Stanton Drew Stone Circles

Charlie Bolton

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Everyone in the world must have heard of Stonehenge. Lots of people know of Avebury. But hardly anyone has heard of Stanton Drew, a village containing three stone circles, a quoit and a couple of extra stones in the pub grounds. It is enormous, virtually unexcavated (I believe it was scanned 'a la Time Team geo-phys' a few years ago and they have established that there were a whole load of wooden posts among the stone).

Starting from the village of Pensford, you pass through a millenium wood en route to the improbable Maes Knoll, an enclosure of enormous proportions, just south of Bristol (fine views on a good day!) From there, your route takes you over fields and along a couple of quiet lanes to the excellently named hamlet of Norton Malreward - and its airport! On then to Stanton Drew and return along the river to Pensofrd, taking in its impressive viaduct as you approach.

England - South West England - Bristol - Avon Valley

8/28/2013 - KAY SWIFT

Excellent walk:- viaduct, Maes Knoll, stunning views, stone circle, etc. etc. NOTE REF CAR PARKING. The car park recommended is awkward - we had a problem the first occasion with a resident who thought it should be kept for the village. Now the car park sign is missing!! However, turn left from the A37 up the High St (instead of the narrow road on the right). Bear left and you soon reach the Memorial Hall massive free car park. Slight problem at Point 27 but was soon sorted. Otherwise excellent instructions. Great.....

11/9/2012 - Allison Perkins

We've done a few of Charlie Bolton's walks and as usual this was fantastic. Directions were very good. At waymark 11 we walked on to go left of the church rather than walk through the garden of the house. The church is well worth looking inside and we were lucky enough to meet the church warden who gave us some history of it's existence. The reward for walking to the top of the hill fort at Maes Knoll was an amazing view over Bristol. We did get a little lost at waymark 27 but soon picked up the route again at 27 by checking the map. This walk is great for dogs, with varied things to see and amazing views. Thanks Charlie

1/24/2012 - Walkingworld Admin

Roy Davenport tells us that he has just completed this walk, and all is OK. January 2011. Adrian (Admin)

1/18/2012 - Damian McGonigle

Absolutely fantastic walk especially on a clear sunny day as the 360 degree views from Maes Knoll - about an hour in - are absolutely stunning. Good place for a picnic. The rest of the walk is excellent too and finishes along a river. As I'm learning from the site each author has a different style and walking pace! I usually take less than the published walking time even the first time I do one, but this one took me an extra 30mins or more the first time, probably as there are lots of checkpoints (a good thing), but I was rapidly running out of daylight! Second time I was about bang on the time though. The other thing to note is style of the commentary. All the significant way points are there, but incidental details are scant. You just need to trust the directions and you'll be fine. For large sections just remember you are following either the 3 Peaks Walk or Community Forest Path which are well signed along the way. Always best to take an OS map or GPS device anyway.