For southbound Cotswold Way walkers, Kelston Round Hill is the last summit of the journey — the final high ground before the trail drops into Bath and ends at the Abbey. A permissive path provided by the landowner allows walkers to leave the main trail briefly and climb to the 218-metre top, and the short detour is well worth taking.
The panorama from the summit is one of the finest on the entire trail. To the south-east, Bath fills the valley of the River Avon, its crescents and terraces of golden stone catching the light. To the west, Bristol sprawls towards the Severn Estuary, and on clear days you can trace the two Severn crossings — the original bridge of 1966 and the Second Crossing of 1996. Beyond the estuary, the Black Mountains of Wales form the horizon.
Look south and the Mendip Hills run in a long ridge, with their highest point, Beacon Batch, at 325 metres. To the east, the gentler, rolling chalk landscape of the Wiltshire Downs stretches away towards Salisbury Plain. It is one of those rare viewpoints where you can read the entire geological story of the region: the hard Jurassic limestone of the Cotswold escarpment giving way to the softer clays of the vale, then rising again to the Carboniferous limestone of the Mendips.
“Look south and the Mendip Hills run in a long ridge, with their highest point, Beacon Batch, at 325 metres.”
The flanks of the hill are rich in wildflowers during summer — pyramidal orchids, bird's-foot trefoil and wild thyme among the limestone grassland. Buzzards often circle on the thermals above the escarpment edge.
From here, the Cotswold Way descends through fields to the village of Weston, and the final, surprisingly hilly miles into Bath begin. The wilderness is behind you; the city awaits.
