Great Rissington - Sherborne Water Meadows - Great Rissington

Sean Meek

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Great Rissington is a typical Cotswold village set in the heart of the Windrush Valley, close to Bourton-on-the-Water. Starting from the Lamb Inn, a great pub in the centre of the village, the walk follows the River Windrush, then heads across Sherborne Water Meadows.

The meadows were developed in the early 17th Century, covering 140 acres on the west bank of the Windrush. They were in use until the 1930s to produce large amounts of lush grass for sheep to graze. In 1992, the ditches and sluices were reinstated to allow the fields to be used as water meadows once again.

The slow-moving water provides a valuable habitat for many aquatic creatures and the wetter soils have encouraged some rare wading birds to return to these meadows, such as curlew, snipe and redshank.

England - South West England - Gloucestershire - Cotswolds

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Mostly Flat, Pub, Public Transport, River, Woodland

8/4/2023 - R T Holmes

Great walk with excellent instructions. Very quiet and, for most of its length, good views with no habitation in sight. We chose to start from the car park adjacent to waypoint 11 as this was easier to access when approaching from the West.

6/10/2020 - Mark Mallett

What a lovely walk! We did it in dry conditions with the first easing of Covid lockdown in June 2020. The directions were excellent. What a pity the pub was closed!

1/26/2011 - Debra Richardson

Did this walk on 20 January 2011. All the directions are very easy to follow and the walk itself is undemanding, starting from a picturesque little village. Views are lovely. We saw a few deer running about the hedges. I would possibly suggest not doing this walk in the winter time though because of the many fields which you cross are so muddy, and the mud is very sticky. We were too dirty to try the pub in the village at the end of the walk but we're looking forward to doing this walk again when the weather gets a little dryer. Thanks for sharing this walk!