Seven Springs and the Devil's Chimney

About trip

Distance: 4 3/4 miles (7.5km) Time: 2 1/2 hours Terrain: Easy Description: Above the gorse of Charlton Kings Common there is an unexpected panorama at the top of the hill. Furthermore, as the walk progresses westwards along the edge, the view incorporates new scenery, so allow more time than usual for a walk of this length.Leckhampton Hill is the site of an Iron Age fort where a defensible area of 6 acres (2.5ha) was enclosed within a single rampart and part of the scarp edge. Directions: a Park in the layby opposite The Seven Springs Inn, off the A436. Turn left on to the A436 and walk up the footpath to the roundabout. b Turn left, then immediately left again on to the minor road. This is the Cotswold Way, which is clearly waymarked. You will be following this for much of the walk. c Turn right at the hedge and follow the left-hand field boundary. Continue through the copse, then along the edge of the ridge for about 1 mile (1½km) to a junction of paths atop a rocky step. This area is Charlton Kings Common and is open access land. d Go straight on and keep to the right of the fence to the triangulation point. With the trig point to your right, continue straight on along the path, until you see a sign pointing downhill to the Devil’s Chimney. It’s worth making a detour and going down to see this landmark. It’s to your right once you’ve reached the seat on the cliff edge. Head back up to the footpath again then continue southwards along the track, past the quarry to the road. e Turn left onto the road. You will pass another car park on your left. Turn right into the field immediately before Hartley Farm and follow the wall on the left to a stile. f Cross the stile and head half-right to the left-hand corner of the plantation. Continue along its edge, with the plantation to your right, to a stile by a pump house. g Cross the stile and continue ahead with the wood on your left, to the stile on the left just before the corner of the field. Cross this and follow the woodland on the left for about 200yds (180m) h Cross over to the woodland on the right, carrying straight on at its end to a stile. Cross the stile and carry straight on with the field boundary on your left until you reach the main road. i Cross the road and turn left, then right on to the footpath on the other side. Follow the path with the field boundary on your left to a stile on the left in the corner of the field. Cross the stile following the right hand field boundary. Cross another stile, continue straight on through a kissing gate to the main road. Turn right for about 100yds (90m) and cross the road to the layby. Places of Interest: 1 It used to be held that the springs issuing from this small hollow below the A436 marked the beginning of the Thames. The Latin inscription reads: Hic Tuus - O tamesine Pater Septemgeminus fons (‘Here O father Thames is thy sevenfold source’). Although the springs lie at 750ft (228m) – the highest point from which water flows into the Thames – it is now generally acknowledged that the river rises at Thameshead, 3 miles (5km) south-west of Cirencester. 2 There is a lot to see in this breathtaking view with Cheltenham spread out below the scarp. To the right you can follow the escarpment as it curves around to Cleeve Hill which is the highest point in the Cotswolds. Out on the plain ahead rises the distinctive shape of the Malverns, composed of some of the oldest rocks in England and Wales. Further to the west the view includes Gloucester, May Hill in the Forest of Dean, and the first of the Welsh Hills. 3 This distinctive, isolated spike of rock is known as the Devil's Chimney and is a popular local landmark. Its exact origin is not known for certain – whether it is the result of differential erosion, a quarryman’s joke or a genuine relic of quarrying. Climbing is prohibited to limit erosion.