Route from the Bristol Post. Here is a more accurate map on Google Map of the route based my reconnoitre. This shows
the location of the parking bay and the pub. The walk has some great views over
Bristol to the north and over Chew Valley to the south. Lots of horses, sheep and
cows, even the occasional Kestrel, but they all looked friendly (see below).
Points of interest include:
- The village of Dundry has its own website
- The church tower in the Perpendicular style was built in 1482 possibly with funds from the Merchant Venturers and was used as a navigational mark.
- In the churchyard there is a 1.5 m high cube of local stone called the dole-stone, on which alms were issued to the needy poor.
- Yellow oolithic limestone or Dundry Freestone (meaning it can be cut and worked in any direction) from the Jurassic was quarried here till 1921. Stone from here has been used in the building of Dundry Tower, Cardiff Castle, Dublin Castle and medieval Bristol, particularly St Mary Redcliffe Dundry stone is similar to Cotswold stone. There is more about the stone and its uses in the Avon Stone Atlas
- Dundry Down is the site of numerous old quarries. There are a number of small caves on the down but most have been covered over by the spawling farm scrap yard. One on the Southern flank is home to Horseshoe bats (see map)
- Dundry Main Road South Quarry and Barnes Batch Spinney are Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Ammonites have been analysed in the Inferior Oolite
- Springs and wells in the area are supplied by water captured in the layer between the Midde Jurassic limestone cap and the underlying Early Jurassic clay. Land Yeo has its source on the Western end of Dundry Hill
- Dundry Hill is classified as a Marilyn - a peak with a relative height over 150 m
- Springs on the northern flank of Dundry are the source of the Malago which runs through South Bristol to the Avon
- The plant pathologist Lawrence Ogilvie lived at The Dingle in East Dundry
This route is based on a number of paths:
- The outbound part is along the Avon Community Forest Walk
- The return track is along the Samaritans Way
- We can then include the Dundry Hilltop Walk if we dont want to go straight to the pub.
