A place in the world
Coln St Aldwyns
Coln St Aldwyns is a quiet estate village on the River Coln, one of the three Colns, so still that the quiet is the first thing you notice. Here is what is worth doing in Coln St Aldwyns, the walk along the Coln that most people come for, and the quiet the village keeps to itself.
At a glance
- Where
- Coln St Aldwyns, Gloucestershire, on the River Coln, one of the three Colns. Bibury about two miles upstream; Fairford and Cirencester within easy reach.
- Best time to visit
- Spring to autumn, for the Coln-valley walking. It is quiet the year round; this is not a place with a season or a crowd.
- How long to spend
- Well under an hour for the village itself. Half a day if you walk the Coln to Bibury and back.
- Parking
- No car park, and only limited considerate roadside parking; this is a small estate village, so park with care or walk in from Bibury.
- Getting there
- No station and little public transport. Nearest station Kemble, about eleven miles off, direct from London Paddington in around an hour, then a taxi. By car, off the lanes between Bibury and Fairford.
- Dog friendly
- Yes. The Coln-valley paths are popular with dog walkers.
- Family friendly
- Yes for a gentle riverside walk, though there is nothing here laid on for visitors.
Things to do in Coln St Aldwyns
The Church of St John the Baptist
A small, fine church, mostly late twelfth and early thirteenth century, with a good late-Norman south doorway carved with beast heads, keeled shafts and waterleaf capitals. It is unusually dedicated to the beheading of John the Baptist, one of only two such dedications in England, and John Keble of the Oxford Movement was once a curate here.
The Coln valley walk to Bibury
The real reason to come. The walk down the River Coln to Bibury and back is the loveliest in this part of the country: a couple of miles each way past meadows and stone cottages, or a circular of around six and a half miles, with Bibury and Arlington Row at the far end.
Williamstrip Park
Behind the village lies Williamstrip, the estate that has shaped it for centuries, a country house of about 1700 with later work by Sir John Soane. It is private and not open, but its hand is on the whole village: the estate cottages, the kept verges, the deep quiet.
The New Inn
The village inn, a seventeenth-century former coaching house in the centre, recently taken on by new hands and run as an easy local with rooms. It is more or less the whole of the village's commerce, so it is the place to aim for.
Visiting Coln St Aldwyns: parking, getting there, when to go
Coln St Aldwyns lies in the Coln valley off the lanes between Bibury and Fairford, a small estate village with a church, an inn and not much else, which is the appeal. The thing to do is walk.
There is no car park and only limited roadside space on the narrow lanes, so park considerately, or better, leave the car at Bibury and walk down the valley. The walk to Bibury is about two miles each way, or a circular of around six and a half miles through the fields, and it is the best of the place by some way.
There is no station and the buses are sparse to none. The nearest railway is Kemble, about eleven miles off, with direct trains from London Paddington in around an hour, then a taxi. A few miles south, Fairford keeps one of the great parish churches of England, its windows the most complete set of medieval stained glass in the country, well worth the short detour.
Where to eat, drink & stay
The New Inn is the village, more or less: a seventeenth-century coaching inn with a bar, a kitchen and rooms, recently taken on and run as a relaxed local. Its exact hours can change, so check before you set out for a meal.
There is no shop and no second pub. For anything more, Bibury, Fairford and Cirencester are the nearest places with a choice.
Coln St Aldwyns questions, answered
- What are the three Colns?
- Coln St Aldwyns, Coln Rogers and Coln St Dennis, three small villages strung along the River Coln in Gloucestershire. The saint's name in each distinguishes them; this is the lowest of the three, nearest Bibury and Fairford.
- Can you walk from Coln St Aldwyns to Bibury?
- Yes, and it is the main reason to come. It is about two miles each way along the River Coln, or a circular walk of around six and a half miles, passing meadows, mills and stone cottages, with Arlington Row at the Bibury end.
- Is Coln St Aldwyns worth visiting?
- Yes, if you take it for what it is: a very quiet, unspoilt estate village and one end of a beautiful riverside walk, rather than a place of sights. Manage your expectations on scale and you will not be disappointed.
- Is Coln St Aldwyns free to visit?
- Yes. It is an open village with no admission, and the church is free to enter. The only things to spend money on are a meal or a room at the inn.
At the edges of the village are the quiet conversions: barns and stable blocks made into houses, kept by people who sold the larger house and stayed for the land, a window with a candle lit in it of an evening for reasons that are nobody's business but the one who lit it.
You come for the walk along the Coln and the bridge at the bottom of the hill. You stay, if you stay, because no one here is in any hurry to know you, which after a while begins to feel like the highest form of welcome.
The story moves through this world. Begin Chapter One →