Walking Bredon Hill: routes, views and what to look for

Bredon Hill walks begin, for anyone staying at Upper Court, at the edge of the village rather than at a car park an hour away. Bredon Hill is an outlier of the Cotswolds, a single whaleback of limestone standing clear of the main escarpment above the Vale of Evesham. Footpaths and bridleways climb it straight from Kemerton, so you can leave the door, cross a field or two and be on the open hill without first driving to a trailhead. The reward at the top is a long view over the Vale and, on a clear day, across several counties. This guide is for guests walking from the estate and for day visitors making the trip: two confirmed routes from the village, what you will see, and what to take.

The hill rises to 299 metres, or 981 feet, with its natural summit in the parish of Kemerton. From the Vale it reads as a broad, flat-topped ridge rather than a peak, which is part of its character: a long walk to a wide horizon rather than a scramble.

Three things mark the top. Parsons Folly is a squat stone tower built in the mid-eighteenth century by John Parsons MP, squire of Kemerton Court, as a summer house; by tradition it was raised to bring the hilltop up to a round thousand feet, and it now does quieter service as a phone mast. Close below it sits the Banbury Stone, a weathered limestone boulder also known as the Elephant Stone for its kneeling-elephant shape. The northern crown of the hill is held by Kemerton Camp, an Iron Age hillfort of around twenty-two acres. The hill has a place in English verse too, as the setting of A.E. Housman's poem "Bredon Hill".

Both routes below start in the village and stay on the footpath and bridleway network the whole way; there is no driving between fragments. Distances and ascents are taken from verified mapping. The times are a relaxed-pace estimate, so adjust them to your own legs and the weather.

Route A: the shortest confirmed circuit is 7.5 km, or 4.6 miles, circular. It runs from the village edge: out along The Avenue and up through Warren Wood, a woodland bridleway, onto the open hill near the Banbury Stone, then back down across the pastures.

For Route A, the ascent is about 210 m and the walk takes around 2 to 2.5 hours at an easy pace. The terrain is mixed footpaths and bridleways, a woodland section through Warren Wood, and open hilltop. Dogs are welcome, on the lead near livestock, as sheep and cattle graze the Kemerton Park pastures on the return leg. This is the shortest loop we can confirm from a mapped source. If you find a shorter way marked locally, it is not one we can vouch for.

Route B: the summit and back is 8.5 km, or 5.2 miles, out and back. It is a there-and-back climb to the top, following good paths and tracks up the eastern flank to the northern escarpment, where Parsons Folly and the Banbury Stone stand. Return by the same route.

For Route B, the ascent is about 240 m, or 800 ft, and the walk takes around 3 to 3.5 hours, including time at the top. The start is the east side of St Benet's Catholic Church, Kemerton, GL20 7JE, OS grid ref SO 949 373. The terrain is steady, well-made paths and tracks; a continuous climb rather than a steep one; several gates, no stiles noted on the way up. Dogs are welcome, on the lead near livestock; yellow footpath arrows mark the gateposts.

From the tower the ground falls away on every side and the Vale opens out below. To the west the Malverns stand along the skyline, blue and clear, and the Avon and the Severn wind across their floodplains in the middle distance.

North lie Pershore and Worcester, with the Lickey Hills and, on a bright day, the far edge of Birmingham. East, the orchards of the Vale of Evesham run towards Stratford; south, the land rolls down to Cheltenham and the Cotswold escarpment. They say the view takes in eight counties. On the right morning, you can believe it.

The open hill is skylark country in spring and summer, with buzzards working the thermals overhead and hares in the rougher grass. Hawthorn and blackthorn line the lower paths; the hedges colour in autumn, and the bracken on the slopes turns rust before the leaves go.

At the foot of the hill, near the village, Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve is worth a detour in its own right. Managed by the Kemerton Conservation Trust, it covers around forty-six acres of lake, reed bed, grassland and woodland, with a boardwalk and a public hide on the west side that anyone may use.

A public footpath runs through it; the permissive paths and the other hides are for Trust members, and some are closed during the bird-nesting season from roughly April to June. One thing to note before you set off: no dogs are allowed on the reserve at all, except on the public footpath that crosses it.

Bredon Hill is open and exposed once you are above the trees, so dress for more weather than the village suggests: a waterproof, a warm layer even in summer, and proper footwear, as the paths hold mud well into spring. Take water, as there is nowhere to fill up on the hill.

You will pass through grazing land, so keep dogs on the lead near livestock and close the gates behind you. The light is best early and late, when the Vale fills with shadow and the far hills sharpen.

For day visitors, estate parking at Upper Court is for guests only; park in the village instead, on Church Street by St Nicholas, in the lane beside St Benet's, or in the few roadside spaces at the top of Hill Lane.

If you would rather walk the hill with someone who knows it, Hamish leads guided walks up Bredon through the summer holidays, from July to the end of August. He knows the routes, the history and where to look, which makes for an easy morning out for families and first-time visitors alike.

Walks are GBP15 per person, for groups of up to ten. To arrange one, call the office or email Bryony at info@uppercourt.co.uk, and we will fit you in around the weather.

Upper Court sits in Kemerton itself, fifteen acres of Georgian manor and grounds with the footpaths to Bredon Hill running from the edge of the village. It makes an unhurried base for walking: out of the door, up the hill, and back to the lake and gardens by lunchtime.

The Dovecote, a lakeside retreat for four, suits a couple or a small family; the Courtyard Cottages take a larger party. Both are dog-friendly by arrangement, for walkers travelling with a companion who likes the hill as much as they do.

See where to stay or check availability and book.