A ruined mansion in a secret valley

Woodchester Valley, near Stroud, Gloucestershire was for years a secret valley, with no public paths through it at all. 

People have only been allowed there in the last 20 years. - It's free to visit

Even though there's now a small play trail,...

...it remains an unspoilt hidden valley

With this wonderful surprise in the middle - a ruined Gothic mansion

Built on the site of an earlier house, this grand mansion was never finished, and became a ruin...

- those windows have no glass in them 

It's now run by the Woodchester Mansion Trust.  You have to pay to visit - even if you are a National Trust member

But (ahem) you can get quite a good look if you visit the cafe!

The steep-sided valley provides a lovely walk

Jacobs sheep and traditional cattle graze meadowland undisturbed for centuries 

There are some pools, and a boathouse,...

...and just the teeniest glimpse of a tower in the trees. Walking here is like being in a fairy tale - we even saw ravens

Back at the mansion - it's being "restored to its ruined state", bizarrely.

It's a fair walk, so there is an hourly bus,

...but the walking is much more rewarding.

There are several waymarked trails - you can download a nice one here before you come. It's 3.5 miles. 

A fabulous place to visit. We combined it with a walk to Hetty Pegler's Tump - a Bronze Age barrow which you can climb inside - best if you have a torch for that! We parked at the Woodchester car park for both walks.

Today's walk: We followed most of the pink waymarked trail above. There's also a shorter 1.5 mile walk, or a longer 5 mile one (purple on the map, but I can't find it to download. The waymarks are clear though)

Footnote: I came to the valley on a school residential week in the 1980s. When we walked to the mansion, it was covered in creepers, with horseshoe bats flying in and out of the windows. Just like Sleeping Beauty's castle. It was impossibly romantic!