Painswick - Painswick Beacon - Painswick
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Painswick is a historic wool town, known as the 'Queen of the Cotswolds' owing to its many beautiful buildings built of mellow Cotswold Stone from the local quarry on Painswick Beacon. The main street through the town contains the oldest building in England to house a post office, the country's oldest bowling-green, houses with magnificent Georgian frontages and the famous parish church of St Mary sitting amongst 99 yew trees in one of the most memorable churchyards in the country. Legend has it that the Devil will not permit the growth of the one hundredth tree.
Painswick Beacon at its highest point is 283 metres above sea level. It houses an Iron Age fort and has a rich variety of flora and butterflies on the limestone grassland. It has been the home of the Painswick Golf Club for more than a century.
The walk guides you around the town's narrow streets and then heads north, following the Painswick Stream, passing a couple of small waterfalls along the way. Leaving the stream behind, the walk climbs up the side of the valley, meets the Cotswold Way and follows it back to Painswick via the Beacon. Strangely, the top of the Beacon is not reached by the Cotswold Way, but it is very easy to divert away briefly to climb to the top, where there are fantastic views across to the River Severn and beyond to the Brecon Beacons. Alternatively, I have another walk which does go to the top of the Beacon - see Walk 5662.
England - South West England - Gloucestershire - Cotswolds
Features
Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Food Shop, Great Views, Lake/Loch, Pub, Public Transport, Restaurant, River, Waterfall, Wildlife, Woodland
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