Oxford & the Cotswolds
For over 400 years Hatfield House has been home to the Cecils, one of England’s most influential political families. This magnificent Jacobean mansion was…
Must-see attractions in Oxford & the Cotswolds
Oxford & the Cotswolds
During WWII, the very existence of Bletchley Park was England’s best-kept secret. By breaking German and Japanese codes, as dramatised in the 2014 film…
Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral, entered from the quad, doubles, uniquely, as the college chapel and the city’s cathedral. From the 8th century onwards, this site…
Windsor & Eton
Eton College is England’s most famous public – as in, private and fee-paying – boys' school, and arguably the most enduring symbol of the British class…
The Cotswolds
Ever since architect and designer Charles Robert Ashbee (1863–1942) moved his Guild of Handicraft here from east London in 1902, Chipping Campden has been…
The Cotswolds
The main sight in Old Minster is Minster Lovell Hall, a 15th-century riverside manor house that fell into ruins after being abandoned in 1747. You can…
The Cotswolds
Burford's splendid church, near the river, took over three centuries to build, from 1175 onwards. Its fan-vaulted ceiling, Norman west doorway and 15th…
The Cotswolds
Created from 1880 onwards by Bertie Mitford (Lord Redesdale), and later briefly home to his famous granddaughters, the Mitford sisters, these exotic 22…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
This superb red-stone castle has been home to the Berkeleys for nearly 900 years, and little has changed since it was built as a sturdy Norman fortress…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Although this site, 8 miles north of Waddesdon, has been home to the Verneys for 400 years, Claydon House itself dates from 1757, having been rebuilt in…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Neoclassical Stowe House, home to the Temple-Grenville family when they created Stowe Gardens, now houses an exclusive private school. Mere mortals can…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
The Pittville Pump Room is Cheltenham’s finest Regency building. Modelled on an ancient Athenian temple, it was built in 1830 as the centrepiece of a…
Oxford
Stretching beside the River Cherwell, Oxford's small, peaceful botanic garden was founded in 1621 for the study of medicinal plants. The oldest of its…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Woburn Abbey, a wonderful country pile within a 1200-hectare deer park, stands on the site of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey that was dissolved by Henry…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
A pioneer in wetlands conservation, this 325-hectare reserve, beside the River Severn 5 miles northeast of Berkeley, is a haven for migratory and resident…
Wilson Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
Oxford & the Cotswolds
This excellent gallery-museum focuses on local life through the ages. There’s an emphasis on applied arts and design, with some wonderful British ceramics…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Famed as one of the most beautiful streets in England, this broad, tree-lined boulevard leads down from the high street to Montpellier, and is flanked by…
The Cotswolds
Built in 1798 to resemble an imaginary Saxon fort, this turreted Gothic folly looks down on Broadway from atop the escarpment, 1 mile southeast. William…
The Cotswolds
One of England's largest parish churches, the cathedral-like St John's boasts an outstanding Perpendicular Gothic tower with flying buttresses (c 1400),…
Oxford
The ruined chapel is all that remains of Godstow Nunnery, on the Thames’ west bank 3 miles northwest of Oxford, near The Trout pub. Founded in 1145 by…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
As well as plenty of handsome architecture, the village-y Montpellier district hosts a lively assortment of bars, restaurants, hotels, independent shops…
The Cotswolds
England’s largest Iron Age hill fort, dating from around 300 BC, sprawls across 13 (overgrown) hectares above Uley. A 1.1-mile perimeter track leads…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
This entertaining museum looks at everything from the Forest of Dean’s geology and wildlife to the Roman occupation, medieval hunting laws, cottage crafts…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Based in what looks outside like a suburban house, this modern and highly engaging museum celebrates everyday life in Roman Verulamium. Assorted galleries…
The Cotswolds
There's little more to the pretty village of Stanway than a few thatched-roofed cottages, a church and this magnificent Jacobean mansion, concealed behind…
The Cotswolds
This large and luxurious Roman villa was rediscovered by a gamekeeper in 1864. Though the earliest section dates to around AD 175, it was at its most…
The Cotswolds
The private residence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, a mile southwest of Tetbury, is famous for its exquisite, sustainable, organic…
Oxford
Although archeologists have identified traces of Bronze and Iron Age settlements bulging from this marshy Thameside meadow, northwest of Jericho, it has…
Tailor of Gloucester Museum & Shop
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Tucked into a narrow lane opposite the cathedral, this cutesy museum pays homage to Beatrix Potter and her magical Tailor of Gloucester storybook. Potter…
The Cotswolds
Now lying in ruins 3 miles northeast of Winchcombe, this 13th-century Cistercian abbey was once, thanks to a long-running medieval scam, one of England’s…
National Waterways Museum Gloucester
Oxford & the Cotswolds
The largest warehouse on the Gloucester Docks, the towering, red-brick, 1873 Llanthony hosts a hands-on museum dedicated to Britain’s inland waterways,…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
A pre-Roman open-cast iron mine, overgrown with eerie moss-covered trees, Puzzlewood is a 6-hectare woodland web of paths, weird rock formations, tangled…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
To understand why Henley’s so crazy for rowing, visit this excellent modern museum, 500yd south of the train station. The airy 1st-floor galleries tell…
The Cotswolds
England's only surviving rococo garden, half a mile north of Painswick, was laid out by Benjamin Hyett in the 1740s as a vast 'outdoor room'. Restored to…
The Cotswolds
Dating from around 3000 BC, Belas Knap is one of the country’s best-preserved neolithic burial chambers, complete with ‘false’ portal leading nowhere. The…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
Seeming to spring seamlessly from its craggy red bedrock, Goodrich is a dramatic, partly ruined castle topped by a 12th-century keep that opens up…
Oxford & the Cotswolds
On the northwest edge of the Forest of Dean, squeezed between the River Wye and the towering limestone outcrop known as Symonds Yat Rock, Symonds Yat is a…
The Cotswolds
Nestling near the Thames 20 miles west of Oxford (northwest of Faringdon), Kelmscott Manor is a gorgeous garden-fringed Tudor pile that was bought in 1871…
The Cotswolds
When work on grand, graceful Woodchester Mansion, off the B4066 3 miles north of Uley, was abandoned in the mid-1860s, the roof was on but the house was…
Oxford
Conceived in celebration of Oxford’s unparalleled storytelling heritage, the Story Museum sprawls its way through a courtyard complex that includes…
