Discover our Outstanding Accommodation, Heritage and Countryside Ru inest Visitor Guide 2013 ral England at its F www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRES Our Visitor Information Centre staff are all professionally trained local experts who are passionate about the area and want to ensure 4ConteHow to find us nts you have the very best experience possible whilst here. So, whether 5 Oxfordshire Cotswolds Map Welto thecome you want help in planning your visit before leaving home, or once 6 History and Heritage Oxfordshire Cotswolds you arrive, let our staff share with you some of their best suggestions 7 Arts and Crafts and tips for enjoying the area. Both of our Visitor Information Centres 8 Antiques and Shopping (VICs) are Enjoy England Official Partners so you can expect a 9 Eating Out and Local Food warm welcome and professional service. 10 Family Fun 11 Walking and Cycling / Rivers BURFORD VIC WITNEY VIC 12 Churches and Chapels 13 Gardens T 01993 823558 T 01993 775802 14 Attractions E [email protected] E [email protected] 16 Events 18 Towns and Villages 20 Be the Perfect Visitor 21 Group Travel Accommodation 34 Symbols Asthall © Prof. Derek Roe 35 Serviced Accommodation 43 Self Catering Accommodation Explore the pages of our visitor guide to sample some of the 46 Caravans and Camping highlights of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. More information on the 46 Prize Draw area is available from our Visitor Information Centres or from our website www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org where you will find VIC Staff a wealth of information covering areas to visit, events, attractions, activities, food and drink, accommodation and much more. VIC Staff Cotswold Wildlife Park You can even check availability and book accommodation online. Great Tew VISITOR INFORMATION POINTS Rural England at its Finest The Visitor Information Points offer a wide range of The Oxfordshire Cotswolds is a beautiful part of England local information for you to browse through with situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty racks of leaflets, timetables and brochures. that is rich with history and tradition. Ever since the Romans first set foot on these shores over 2,000 years ago travellers have succumbed to its indisputable charm; the captivating CHIPPING NORTON WOODSTOCK Glympton stocks © Elaine Argent blend of bustling market towns and breathtaking scenery T 01608 643384 T 01993 814106 Cover images (clockwise from top left) which has taken over 6,000 years of history to create. Rousham House; Wilderness Festival; Visiting us is a very English experience with ancient woodland WJ Castle Butchers, Burford © DC; Jousting, Blenheim Palace; Sunlit track © Kevin Goodey; La Galleria, Woodstock and lively towns and historic villages that are built from locally quarried, honey-coloured stone. We look forward Newbridge © Sue Newport For a taste of what the Oxfordshire Cotswolds has to offer to welcoming you to the Oxfordshire Cotswolds soon. Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook Play our Download our Visitor @OxCots www.oxfordshire YouTube video Guide to your iPhone cotswolds.org/facebook www.oxfordshire www.oxfordshire cotswolds.org/youtube cotswolds.org/iapp Did you know? West Oxfordshire District Council Every care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this guide is as accurate and up to date as possible There’s free parking in the towns and villages giving you Woodgreen, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 1NB at the time of printing. West Oxfordshire District Council cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions, one more reason to visit the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. E [email protected] www.westoxon.gov.uk nor does inclusion necessarily imply approval or recommendation. Snakeshead Fritillaries 2 Oxfordshire Cotswolds www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org Rural England at its Finest www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org 3 Stagecoach UK MAP OF THE OXFORDSHIRE COTSWOLDS ABCDEFGH A361 to Banbury 1 Batsford Arboretum 2 The Theatre Heythrop How to us Lido Park Resort Churchill & Sarsden find 3 Heritage Centre TRAVELLING TO AND GETTING AROUND THE Oxfordshire Cotswolds Located in the heart of England, the Oxfordshire Cotswolds is served by a comprehensive network of national and international road, rail and air links. There are local transport services for getting about but this is a rural area, so you’ll need to plan your local journeys 4 before you set off to explore each day. Bourton-on-the-Water A4095 to Bicester Bicester Village By Road The Oxfordshire Cotswolds is The Cotswolds Discoverer Ticket provides easy, served by excellent links to the A34 & M40, cost-effective travel around the Cotswolds by bus 5 and train. One-day and three-day tickets are Outdoor providing easy access to London, Stratford-upon- Pool Avon, Birmingham and the remainder of the available to purchase at UK rail stations and from country. Don’t forget it’s free parking across participating bus services. River Windrush the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. T 01451 862000 6 www.escapetothecotswolds.org.uk/discoverer The Cotswolds & Malvern Line Crocodiles By Rail Minster Lovell Hall of the World operates from London (Paddington) via Oxford For details of all bus operators and services in Wychwood Brewery Minster Lovell A40 to Oxford, London & London to Worcester and Hereford with seven stations Oxfordshire, plus a downloadable bus map showing Oxford Airport within the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, including the routes and numbers of each service. 7 local mainline stations Charlbury and Kingham. T 01865 815858 T 08457 000125 www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/publictransport Kilkenny Lane Ri ver Country Park W i ndr The Cotswold Line Railbus provides a cheap, By Air Both London Heathrow and Birmingham 8 ush easy and stress free way to get to and from airports are around an hour’s drive and can be the railway stations at Charlbury or Kingham reached by bus and rail; London Oxford airport Hardwick in the heart of the area. can be reached by bus. Parks T 01993 869100 www.railbus.co.uk 9 The Witney Shuttle offers a shared minibus or Bampton Community National Rail enquiries chauffeur service between the Cotswolds and Archive West Ox Arts T 08457 484950 www.nationalrail.co.uk London Heathrow and Gatwick airports with home pick ups available by request. A415 to Kingston By Bus There are excellent services to 10 Bagpuize, T 0800 043 4633 www.witneyshuttle.com Abingdon and from Oxford and London. A361 to Lechlade & Newbury & Swindon Stratford-upon-Avon Designer Outlet A4095 to Stagecoach UK is one of the largest bus operators & A417 to Buscot Faringdon For more information about travelling to and in the UK, operating express and local bus services around the Oxfordshire Cotswolds please visit OXFORDSHIRE across the country. Regular services operate 11 Visitor Information Centre COTSWOLDS www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/travel Visitor Information Point London between Witney, Eynsham, Carterton and Oxford. or contact Witney Visitor Information Centre. Attraction T 01865 772250 www.stagecoachbus.com Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty T 01993 775802 E [email protected] Railway Station Rural England at its Finest 4 Oxfordshire Cotswolds www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org Rural England at its Finest www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org 5 Artweeks, Graham Rice History and Heritage The Oxfordshire Cotswolds is like a beautifully illustrated history lesson with centuries of colourful chapters and a past that is still part of the present. So let’s go way back and start at the very beginning. A mysterious circle of standing stones Legend has it that the Rollright Stones are the king’s knights turned to stone, eerie monuments to the sorcery of a wicked witch. Whatever the truth, this puzzling ring of stones remains an impressive sight dating back some 5,000 years into the depths of prehistory. A Roman villa with fancy floor The remains of North Leigh Roman Villa lie within a loop of the River Windrush, accessed by foot along a bridleway. There is a nearly complete mosaic floor, patterned in reds and browns, which can be viewed through a viewing window. Chastleton House Crumbling ruins and haunting tales and The romantic ruins of 15th century Minster Lovell Hall stand on the banks of the River Windrush close to the picturesque village of Arts Crafts Old Minster. The owner, Francis Lovell, unfortunately backed the Woodstock Wall Plaque wrong side in the War of the Roses and after the Yorkists’s defeat he fled into hiding. Legend has it that in 1708 a skeleton was discovered in a vaulted underground room, still sitting at a table – supposedly Francis Lovell had hidden there tended by just one faithful servant, The Oxfordshire Cotswolds love to put on a show whose sudden death had left him to a slow and lonely death. and provides the prettiest of backdrops to do just that. Jacobean grandeur with original features The Theatre in Chipping Norton is an impressive, professional theatre, The lovely 17th century Chastleton House is one of England’s most gallery and art centre and has a dynamic programme of live theatre, complete Jacobean houses, a fragile time capsule from another age, comedy, music, dance and a world renowned traditional English preserved by poverty. The family had lost their fortune in the Civil War pantomime. The area celebrates its artists through Artweeks, a chance and couldn’t afford to modernise the house – so it remained unchanged. to enjoy art in local studios, galleries and private homes – this open studio It was here in the 1800s that the rules of croquet were first formalised. festival is held in May each year. Follow the trail of the Woodstock Wall Rollright Stones One of the great gardens of England Plaques and discover the history of some of Woodstock’s fine houses. Rousham was built in 1635 by Sir Robert Dormer and still remains The Cotswolds gets There are traditions celebrated with outdoor events and processions in in the same family today, however it is the landscaped gardens that many of the historic villages across the area.