The Mendip Hills

Attractions > Somerset Landscapes - Around Wells

View of the Mendips taken from Crook Peak. With Axbridge Reservoir visible and Wells somewhere in the distance. Image kindly provided by the Mendip Hills AONB Service.

Walkers heading up towards Beacon Batch, the highest point on the Mendip Hills.

The Roman lead flues found at Charterhouse on the Mendip plateau. Image kindly provided by the Mendip Hills AONB Service.

The heavily pitted landscape of Ubley Warren is the result of lead mining since Roman times up to the mid 19th century

Near Charterhouse on the Mendips the Gorse bushes are out in full bloom. This picture was taken in May.

Take a walk through the wild Mendip landscape with gorse, ferms and dry stone walls.

And then our eyes met across the crowded field...

The pheasant is widely found throughout this area. Some of the wilder terrains of the Mendip Hills and the Levels make it a suitable habitat for this bird.

A short walk and rock scramble in the Ebbor Gorge Nation Nature Reserve.

Bluebells carpet the woodland in the Ebbor Gorge National Nature Reserve. This picture was taken in May.

The art of thatching is becoming less common but the practice survives in Somerset.

This unusual practice of using horses to pull timber does little harm and leaves little trace in the Mendip woodlands.

Rebuilding of dry stone walls is an important activity on the Mendip Hills to maintain the field boundaries.

Typical scenery on the Mendips with natural stone walls and cattle or sheep. The fields during spring have much colour from many flowering plants.

Dry Stone walls and cattle grazing in lush green fields on the Mendip Hills.

Sunset over Chew Valley Lake, on the north side of the Mendip Hills.

Sunset with moon over Chew Valley Lake, on the north side of the Mendip Hills.

Rickford Church on the north side of the Mendip Hills.

Harvesting on the lower slopes of the Mendip Hills.

View along the Mendip Hills towards Axbridge and the reservoir.

Burrington Combe is the smaller cousin of Cheddar Gorge.

Mendip Hills covered in a thick blanket of snow.

Visit the Mendip Hills AONB website

The Mendip Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They extend from just east of Wells almost to the Bristol Channel. Man has lived and worked on the Hills for many thousands of years. There are numerous burial mounds and the Romans mined for lead and what is left of these workings can be found at Charterhouse. These days the hills are enjoyed by the many visitors for the walking, biking, horse riding trails and the fantastic views. One of the best hills to climb is Crook Peak and although not that high it has far reaching views over the Somerset Levels and over the Bristol Channel to Wales. King John's Hunting Lodge is an early Tudor timber-framed wool merchant's house dating from about 1500. Ebbor Gorge is not on the scale of Cheddar Gorge but offers a beautiful meadow trail with wild flowers, wildlife and a small rocky gorge to walk through. Brean Down is not part of the Mendips but it is an extension of the hill range that juts into the Bristol Channel. This rocky outcrop is also a nature reserve that can be reached via a coast road from Burnham.

We have added a link to the AONB site for you to find walking routes/wildlife walks from 2 to 8 miles in length and biking trails on the Mendips. Each walking trail is in the form of a downloadable A4 sheet which provides detailed information about the walk plus a map.

The Mendip Society is a group of some 500 like-minded people who come together in the interests of conserving and enhancing the Mendip Hills and the surrounding area, for everyone to enjoy. They organise walks most weekends - click here to find out where the next events are.

The Mendip Hills

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