The Cotswolds

Kingham Cottages are located in the heart of Kingham village. Kingham is the quintessential English village chosen by Country Life as England’s favourite village. It has a thriving community and two award winning pubs, The Kingham Plough and The Wild Rabbit.  With Daylesford Organic farm shop and café a 20-minute walk away you can eat each tasty meal of the day in a different location without ever jumping into the car.

Kingham is set in the glorious Cotswold countryside between Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold and Burford. With a population of about 1000 it has a high achieving primary school, excellent village shop with post office and many clubs and organisations, some of which Delphie and Chris are involved in. In fact Delphie has cooked meals for the Kingham Lunch club for over 25 years.

Mentioned in the Doomsday Book, Kingham has always kept up with the times and continuing in this tradition, Kingham Cottages are ready to welcome you with five stunning self-catering holiday properties built in traditional Cotswold stone.

The surrounding area

Churchill

has a beautiful church tower based on a copy of the Magdalen College tower in Oxford and the nave is a copy of Corpus Christi dining hall. There is an excellent local pub, The Chequers, that does very good food.

Chipping Norton

is a beautiful market town with two good butchers, a deli and lots of independent local shops and restaurants as well as three supermarkets. The award-winning Jaffé & Neale Bookshop and Café is a particular delight.

Stow-on-the-Wold

has as many antique shops as you could dream of together with a wonderful selection of tearooms, pubs and speciality food and home interior shops.

Burford

with its long history of hospitality as a coaching town on the road from London and Oxford to Birmingham or Worcester, has beautiful Cotswold architecture, exclusive shops and galleries, pubs and restaurants and one of the top twenty churches in the country. It is a “must do” to visit during your stay in the Cotswolds.

Golf

can be played at The Wychwood Golf Club in Lyneham (5mins), Chipping Norton (10 mins), or Heythrop in Enstone (15mins).

Local walks

can be made to Bledington (feed the ducks on the green or have a drink or meal at the King’s Head), Oddington (beautiful medieval paintings in the old church, best seen on a bright day, or a meal at The Fox), Daylesford Organics (for shopping, spa treatments or just looking), or Churchill (interesting church copying Oxford colleges and good food and drink at The Chequers).

A little further-a-field

Oxford City Centre

with all the history of the world-famous colleges, shopping, theatres, The Ashmolean Museum and so much more.

Blenheim Palace

is home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Set in 2,100 acres of beautiful parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, the magnificent Palace is often featured in films as a stunning backdrop to period dramas.

Broadway

is a stunning Cotswold village.

Compton Verney

is an award-winning art gallery set within the Grade I listed Robert Adam mansion located in 120 acres of spectacular parkland.

Batsford

with its world famous arboretum.

Chipping Campden

has beautiful buildings, including a lovely ‘wool’church, and two world famous gardens: Hidcote and Kiftsgate, famous arts and crafts and gold and silversmiths.

Cirencester

is a lovely Roman town, steeped in history.

Cheltenham

with its Regency spa and smart shopping and the world-famous Cheltenham Racecourse .

Stratford-upon-Avon

is the birthplace of William Shakespeare with the theatre and wonderful shopping.

Chastleton House

a Jacobean manor which is now managed by the National Trust.

The Slaughters

no Cotswold visit is complete without seeing the sleepy villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter. If time permits then a walk or cycle ride, or if in a hurry a drive, from Bourton-on-the-Water, through the Slaughters, and up the Windrush valley to Naunton and Guiting Power will show you really beautiful countryside and charming old villages.

Local markets

Chipping Norton market is on Wednesday and you will find an excellent basket stall, fruit and veg, fish, some clothes, plants, cards, haberdashery, shoes, flowers and more. There is also an excellent farmers market on the third Saturday of the month.

Charlbury has a wonderful market on the second Saturday of the month and nearby Witney has their farmers market on the third Wednesday of each month.

Moreton-in-Marsh has a large market on Tuesdays. All of the above plus fabric and trimmings, pet supplies and more.

For the children

Here in the village there are swings on the village green and climbing equipment by the football pitch.

For great family days out there is the excellent Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park (as featured in the BBC’s Countryfile) at Guiting Power and Birdland in Bourton-on-the Water.

Theatre & films

Chipping Norton Theatre might be small, but it is perfectly formed! It is in a converted Salvation Army Citadel and has music, touring theatre, the occasional ballet and local amateur productions.  It is renowned for its annual panto for which you have to book early to avoid disappointment, oh yes you do!

Further afield of course we have Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford for arguably the best Shakespeare productions in the world. The Everyman in Cheltenham has excellent touring theatre and The Oxford Playhouse and The Apollo puts on a great variety from Glyndebourne touring to panto and everything in between.

You have not understood the true eccentricity of the English until you have met Martin Graham and his wife Lizzie, who have created Longborough Festival Opera. Martin’s vision is to stage Wagner’s Ring Cycle and he has built an opera house in his garden in what started looking like an agricultural building.  The old seats from Covent Garden were added and later an orchestra pit big enough for a 70 piece orchestra, boxes, dining pavilions like follies in the garden and enough loos so the entire audience is not queuing as the bell rings at the end of the 90 minute dining interval.  They now host critically acclaimed productions during the summer season.

If the cinema is more your thing, good old Chipping Norton Theatre sometimes has films showing. We have ‘Flicks in the Sticks’ in local village halls – look out for posters on lampposts! There are multiplex cinemas in Witney, Banbury and Oxford.

Other ideas for things to do

Below is a list of ideas for something a little bit different during your stay at Kingham Cottages. We would be delighted to put you in touch with any of the following; please enquire when you make your booking:

  • Daylesford Organic offers a range of exotic treatments in their spa
  • Enjoy a pilates or yoga class or private tutition
  • You could have a drawing lesson or have yourself drawn
  • Have a chocolate workshop
  • Riding lessons, or just go riding
  • Taken an electric bike tour of the Cotswolds
  • Tennis coaching on our own all-weather court
  • Have a swimming lesson in our own heated indoor swimming pool
  • Go for a hot air balloon ride
  • Have a singing or piano lesson
  • Have a massage in the Hammam
  • Golf lessons with a Pro Golfer
  • Cooking lessons in your kitchen
  • Bridge lessons
  • Photography workshop