usually associated with the Peak District where...

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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.