Path near Corndon Cottage Corndon near Path in a fence. There are glimpses down into the the into down glimpses are There fence. a in

Pass through a gate on the now grassy track. track. grassy now the on gate a through Pass

hedge and then slightly left up to a field gate gate field a to up left slightly then and hedge

Fawr ahead and away on the right. right. the on away Hill Corndon and ahead Fawr

this ancient track onwards, though a gate in a a in gate a though onwards, track ancient this

The landscape feels much wilder as you see Lan Lan see you as wilder much feels landscape The

of Old . You follow the line of of line the follow You Stoke. Church Old of

route of an old green way up to the hamlet hamlet the to up way green old an of route

Cowlton.

along the long line of trees which mark the the mark which trees of line long the along

you. Eventually you reach a ruined house at at house ruined a reach you Eventually you.

 3 Keep left round the edge of the field and then then and field the of edge the round left Keep

wonderful views which open up around around up open which views wonderful

Corndon Hill. Follow this lane enjoying the the enjoying lane this Follow Hill. Corndon view up to Todleth and Roundton Hills. Hills. Roundton and Todleth to up view

an ancient route which climbs up towards towards up climbs which route ancient an into another field. From here you get a good good a get you here From field. another into

end, passing a house called The Pant. This is is This Pant. The called house a passing end,

ditch to find a small footbridge back across across back footbridge small a find to ditch

 5

Take the small lane on the left signed as a dead dead a as signed left the on lane small the Take ahead. Turn immediately right following the the following right immediately Turn ahead.

field cross a ditch in the direction of the house house the of direction the in ditch a cross field

the corner of the field. After the next, smaller smaller next, the After field. the of corner the , below. , 15 Point at Hike Hills

Follow the line of a hedge to reach a gate in in gate a reach to hedge a of line the Follow Three Three the rejoin here, From track. a to down

stile to reach another at the end of the field. field. the of end the at another reach to stile couple of houses and through a small gate, gate, small a through and houses of couple

from prehistoric times to the present day. day. present the to times prehistoric from

2

Follow the left hand edge of the field, over a a over field, the of edge hand left the Follow

curls round the foot of Roundton Hill, past a a past Hill, Roundton of foot the round curls

area around has been a focus for human activity activity human for focus a been has around area

footpath alongside a small stream. The path path The stream. small a alongside footpath

find a stile behind into a field. field. a into behind stile a find by a volcanic intrusion of hard dolerite rock. The The rock. dolerite hard of intrusion volcanic a by

there’s an information panel. Follow the the Follow panel. information an there’s

Turn right between two rows of garages to to garages of rows two between right Turn The upland mass of Corndon Hill was formed formed was Hill Corndon of mass upland The

footbridge into the nature reserve where where reserve nature the into footbridge

the road sign right towards Crosslikey Close. Close. Crosslikey towards right sign road the

to the top of the hill! the of top the to Carry on to find a stile on the right and a tiny tiny a and right the on stile a find to on Carry

short residential road ahead and then follow follow then and ahead road residential short

the right. You face a steep climb straight up up straight climb steep a face You right. the right signed to Roundton Hill Nature Reserve. Reserve. Nature Hill Roundton to signed right

immediately opposite. Through this, take the the take this, Through opposite. immediately

so until you see a small gate and stile up on on up stile and gate small a see you until so the lane ahead downhill, ignore the junction junction the ignore downhill, ahead lane the

main road with care to reach a wooden gate gate wooden a reach to care with road main

along the track ahead for a further 300m or or 300m further a for ahead track the along

short loop back towards Churchstoke. Follow Follow Churchstoke. towards back loop short

Shopping Centre’s lower car park, cross the the cross park, car lower Centre’s Shopping

 7

To climb up and over Corndon Hill, continue continue Hill, Corndon over and up climb To

From here you can take a detour on to the the to on detour a take can you here From  1 From the entrance to the Churchstoke Churchstoke the to entrance the From

Approx 5km, allow 2½ hours 2½ allow 5km, Approx

Corndon, Roundton and Todleth and Roundton Corndon,

. 12 Point

Todleth – Churchstoke

The Three Hills Hike – Churchstoke, Churchstoke, – Hike Hills Three The

at path the Re-join Cottage. Corndon

Short Loop Loop Short

ancient trackway which eventually reaches reaches eventually which trackway ancient Route description Route

beneath the old spoil heaps This is another another is This heaps spoil old the beneath

keep right and descend along a fenceline fenceline a along descend and right keep

Castle Ring House. House. Ring Castle gate on the right. Follow the track ahead, ahead, track the Follow right. the on gate The summit rest stop, Corndon Hill Corndon stop, rest summit The

reaching a junction next to a cottage called called cottage a to next junction a reaching To follow the medium loop, take the bridle bridle the take loop, medium the follow To

onto the lane. Follow the lane uphill until until uphill lane the Follow lane. the onto

Approx 8km, allow 3½ hours 3½ allow 8km, Approx

stiles. Turn right and cross a house driveway driveway house a cross and right Turn stiles.

Churchstoke – Roundton – Todleth – Roundton – Churchstoke

and diagonally up the slope to cross two more more two cross to slope the up diagonally and

little further to a stile into a field on the left left the on field a into stile a to further little Medium loop Medium

to a gate that has a stile beside it. Climb up a a up Climb it. beside stile a has that gate a to

 4 Cross the road junction to a track opposite up up opposite track a to junction road the Cross

either side. side. either uphill, to Old Church Stoke. Church Old to uphill,

point where there are several field gates on on gates field several are there where point which takes you onto the lane and follow this, this, follow and lane the onto you takes which

the track for another 1.5km until you reach a a reach you until 1.5km another for track the

walk further up. Look for a stile in the hedge hedge the in stile a for Look up. further walk

6 From the ruined building at Cowlton, follow follow Cowlton, at building ruined the From overgrown lane through the hedge as you you as hedge the through lane overgrown

The Three Hills Hike The Three Churchstoke, or Yr Ystog, is overlooked by the hills of Todleth, Roundton and Corndon. Hills Hike A challenging 11km walk over the historic The walks explore the three hills in a series hills above Churchstoke, with short of loops. You can choose between a short and medium route variations. loop, as far as Todleth, a medium loop, which gives you the option of climbing to the top of Roundton Hill, and the more challenging Three Hills Hike, which takes you up and over all three of the hills.

Explore this ancient landscape to discover Public transport an Iron-Age Hill Fort, Bronze-Age There is access to Churchstoke by bus from and a National Nature Reserve. There are , Montgomery and Newtown. An early many wonderful views and wildlife along start from will get you there too, the way... but you’ll need to change buses at Montgomery. Otherwise you can reach the medium loop walk via the bus stop near along the A488

Bus timetables are available at: www.minsterleymotors.co.uk

For more information on the archaeology of the and Corndon area, please visit: records.stiperstonesandcorndon.co.uk

The Stiperstones & Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme A programme of work to raise awareness of, enhance and celebrate local history and wildlife.

Abandoned house, Cowlton www.macreative.co.uk design and photography by MA Creative Leaflet Priest Weston

r Hill 8

Cairn Tumulus 7 Cairn 9 Cairn Three Hills Hike on/o roads View south-east from Corndon Hill Cwmdulla Short Loop Farm The cluster of burial cairns on Corndon Hill were Medium Loop Cairn built during the (2,300 – 1,200 BC). Footpath Car park Cairn Each probably covers a single burial or cremation. 6 10 The cairn stones have been later disturbed to form Bridleway Public phone 12 shelters or shooting butts. These monuments may 11 Open Access Viewpoint Corndon be contemporary with the at Mitchell’s 13 Cottage Public House Fold on Stapeley Hill just to the north. Information board

Picrite, a hard igneous rock ideal for tools, was Church Corndon quarried somewhere between and Farm 0 500m 1km Cowlton Corndon. Corndon may therefore have been the site of a – Bronze Age axe Brithdir factory and several axe hammers and battle 14 axes have been found. At the top there is a bench beside 8  Old the trig point with fine panoramic Church 5 Hillfort views. From here, head on the Stoke A490 same line East to the next cairn, 4 Hill with Brown Clee in the far 15 distance. 3 Chaseleyfield From the second, larger cairn 16 9  2 bear south on a faint path. Follow STILE 17 scattered boulders until reaching Todleth Tleh a long fenceline. Keep the fence Hill

on your right as this marks the 2 STILE boundary of the Open Access 18 Land. Follow this around until Hurdley you come to a sharp right hand GARAGES STILE corner. Continue along the fence Churchstoke line, South West,on a faint path. 1 INSET MAP CROSSLIKEY 10 At the next fence corner keep on ahead to GATE reach the final cairn. To descend, there are A489

just sheep tracks down the hill – take the A489 1START Churchstoke gentlest gradient down, eventually winding Shopping Centre through gorse bushes, towards Corndon Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Cottage. Council 100049049. 2018 From here, there are views across on to the opposite side of a broad valley to the remains of There are remains of small-scale 19th-century the old quarry on Corndon. Near the bottom is an barytes mining activity on the SW slopes of 18 At the fence corner carry on ahead along a ancient Rowan tree which is covered in berries in Roundton Hill, including waste heaps and adits. At very old hedgeline to a waymark post from late summer. dusk you may also see bats flying in and out of the where you can see Churchstoke. Follow 11 Go through the gate, across a small stream old mine adits. the line of the old wall and hedge downhill, and through a second gate with Corndon and to the left. This leads to a cattle grid at Cross the ford and go through the gate at Cottage on your left. 15  the foot of a farm track, emerging onto a the entrance to the reserve. Soon after, look small lane. 12 Go through the field gate and keep right out for a stile on the left. Over the stile the passing Corndon Cottage. Walk down to a footpath cuts right, up to another stile in the Turn right and look immediately left for a wooden gate and then on to the track with corner of the field. Continue up to the top fingerpost and path which leads down to trees on either side. At the foot of the track corner of the next field onto a track. a stile. Over the stile, go ahead down the there’s a house on the right. hillside and across a track to the far bottom 16 Straight across the track a path leads right hand corner of the field where there’s 13 Follow the drive to reach the small lane. Turn steeply through woods and scrub. You another stile. right and walk along the lane. After 500m emerge through lots of Rowan trees, over or so go through the gate on the left into a stile and onto the Open Access Land of Follow the right hand field edge to the Roundton Hill Nature Reserve. At this point Todleth Hill. There are lovely views behind bottom corner and onto a track by a look out for an information panel. of Roundton Hill and the ridge of the house. Follow this to the main road and Stiperstones to the East. take care crossing back over to reach the Roundton Hill is a National Nature Reserve due Churchstoke Shopping Centre car park. to its unusual volcanic geology, with its exposed The name Todleth, first recorded in the early 13th rocks and rare flora such as yellow stonecrop, century, may be derived from the Old English tod shepherd’s cress and mountain pansy. The birdlife ‘fox’ and lith ‘slope’. Trial mines were also dug on includes pied flycatchers and redstart in the woods, Todleth Hill. peregrines on the cliffs and wheatear and meadow Go ahead and past some piles of stones pipits which nest in the grassland and heath. 17  between grassy mounds. The path 14 Follow the path ahead. If you have enough meanders downhill to reach an electrical energy take the detour to the summit of generator station. There is a surfaced track Roundton Hill. It’s a steep climb but you will here, ignore it. Instead, follow a path under be rewarded with amazing views! Either way, the line of electrical poles, gently downhill, you will arrive at the Wildlife Trust’s car park until it meets a fenceline. Follow the at the foot of the hill. Continue down the waymark post and fence, right, above the drive towards the entrance to the reserve. small cottage. View from Todleth Hill