Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tracks, but waymark posts lead you roughly south, then south-east and
south once more, keeping always well to the left of the transmitter towers.
The path eventually takes you to a gate and away from Cleeve Common,
where a very different landscape beckons.
A clear track now heads almost due east through large open fields be-
neath a line of high-voltage power cables, bringing you to a crossing track
at Wontley Farm. Turn left and walk uphill and along the continuing track
for a little over ½ mile (800m), then bear right through a gateway and
follow a drystone wall ahead. This will bring you directly to Belas Knap
Long Barrow (grid ref: 021255), one of the most impressive sites along
the Cotswold Way. An information panel gives details.
Belas Knap above Winchcombe is one of many long barrows along the route of the Cots-
wold Way. When visiting, please treat it with respect
BELAS KNAP
Belas Knap is a very fine example of the chambered tombs, or long barrows, of the
Severn-Cotswold Group, of which the Cotswold Way has visited many. The name
means hilltop beacon, suggesting that the site was used by the Saxons (it stands
above Winchcombe which was occupied during Saxon times). Of course Belas Knap
existed long before the Saxons, for it dates from about 3000BC - a wedge-shaped
mound measuring some 178ft (54m) long, 60ft (18m) wide, and about 13ft (4m) at its
highest point. At its northern end there's a false portal with two horns lined with dry-
stone walling and blocked by a massive slab. When excavated in 1863 the remains of
five children and the skull of an adult were discovered behind it. There are two cham-
bers along the eastern side, one on the west and another at the southern end, reached
Search WWH ::




Custom Search