Open common on the northern escarpment above Chipping Campden, with wide views over the Vale of Evesham and home to the annual Cotswold Olimpicks - passed early on Stage 1 of the trail.
Dover's Hill is a stretch of open grassland and woodland on the North Cotswold escarpment, a short climb above Chipping Campden. The Cotswold Way crosses the hill on Stage 1, and for many walkers it is the first place the trail feels truly high - with rolling fields falling away toward the Vale of Evesham and, on a clear day, a long horizon across Worcestershire and beyond. The National Trust cares for the site, which sits within the Cotswolds National Landscape.
The hill is best known for Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpicks, a boisterous annual games thought to have begun in the early seventeenth century. Shin-kicking, tug-of-war, morris dancing, and other traditional contests still draw crowds on the Friday after the Spring Bank Holiday, followed by a torch-lit procession back into Campden. Even when the games are not on, the open slopes make a natural pause for a picnic or a photograph before you push on toward Broadway Tower.
There is no charge to walk the hill. A National Trust car park serves the site; many walkers approach from the Market Hall through town and Kingcombe Lane instead. Paths can be muddy after rain and exposed to wind on the crest. Practical notes are on the National Trust Dover's Hill page. For the games themselves, see the Cotswold Olimpicks website.
