[1] From car parking take dis-used road northwards, away from the village, to join B4215. Cross road and take farm track to your front . Where track starts to curve left to farm buildings, continue forward across open field with hedge on your right. Once abreast of farm buildings bear diagonally left to leave farm on your left and continue forward to gateway in farm hedge. Enter orchard and continue forward with hedge/fence on your left to kissing gate at far end. In next field continue with hedge on your left to minor road and turn right. Follow road for about a kilometre passing through wood and round left hand bend to reach farm driveway on your right.
Turn right down driveway and soon go left through metal kissing gate and then diagonally right downhill across field to another kissing gate to the left of farm buildings. NB. This is a diversion approved in 2013 and may not yet be shown on your OS map. Continue forward across centre of field to footbridge in far hedge. Do NOT cross footbridge but go over the stile in the fence to the left of the footbridge and diagonally across next field, keeping left of a small pond, to the jutting out corner of far hedge. With this hedge on your left, in a few metres cross stile in hedge and then go diagonally across field to footbridge in hedge near farm barns. Cross and, with farm buildings on your left, cross field towards church tower in distance and go over footbridge and through a gate to enter church yard.
[A]. St Mary's Church, Kempley has in its chancel "the most complete set of Romanesque frescos in northern Europe", including the Christ in Majesty painting created in about 1120. On the walls of the nave are further images, including a wheel of life, showing the life cycle of man. These are worked in tempera painted on dry lime mortar, unlike those in the chancel which are true frescoes. St Mary's Church is owned by English Heritage and maintained by The Friends of Kempley Churches. The Church has the oldest roof of any building in Britain, dating from 1120-1150 and has an unusually well-preserved interior. The churchyard is very beautiful in the early months of the year often being covered in wild daffodils in late February and early March.
[2]. Leave church yard by front entrance on to minor road, turn left and almost immediately right across stile by farm gate. Bear diagonally right to footbridge in hedge on your right and continue across next field to stile and farm gate in far corner. Continue gently uphill towards the right hand side of farm and find stile in hedge near farmyard entrance. Over stile follow hedge on your right to field end, turn left over stile and bear diagonally right, with a hedge on the left initially, gently uphill to left side of farm barns (Bridges Farm).
Go through farm gate and immediately turn right through a second gate to go down and curve round to left to reach minor road. Cross road and through farm gate and continue forward with hedge on your left to wood. Go over a stile and continue forward down green track in wood (with wood edge on your left) to small clearing and waymark post and gate out of wood on your left. Through gate continue forward past a pond on your right and turn slightly right gently uphill to a gate into the wood to your front. In this wood follow the track near a fence on the left to far corner, crossing track with farm gate on your left, to a stile. In field, follow wood edge on your left to a gate, go through and turn right down track and follow round to left to reach the end of a minor road in Hallwood Green.
[3]. Turn right to follow road round a left hand bend and then where road bends right continue straight ahead down narrow footpath alleyway. In field bear diagonally left to find footbridge in far hedge near the right hand end of wood. In next large field follow edge of wood on your left, soon crossing a ditch on the way, to field end and then turn right almost back on yourself to diagonally cross same field to footbridge in centre of far hedge. Now follow hedge on your right, some of which is a permissive path, through a gate and uphill to an access track and eventually the A449 main road. Turn right downhill along road and soon turn right again on access driveway to Velcourt. Take left-hand driveway and follow round to Velcourt parking. Now turn right across field to left hand corner of wood and green track, with a pond on the left, through edge of wood.
Exiting wood, turn left and follow left hand hedge to gateway on your left. (NB the legal path goes through this gate and continues forward over two fields and a wide stream to reach the B4215 just to the west of Preston Court. However no stream crossing has been provided so the legal path is not usable.) Do not go through gateway but turn right to follow (trespass) along hedge on your left to reach farm track and a different legal path in about 200 metres. Follow this farm track through small wooded area to (climb padlocked ?) gate and road, B4215. Cross road going slightly left and go up tree-lined driveway to Preston Court.
[B]. Preston Court (with a small church behind it) is a very fine Elizabethan Manor. The church and manor of Preston originally belonged to the abbot of St. Peter’s Abbey in Gloucester from the reign of Edward I until the reign of Henry VIII, who after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 took over the abbey and granted it to the Bishop of Gloucester.
The church was restored in 1859 and a small new aisle added. In 1896, stone was taken from quarries at Hazards Farm (now a ruin) to build the vestry. Preston Court was leased from the church until it was sold in the mid 20th Century.
[4]. At the house bear slightly left and go down narrow pathway between pond and house and into farm buildings area at the rear. Continue forward to pass small church (St John the Baptist) on your right to reach two stiles into orchard. Bear very slightly left to cross orchard and on far side a stile into a narrow field and stream and footbridge on far side. Across footbridge bear diagonally left to stile in far corner at top of field. Over stile, turn sharp right along hedge on your right to field end, through gap (maybe a stile or gate in the future) and continue ahead with the hedge on the right until it pulls away to the right. Bear slightly left to a gap a little to the right of three large trees in far hedge and continue downhill to footbridge. Over footbridge go uphill across centre of field, aiming to the right of a prominent tree, to farm gate and stile onto minor road, Turn right and follow road downhill and round corner to T junction.
Go through kissing gate next to farm gate to your front and follow left hand hedge to footbridge in hedge. Cross and turn right to follow hedge on your right to end of field. Through gate turn left uphill and follow initially track, past the turning head of a new concrete road, and then hedge on your left to stile. In next field cross to right hand hedge and continue forward downhill to cross footbridge. In 30 metres by next footbridge (on your right) turn left across centre of long field to gap/gate in far hedge. Now bear slightly diagonally left uphill to farm gates on ridge and then follow hedge on your left to minor road. Turn right and follow road into hamlet of Tillers Green. Where road bends to right turn left down tarmac access track and almost immediately right over stile. Continue forward gently downhill across centre of field to earth bridge over substantial ditch (under power lines) and go through small orchard to stile. In next field bear diagonally right towards white cottage at far side and find stile in right hand hedge, Cross and turn left down busy B4215 back towards Dymock, After about half a kilometre turn left through a small gap in hedge (opposite the farm track on the right that you took at the start of the walk) and return to your starting point..
[C]. Dymock's church building is mainly Norman. The church and village are mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086 AD) and the church has a fine exhibition about the World War 1 Dymock Poets. The general area is also well known for its many wild daffodils which appear in February and March and for its three Poets Paths. At weekends during the daffodil season, the church often serves tea and cake to visitors.