Helena at the top of Haresfield church tower

I spotted that a local church was inviting visitors to climb to the top of its tower to raise funds for the repair of the very old church clock which has been silent for more than thirty years.  Haresfield village lies in the Severn Vale underneath Haresfield Beacon, high above it on the Cotswold escarpment where an ancient hill fort was located to control the local area.

The village is small and spread out around the farms and one of them is sited beside the church adjacent to the old Mount with its surrounding moat.  At about the time of William the Conqueror the farm was sited on the Mount's island and the church was built not long after in the 1300s.

Only six people at a time could climb the very narrow spiral stone steps up through four stages inside the tower where the bells still hang and are rung regularly.  We were shown the clock in situ before taking the last flight of steps on a ladder to gain access to the top of the tower, which forms the base of the church spire.

We could climb out onto the narrow space behind the parapet and walk round to see the views up and down the Severn Vale and across to the Forest of Dean in the west.  I have added an 'Extra photo' of the view east over the church roof towards Haresfield Beacon, but I like this shot of Helena looking north from the top of the tower towards the Malvern Hills in the distance.

After our descent we walked around the moated island on the land of the adjacent farm and enjoyed being down on the relatively level landscape despite the noise from the M5 motorway only a mile or so away to the west.