A queer road trip around the Cotswolds: Part 2 - Around Oxford
Oxford might be one of the UK's most beautiful and easy to access cities, filled with grand limestone buildings, ancient colleges, and some of Britain's best museums, but travel out of the city on the western roads and the Cotswold Hills open up in front of you.
Ask any Englishman and they will go misty-eyed at the thought of pristine rolling hills, quaint little villages filled with lively gastro-pubs, and a life long forgotten in most other corners of England. And while the villages might cut a demure appearance, it doesn't mean that all of their former inhabitants do; with many things to see and do with a little queer historic interest sprinkled in for good measure.
And with one of the liveliest gastronomic scenes in the whole of the UK, the Oxfordshire Cotswolds are also perfect to tour if you're looking for a little luxury on your road-trip, be that in high-end spas, or in cutting-edge restaurants.
So grab yourself an AA Road Map, sit yourself in the left-hand lane, and get ready to leave Oxford for the Cotswold Hills, a place that many an icon (*ahem, Liz-Hurley-Elton-John ahem*) have found themselves a home in.
Index
Blenheim Palace
Burford
Lechlade and Kelmscott Manor
Buscot Park, Faringdon and around
Bed down in Cirencester
Get blown away by the bling at Blenheim Palace
After grabbing a hearty breakfast in the city, drive 20 minutes north west to the grandest country estate in the whole of the UK, Blenheim Palace.
The grounds were gifted to the Duke of Marlborough after victory at the Battle of - you guessed it - Blenheim by Queen Anne in the early 1700's, and if the rumours and Olivia Coleman is to be believed, part of the reason for the size of the gift was down to the sway of 'her favourite' the Duchess of Marlborough.
The grounds were gifted to the Duke of Marlborough after victory at the Battle of - you guessed it - Blenheim by Queen Anne in the early 1700's, and if the rumours and Olivia Coleman is to be believed, part of the reason for the size of the gift was down to the sway of 'her favourite' the Duchess of Marlborough.
While historians are torn on whether or not there were sexual or romantic undertones to their relationship, it is undeniable that as Queen Anne's favourite, the Duke and Duchess were able to build a house that put almost every other palace in the UK (and maybe Western Europe) to shame - in fact it is the only house in the UK that can be called a palace without being directly owned by royalty.
The house itself is a stunner from the outside, with enormous columns, porticos, and wings arranged around a grand courtyard, and the inside is also mind-blowing with huge painted domes, long galleries, and lavish rooms. There's even an 18-karat gold toilet! Oh, how the other half live!
Blenheim is so grand in fact, that UNESCO awarded it World Heritage Status in 1987, recognising both the awe-inspiring palace, and also the 2000-acre behemoth landscaped gardens designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown - who designed so many classic English Country Gardens in the 17th and 18th centuries that I'm surprised he wasn't cloned - which are worth a long walk or picnic around regardless of the time of year, with guided routes suitable for all ages and abilities. One of our favourites is the 5-mile perimeter walk which takes you through huge Oak woodlands, which is perfect in the Autumn.
If you think that Blenheim looks familiar, then it might be due to the some 71 film and TV appearances Blenheim has made, from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to Bridgerton, making it the most filmed stately home in the UK.
Tickets for Blenheim Palace start at £28 each for house and gardens, so comes up a little on the pricey side, so consider skipping if you're tight on time as you'll want to spend a whole day here. If you're local or plan on coming here more than once in a year, an annual pass is not much more and is worth stretching to for long term cost savings.
Grab a bite to eat in beautiful Burford
From Blenheim, head into the start of the leafy rolling hills of the Cotswolds. Filled with honey-coloured villages, ancient Churches, and gorgeous welcoming country-pubs. Set your sat-nav to Burford for your introduction to this quaint corner of the country, with plenty of options to eat around the town.
As you continue to travel along the wide, winding stream towards Burford, find a place for a picnic under a willow tree or carry on towards the visible spire of Burford Church on the horizon, the first sign you're approaching your first proper 'Wool Town'.
The whole of the Cotswold area is home to small medieval market towns that grew wealthy on the European trade of wool in the middle-ages. These towns tend to be easily identified by huge churches, often built in the most lavish gothic styles, wide market places lined with the kind of houses you could imagine a Flemish or Genoise merchant living in, coaching inns turned boutique restaurants, and tiny ancient alms-houses lining the back lanes.
Burford has all of these, with a treasure-trove of a Church on the banks of the river showing all the different architectural styles from Norman tower to elaborate Gothic chapels. The wide market place runs up the hill (literally called The Hill) and is lined with beautiful town houses, shops, and pubs and, if you get to the top of The Hill, has quintessential Cotswold views back to the church and town below.
On the edge of town, the Upton Smokery is the perfect place to pick up grilled meats, both from the kitchen and farm shop on site, including a microbrewery too. And if your idea of a garden centre is baked potatoes with your grandmother on a Sunday, then think again at the Burford Garden Company, for designer homewares, fashion, food, and gardening supplies. The café is excellent for either lunch or an afternoon tea, and you might even find yourself rubbing shoulders with locals Kate Moss or Victoria Beckham.
Just south of the town also lay a couple of 'wild' experiences, suitable for families and those with a love of exotic animals. Premier among these is small but perfectly formed Cotswold Wildlife Park, a former stately home turned menagerie - it's not the scale of Longleat but why would you want something that big when you can see Penguins in a walled garden, or Lemurs on manicured lawns, here. With spacious exhibits and a fascinating mix of animals, it's one of the finest small zoos in the country. For those with a more specialist interest, Crocodiles of the World is nearby, and would be a knocked out for those with a reptilian fascination.
Tickets to Crocodiles of the World start from £15 for an adult ticket, and Cotswold Wildlife Park from £17.50.
Village-hop across three counties at Lechlade and the start of the River Thames
This point sits just outside Lechlade, the first town on the River Thames (the same one you strolled around in Oxford, from part 1 of this road-trip) and the furthest navigable point on the river. It also used to be the only bridge on the river between Oxford and the source of the Thames, and is another Cotswold beauty.
Because of it's historically important position on this part of the Thames, it has a really lovely old-world feel to it, with a triangular market place dominated by a large inn and the tall spire of the church. The historic bridge still stands too, with places to picnic on the riverbank while you watch pleasure-boats gliding along under willows into the furthest inland marina on the river.
If you're looking to eat here, try the riverside Trout Inn for it's huge beer garden to enjoy the boats and swans drifting past while you enjoy some local beers and ciders. Or just to the north of the town, The Five Alls at Filkins is one of the best gastropubs in the whole of the Cotswolds, with modern takes of British classics cooked simply using local ingredients - definitely worth a stop on the way through.
For a longer, more luxurious stay, Thyme at Southrop (pronounced Su'ther'up) is a picture perfect spa-hotel on the outskirts of the town, complete with an excellent restaurant using ingredients grown in it's own kitchen garden, and suntrap swimming pool. The spa is worth visiting alone with treatments available either in a converted, tumbledown cottage, or a sleek and modern bothy. Doubles start at £400 per night though, so this luxury doesn't come cheap.
Spend some time at bubbling Buscot Weir and crafty Kelmscott Manor
months with nooks on the river like Cheese Wharf and Buscot Weir the perfect place to launch a paddleboard or slip into a swimming trunk to kill a couple of warm hours. It's also an ideal place to walk along part of the long distance Thames Path, running 186 miles from the Source of the Thames to London, to Kelmscott Manor.
It might not be as grand as Blenheim Palace, but it is nearly as influential, having been home to Arts and Crafts Style empresario, William Morris. If you don't know the name, you'll recognise his prints and patterns, from intricate willow bough wallpapers to strawberry thief print fabrics, lots of which were inspired by his home and naturalistic gardens. While William Morris wasn't himself queer, his life and works, as well as many of his closest collaborators, were deeply entwined with progressive ideals, including social reforms and rethinking of traditional gender roles.
Strap on your walking boots at beautiful Buscot Park and its Bluebell Woods
Across the Thames, Buscot Park and Faringdon Folly were both owned by openly-gay, Victorian eccentric Lord Berners. He lived at both Buscot Park and nearby Faringdon House at times, with his partner Robert Heber-Percy (which was very unusual at the time) and created safe spaces for queer individuals in both homes, in an era rife with illegality and persecution. Among the notable guests, members of the Bloomsbury Group such as Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington, who were both gender fluid, and Evelyn Waugh, who was not queer but drew on his friendship with Lord Berners for Brideshead Revisited, all were known to regularly visit.
Buscot Park, Buscot Village, Badbury Clump, and Great Coxwell Barn are all owned by the National Trust and vary between free, paid parking, and paid entry, so check opening times and prices on the NT website before going. Kelmscott Manor is privately owned and tickets from £15 for the house and gardens. Faringdon Folly is free to access.
Swing by or stay for a while at fair Fairford
Drive from Lechlade to the west and you'll come to the small but perfectly formed coaching town of Fairford. It's a little off the tourist trail now, but when Lechlade was the important bridging point for the London traffic to cross from the east to the west, Fairford was a key stop on the route with plenty of places for a weary traveller to rest their head. The finest of these establishments still providing hospitality to those on the road is The Bull. Hard to miss, standing grand over the small town square, The Bull still retains many of it's historic features, but was recently given a new lease of life with the new owners injecting a little eclectic design into the already comfortable surroundings. The restaurant and bar are also seemingly perpetually busy with locals, and the small but perfectly formed menu will make sure you don't leave feeling hungry.
There are a number of places near Fairford to stay to take in the beauty of the Cotswold Lakes, foremost of these being the DeVere Cotswold Water Park, a large and airy resort hotel with decks and balconies right on the edge of one of the lakes. With a complete circular path, it's surroundings as much as it's amenities attract people from far and wide.
Fairford's church is also renowned as a masterpiece of medieval design and of national importance. Rebuilt in the 1400's by a local wealthy wool merchant, the church is an example of late gothic architecture and contains the most complete set of medieval stained glass windows in the country.
Doubles at the DeVere Cotswold Water Park start from £170 per night, with full access to the hotel's amenities, whereas doubles at The Bull start from £75 per night.
Bed down in Cirencester; The Capital of the Cotswolds
After Fairford, carry on a further 20 minutes towards the former roman city, and widely-considered 'Capital of the Cotswolds', Cirencester.
Cirencester is one of the UK's best preserved wool towns, with a broad colourful market place dominated by a fine church and town hall. It's a real centre of the Cotswold community with weekly farmers' markets as well as special events such as food and craft fairs, so try and coincide your visit with one of these.
You'll want at least a whole day to explore Cirencester so at this point it might be wise to find somewhere to bed down, if you haven't already in Lechlade or Fairford. Many of the best options are between Cirencester and Fairford such as Wild Thyme and Honey, one of the UK's best boutique hotels, with 24 rooms tranquil rooms and an award winning restaurant and bar. Or for even more luxury, check into The Pig in the Cotswolds at Barnsley, complete with an incredible local menu, modern spa, and treatments to die for.
If you want to stay in Cirencester, the best options are The King's Head Hotel, an old coaching inn in the centre of town with a cosy bar, unearthed roman mosaics, and spa treatments, or The Fleece, virtually opposite The King's Head on the marketplace, which has modern bedrooms in a classic wood-beamed Tudor inn.
Doubles at Wild Thyme and Honey start at £180 per night, The Pig from £200 per night with access to the Spa includes. For those wanting to stay in the centre of Cirencester doubles at The King's Head start at £240 per night, and The Fleece start at £125 per night.
Continue the Cotswold Road Trip:
Pt 4: Central Cotswolds
Pt 5: Stratford-Upon-Avon and Northern Cotswolds
Pt 6: Cheltenham and Southern Cotswolds
Pt 7: Bath
