A place in the world
Tetbury
Tetbury is the antiques town of the southern Cotswolds, a wool town that kept its grandest building, the pillared Market House of 1655, with Highgrove a mile down the lane. Here is what is worth doing in Tetbury, when to come, and the long memory the town keeps behind its shopfronts.
At a glance
- Where
- Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in the southern Cotswolds. Cirencester about ten miles north east; Malmesbury just over the Wiltshire border to the south.
- Best time to visit
- Any time of year. The two dates to plan around are the late-May Woolsack Races and the Highgrove garden season from April to October.
- How long to spend
- Half a day for the town and its antique shops. A full day with a Highgrove tour or Westonbirt arboretum.
- Parking
- Free long-stay parking at the Old Railyard car park, and paid spaces on West Street in the centre. The Old Railyard is the easy choice.
- Getting there
- Nearest station Kemble, about six miles off, direct from London Paddington in around seventy minutes, then a taxi or the local bus. By car, on the A433.
- Dog friendly
- Yes. The town and the walks around it take dogs, and Westonbirt nearby is good walking country.
- Family friendly
- Yes, though Tetbury is a town for browsing rather than attractions; Westonbirt and Chavenage are the family days out nearby.
Things to do in Tetbury
The Market House
The Grade I listed Market House stands on stout stone pillars in the middle of Long Street, built in 1655 for the wool and yarn trade and still owned by the town's old charity, the Feoffees. It is the building Tetbury is known by.
The antique shops
Tetbury is the antiques capital of the Cotswolds, with Long Street and Church Street given over to dealers, and big names like Lorfords trading from old buildings about the town. Furniture is the speciality, and half a day can go on the windows alone.
St Mary the Virgin
The parish church is a Georgian rebuild in the Gothic taste, opened in 1781, with one of the tallest spires in the county, reputedly the fourth highest in England, visible across the fields long before the town is. Inside it keeps its old box pews.
Highgrove
A mile out of town is Highgrove, the country house of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The house is private, but the gardens, made by hand over decades, can be visited by pre-booked guided tour from April to October, the proceeds going to the King's Foundation. There is a Highgrove shop on Long Street in town selling the estate's produce.
Chavenage House
A few miles out, an Elizabethan manor of 1576, still lived in and barely altered, which has stood in for Trenwith in Poldark and for scenes in Wolf Hall. It opens to visitors on limited days, so check before you go.
The Woolsack Races
On the spring bank holiday, runners carry a heavy sack of wool up and down the one-in-four Gumstool Hill between two pubs, a revival of an old wool-trade test of strength. It is the town's day of the year, and a good one to come for if you do not mind a crowd.
Visiting Tetbury: parking, getting there, when to go
Tetbury sits on the A433 in the southern Cotswolds, between Cirencester and the Wiltshire border, built around the Market House and Long Street. The town is walkable and made for browsing, the antique shops as much as the stone.
Parking is easy by Cotswold standards. The Old Railyard car park is free, long-stay and open overnight; there are paid, time-limited spaces on West Street in the centre if you want to be closer in.
The nearest station is Kemble, about six miles off, with direct trains from London Paddington in around seventy minutes; from there it is a short taxi, or the local bus that runs in to Tetbury. By road the town is easily reached from the M4 and M5.
If you are coming for Highgrove, book the garden tour well ahead, as the season runs only from April to October and the slots go. For Westonbirt, the arboretum a few miles down the road, autumn is the famous time.
Where to eat, drink & stay
The Snooty Fox, on Market Place in a former coaching hotel, is the town-centre landmark for a drink, a meal or a night.
The Close, a town-house hotel with a walled garden off Long Street, is the quieter, smarter stay.
A little out of town, Calcot is the country-house hotel and spa people drive in for, with a well-known kitchen and a barn bar.
Tetbury questions, answered
- What is Tetbury famous for?
- Its wool-trade heritage and the pillared Market House of 1655, its standing as the antiques capital of the Cotswolds, its nearness to Highgrove, the King's house, and the annual Woolsack Races up Gumstool Hill.
- Can you visit Highgrove garden?
- Yes, but only by pre-booked guided tour, and only from April to October. The house itself is not open. Highgrove is a mile or so outside Tetbury, and there is a Highgrove shop on Long Street in the town selling the estate's produce.
- Is Tetbury free to visit?
- Yes. The town is free to walk and browse, and the Old Railyard car park is free. Highgrove tours and Chavenage House charge admission; the town's small police museum is free.
- Is Tetbury worth visiting?
- Yes, especially if you like antiques or are visiting Highgrove. It is a handsome, unhurried market town rather than a single sight, best for a slow morning among the dealers and a look at the Market House.
The town's oldest corner is the Chipping, a flight of worn steps lined with the cottages of the people who once worked the wool, a reminder of who built the place the antiques now furnish.
Tetbury is used to a certain class of neighbour and entirely unbothered by it. It has seen money come and go for six hundred years. It does not stare.
The story moves through this world. Begin Chapter One →