Clevedon Court Woods and Norton's Wood Circular Walk
Walk Information:
How to get to Court Woods, Clevedon
Follow Satnav to postcode BS21 6AX for parking in All Saints Lane. Please note, on-street parking is limited and the lane is narrow. Please be mindful of residents.
BY CAR:
From the M5, exit at junction 20 and follow directions to BS21 6AX.
From Portishead, follow the B3124 to Clevedon. On entering Clevedon, All Saints Lane is 3rd turning on the left.
BY BUS:
From Bristol X6/X7 and alight at Castlewood.
From Portishead or Weston, X5 to Clevedon
Clevedon Court Woodland and Norton's Wood Circular Walk Directions
🥾 From All Saint’s Lane, at the entrance to All Saints Church, enter the woods via a metal gate next to a row of cottages.
🥾 Follow the path up, but instead of climbing the steps which are straight ahead, take the left-hand path which zig-zags up. This route is the most gradual way to the top.
🥾 After the path has zig-zagged 6 times from the entrance gate, you’ll walk past several holly bushes before the path splits. Take the right-hand path winding uphill.
🥾 Keep walking uphill and follow the path round to the right where it’ll eventually level out. Other paths join it but ignore these.
Foxes Cave
🥾 Continue along the terraced path and you’ll reach Foxes Cave. You won’t see the entrance from the path because it’ll be below you on the hillside. You’ll just notice a rocky outcrop on your right-hand side. If you want to go down to the cave entrance, it’s a short scramble down the side of it.
🥾 Continuing on past the cave, follow the path uphill and round to the left. Here, you’ll likely find a shelter/den that children have made.
🥾 At the top of the slope, you’ll join a path where you’ll turn left. Follow this winding path until you see the remains of a stone bridge, likely from the quarrying days. The area then opens up and there are some lovely big old trees here. There’s a sign on one of the trees.
🥾 Turn right here, then almost immediately (25m) follow a path going to the left. This runs adjacent to the main path (which is on your right-hand side) and follows the edge of the quarry. Keep on this winding track with the edge of the quarry on your left-hand side.
When you eventually arrive at a makeshift wooden seat which has a partial view of the Gordano Valley, follow the path to your right which brings you out onto the main path.
This area is called The Warren on the OS map.
Fun fact: This area was a film location for some of the woodland scenes in the film, H is for Hawk.
Viewpoint
Turn left on the main path and immediately left again to another viewpoint. Here, there’s a stone seat and a great view over the Gordano Valley with glimpses of the Bristol Channel and Clevedon School to the left. To your right, you’ll see Portishead and the chimneys of Portbury beyond. You’ll hear the hum of traffic on the M5 motorway in the distance.
Keeper's Cottage
🥾 Now head back onto the main path and turn left which will shortly bring you to a clearing and Keeper’s Cottage. I heard a family calling it the fairytale cottage recently, which I thought was rather lovely.
🥾 Now continue ahead, keeping in the same direction (North-East) following the main path which has a stone wall on the right-hand side.
When you reach the remains of a stone building where there’s a gap in the wall, veer left off the main path and continue walking in a north-easterly direction.
Shortcut
Or, if you want a slightly shorter walk, go through the gap in the stone wall and walk straight ahead. The path will start going downhill from here.* There is a Clevedon/Tickenham boundary stone over on your left-hand side (which may be tricky to spot).
Possible extension to Cadbury Camp (NT)
If you decide to carry on, follow the path until you reach a fence which has a line of metal stakes infront of it. There’s a gate in the far corner leading to the motorway bridge. If you want to continue your walk to cadbury Camp (NT), go through this gate and cross over the motorway. Then turn left on Cadbury Camp lane until you reach Cadbury Camp.
🥾 Otherwise, turn back and walk along the wide path through a tunnel of trees. When the path eventually splits, keep left where you’ll see a wooden fence. It’ll start going downhill from here.
You’ll reach a boundary stone from 1864 marking the boundray between Clevedon and Tickenham. Here, the woodland opens up and there’s an abundance of Beech trees which will be obvious in autumn by their beautiful orange-coloured leaves.
*This is where you’ll join the route from the earlier shortcut.
🥾 Follow a well-trodden path downhill where you’ll eventually see a wooden barrier across the path ahead. This path will bring you to a track which is the driveway from Keepers Cottage to the Tickenham Road. Ignore the track and follow the (middle) path straight ahead – which also has a barrier going across it.
🥾 After a slight incline, the path drops down. When the path splits, take the left-hand path downhill. You’ll hear the motorway and see glimpses of the traffic through the trees. Continue downhill until you come to a stone bridge.
Old Quarry
On the right is the remains of an old stone quarry which is now overgrown. If you decide to explore, you’ll see that you can go under the bridge.
Clevedon Court
🥾 Continuing on, the downward path brings you to a huge old beech tree. Just past this tree, you’ll see a gate into Clevedon Court. You can’t go through the gate, so take the path to the right of it. As you walk along, you’ll have glimpses of Clevedon Court through the trees.
🥾 Upon reaching a flight of steps, go down and turn right. Continue downhill, following the path between two rock faces. Then, down an uneven, rocky path to another flight of steps. Be careful here, these steps become quite slippery after rain.
🥾 Follow the path behind the cottage and back out onto All Saints Lane. There is an information board further down the road about this area of Clevedon.
The nearest place for food and drink is The Old Inn on Walton Road – go down to the main road and turn left. They have a beer garden with small play area for the children too.
About Clevedon Court (National Trust)
Clevedon Court is a beautifully preserved medieval manor house which dates back to the 14th Century. Over the centuries it was extended and parts were rebuilt by successive owners, including the Wake family and later the Elton family, who purchased the estate in 1709. Sir Abraham Elton III created the beautiful terraced gardens using medieval earthworks, which are now grade II listed.
Clevedon Court remained in the hands of the Eltons until 1961, when the property was donated to the National Trust in part-payment of death duties. However, the Elton family still own the surrounding estates and remain resident at Clevedon Court, opening and managing the house for the the Trust.
Clevedon Court is open seasonally from April to September on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as Bank Holiday Mondays.
Clevedon Court offers a rich mix of history, architecture and beautiful gardens that make it a rewarding visit for history lovers, garden walkers and curious families alike. Main points of interest are:
14th-century historic manor house with over 700 years of history
Period-furnished rooms reflecting different eras of family life
Collection of Eltonware pottery from the Elton family
Displays of rare Nailsea glass, made locally in Somerset
18th-century terraced gardens designed by Sir Abraham Elton III
Literary link to Alfred Tennyson, who stayed here in 1850 and William Makepeace Thackeray who also visited around this time
If you’re looking for more things to do locally, read our guide to things to do in Clevedon.
Check out our other walks in Somerset.
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Disclaimer:
Somerset Family Adventures hope you enjoy the website and while we have made every attempt to ensure that the information on the website is accurate, we ask you to remember that whilst the suggested walking routes follow permitted paths and rights of way, these permissions can be withdrawn and routes diverted.
You should always carry a backup means of navigation and not rely on a single phone, app or map. Walking can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk. Information is provided free of charge; it is every walker’s responsibility to check it and to navigate safely, and we cannot accept responsibility for changes, errors or omissions.
