Weacombe & Bicknoller Combe, Quantock Hills

The Quantock Hills is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) west of Bridgwater in Somerset and has many beautiful walks. This circular walk from Weacombe & Bicknoller Combe is a 5 1/2 mile walk through moorland, ancient parklands, agricultural land and woods. The walk boasts panoramic views and diverse terrain with a distinctive character and natural beauty.

Walking directions
1. Start at Staple Plain Car Park (TA4 4EB). From here, walk from the south-west corner of car park, left downhill (green National Trust arrow) through the trees.

2. At the bottom, turn right towards the cottages at Weacombe.

3. Left/south, over the stream onto Coleridge Way/Quantock Greenway for just over 1/2 mile, this will take you through Haslett Plantation.

4. At the end of the path, once you cross the stream, turn left/east up Bicknoller Combe for 1 mile to the junction of tracks.

5. Ahead on stony track; in 200m, fork left (grass track) over Black Ball Hill, descending to the bottom of Slaughterhouse Combe.

6. Turn left (west) for 1 mile towards Bicknoller Post.

7. Once at Bicknoller Post, turn right (north) for 300m to get to Great Road track.

8. At Great Road track, turn left (west) and carry on until you reach the car park where you started from.

 

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The history

‘The historic landscape of the Quantock Hills is the man-made landscape: for thousands of years people have lived and worked on and around the Quantock Hills and their actions have influenced the way the hills are now, at the beginning of the 21st century. From Bronze Age burial monuments, some 4000 years old, to monuments of the Cold War which are only 40 years old, the historic landscape of the Quantock Hills is rich and diverse. In order to enhance our understanding of both the extent and nature of this historic landscape, English Heritage, Somerset County Council and the Quantock Hills AONB Service set up a project, which began in 2001, to record the archaeological remains on the hills. English Heritage staff have mapped the archaeology from air photographs and visited, surveyed and photographed numerous sites. This leaflet presents an overview of the results of this work and contains some of the new photographs and drawings undertaken by English Heritage staff during the survey, and the reconstruction paintings by Jane Brayne which were commissioned for the project by the Quantock Hills AONB Service. The Historic Landscape of the Quantock Hills by Hazel Riley, published by English Heritage, details the results of the survey work and places the story of the Quantock Hills in its regional and national context.’

– www.quantockhills.com PDF leaflet