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All walksLlandrindod & Radnorshire

Llandrindod & Radnorshire

Cascob and the Forest Edge

Remote church with a Norman motte in its churchyard, and a climb onto the eastern edge of the Radnor Forest through plantation and open hill.

Distance
4.7 mi / 7.5 km
Time
2 hr 45
Ascent
330 m
Difficulty
Demanding
Shape
Circular

Where it is

The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.

The route

Climb from the church onto the forest tracks heading west, gaining the open ground above the treeline before circling north and dropping back down the valley. Waymarking is patchy; this is one to do with the map out.

Worth knowing

  • The church holds a seventeenth-century abracadabra charm written to cure a parishioner of witchcraft. It is framed on the wall.
  • Forestry operations close tracks from time to time. Obey the signs and take the diversion.
  • One of the four St Michael churches said to keep the Radnor dragon asleep.

What you’ll see

Sitka plantation giving way to open moor, kites and ravens, and a view over the Lugg valley towards Shropshire.

Background

The mound in the churchyard is a small Norman castle, reused as a preaching site. The parish has been thinly populated for as long as records exist, which is why so much medieval fabric survived here.