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Hillfort
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Visited 22.12.2008, walking from Winchcombe via Belas Knap longbarrow and then along the Cotswold Way. This is the second time I have visited Cleeve Hill using this route, but since the last time the Cotswold Way appears to have been re-routed, so from Belas Knap the route now plunges down a steep wooded valley and then back up the other side onto the hill. By the time I reached the hill it was covered in thick fog and rather lacking in recognisable landmarks! Eventually I found the 13th hole of the golf course which rather spoils visits to this site. The golf course covers much of the top of the hill, around the summits - on a summer's day visitors are advised to watch out for golf balls! Even in thick "pea-soup" fog on a Monday morning after the midwinter solstice, there were golfers (mainly heard rather than seen through the fog). Having said all of that, there is much to appreciate on the hill. At 330m it is the highest point in the Cotswolds. There is a hillfort, an impressive linear bank/ditch dyke, and an earthwork known as The Ring. There are remains of various barrows, but these are very difficult to see (even without the fog). Cleeve Hill can be visited by car if you have one and is also served by a good bus service from Cheltenham or Winchcombe.
The hillfort ramparts (double bank and ditch) are fairly well preserved and now enclose c. 3 acres along the edge of the escarpment. Quarrying has destroyed much of the western/south-western side of the fort (although it has emphasised the sheer drop away from the fort on that side). There are spectactular views towards the Malverns on a non-foggy day.
Taking a path over the edge and down the west, you come across the enigmatic stone block known as "Huddlestone's Table" (see Folklore for more on this).
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Posted by thesweetcheat
29th December 2008ce
Edited 18th September 2016ce
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