Terry Jacombs, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chedworth
A long village down both sides of a steep valley between Cirencester and Northleach, with a Grade I church, a seventeenth-century inn below it, 800 acres of woods with a disused railway through them, and the Roman villa a mile away through the trees.
- Nearest station
- Cheltenham Spa, about 11 miles, or Kemble, 13; no bus. The 78 from Cirencester: Wednesday and Friday, once each way
- Parking
- The Roman villa has its own car park, with Blue Badge bays, for its visitors; we have found no public car park in the village, so park with care on the lanes
- Best time
- Spring and autumn for the woods; a weekday for the villa
- Toilets
- At the villa, for its visitors, including an accessible toilet; none in the village
- Dogs
- Assistance dogs only at the Roman villa
About Chedworth
Chedworth runs for about 2km (more than a mile) along both sides of a steep valley that drains to the Coln, about 6 miles (10km) north of Cirencester and about 4 miles south-west of Northleach. Most visitors come for the Roman villa in the woods near Yanworth, which is less than a mile from the nearest house as the crow flies and about 4.5 miles by road, and never see the village at all.
What to see
Chedworth Roman Villa is the remains of one of the grandest villas in Roman Britain, found in 1864 when a gamekeeper showed James Farrer pieces of mosaic turned up in the woods. Lord Eldon roofed part of it and built the museum; the National Trust has owned it since 1924. There are mosaics under a modern cover building, two heated bath suites, a water shrine at the spring, a café and a shop. In 2026 an adult ticket was £15, under 5s and Trust members went free, and only assistance dogs were allowed. Our page on the Roman Cotswolds sets it beside Cirencester.
In the village, St Andrew's is listed Grade I, late twelfth century in its oldest parts with a tower whose lower stage is of that date, a fifteenth-century rebuilding, an inscription of 1461 to Richard Sely on a buttress by the porch and a stair turret dated 1485; the north aisle was rebuilt by Waller in 1883. Five of its bells were cast by Abraham Rudhall in 1717 and 1719. Below the church stands the Seven Tuns, an inn of the early to mid seventeenth century with a gabled porch and an open fireplace, listed Grade II.
Chedworth Woods, east of the village towards the Coln, covered 801 acres in 1842 and were felled in both world wars and replanted. Through them runs the bed of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway, built across the parish in 1891 with stations in the village and at Foss Cross and closed in 1961. On the downs to the north, an airfield was laid out in 1940 and went back to farmland after the war.
A morning here
Give the villa two hours: pick up an audio guide at reception, walk the West Range on its raised walkway, and see the bath suites and the shrine before the café. The lanes in from the A429 are narrow and the phone signal is poor, so arrange your return before you set off. Then drive round to the village, or walk through the woods on the public footpaths, and come up the valley to the church and the Seven Tuns below it, closed since November 2023 and, when we checked in October 2026, being refurbished with no reopening date announced.
The Seven Tuns has been closed since November 2023. In 2025 its freehold was offered for sale or lease, and in 2026 the village website said it was being refurbished and would open when the work was done. Check before you count on it.
Walks
Paths cross Chedworth Woods between the village and the villa, and the Monarch's Way passes the villa itself; the parish council publishes a footpath map and points walkers to the county council's online map as the most up to date. The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens' guided walks have included a 6-mile circuit from Withington by the old railway, Chedworth Woods and the former airfield. Down the Coln, our Bibury and the River Coln walk follows the same river downstream, and the walk from Northleach to Hampnett and the Saltway starts a few miles east.
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Food and drink
With the Seven Tuns shut, the villa's café, which serves drinks and snacks, is the only place to eat in the village or at the villa, and it closes before the site does (4.30pm in late October 2026). The Inn at Fossebridge, on the A429 by the river 2 miles east, was open as Lord Chedworth's Arms by 1759; its own site says the bar opens every day from noon and food is served daily. Northleach, about 4 miles north-east, has pubs and cafés, and Withington, about 2.5 miles north, has the Mill Inn.
When to come
The villa is a season-and-hours place: it is open daily from 10am to 4pm until 29 November 2026, with the café closing at 3.30pm, and then closed through December, so check the Trust's calendar for its reopening. On some Mondays in the season the villa runs free guided tours. Spring brings the woods into leaf and autumn turns them, and the village has a silver band, a drama group and a cricket club of its own. The 78 bus runs only on Wednesdays and Fridays, one journey in each direction, so a car-free visit is a long day; our page on the Cotswolds without a car has the alternatives.
Last verified 1 November 2026 by our editors
Part of
Cirencester and the Coln Valley
Cirencester, the Roman town of Corinium, and the River Coln running past Bibury, Coln St Aldwyns and Fairford to meet the Thames by Lechlade.
Things to do in Chedworth
Sport and activity · Northleach
Far Peak Climbing, near Northleach
An outdoor climbing centre off the Fosse Way south of Northleach, with a 15m tower, indoor and outdoor bouldering, a low ropes course and taster sessions from age 3.
Where to stay in Chedworth
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The Inn at Fossebridge
Pubs · Chedworth
An inn, a hostelry since the early seventeenth century by its own account, where the Fosse Way crosses the River Coln, between Cirencester and Northleach, with 4 acres of riverside gardens, log fires and seven rooms.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Far Peak Camping
Camping · Northleach
A seasonal campsite with tent and hook-up pitches, tipis, bell tents, shepherd huts and glamping domes beside the Far Peak climbing centre, about a mile from Northleach.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Bathurst Arms
Inn · Cirencester
A pub with five rooms on the River Churn at North Cerney, about five miles north of Cirencester, with a beer garden, food every day and roasts on Sundays.
Verified Nov 2026
Where to eat and drink in Chedworth
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The Old Prison Café, Northleach
Cafes and tearooms · Northleach
A daytime café run by Relish in Northleach's Georgian house of correction on the Fosse Way, with free parking and free entry to the cells and courtroom.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Walks in and around Chedworth
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Northleach, Hampnett and the Saltway
Walk · Starts in Northleach · 2 hrs · Circular
A 4.5-mile (7.2km) circular walk from Northleach's Market Place, easy, stile-free and about two hours: out past the Old Prison to Hampnett and its painted Norman church, south by bridleway to the old Saltway, and home past Winterwell Barn to the wool church.
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Bibury and the River Coln
Walk · Starts in Bibury · 2 hrs · Circular
A 4-mile (6.5km) circular walk from the bridge by the Swan in Bibury, about two hours with one climb and a muddy stretch. It crosses the Coln below Bibury Court, climbs through Oxhill Wood to the line of Akeman Street, passes a dewpond and returns by Arlington Row.
Getting to Chedworth
- By car
- From the A429 between Cirencester and Northleach, follow the brown signs for Roman Villa, or the signs for Chedworth village from Fossebridge. The lanes are narrow; the two are 4.5 miles apart.
- By bus
- The 78 (Stagecoach West) from Cirencester reaches Chedworth in about 35 minutes on Wednesdays and Fridays only, one journey each way; no bus reaches the villa.
- By train
- Cheltenham Spa, about 11 miles, and Kemble, about 13 miles, are the nearest stations; book a taxi from either, since there is no bus to the villa or the village from them.
- Parking
- The villa has its own car park with Blue Badge bays for its visitors. The village has no public car park that we have found; park with care on the lanes.
Access
The villa has Blue Badge parking, a lift, ramps, accessible toilets and wheelchairs to borrow, with some uneven surfaces and steps; the village lanes are steep
| Chedworth Roman Villa | 3.1 mi |
|---|---|
| Withington | 1.9 mi |
| Northleach | 6.2 mi |
| Cirencester | 8.7 mi |
| Cheltenham | 11.2 mi |
| Bibury | 13 mi |
Places near Chedworth
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NorthleachA small wool town in the Leach valley with one of the great Cotswold wool churches, its floor full of brasses to the merchants who paid for it, and a Georgian prison.
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WithingtonA village in two halves either side of the upper Coln, about 6.5 miles from Cheltenham, with a Grade I church, the Mill Inn by the bridge, Withington Woods above and a Roman villa under a field on the road to Chedworth.
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CirencesterThe Roman town of Corinium and the market town of the southern Cotswolds, with a museum of its mosaics, a great wool church, an amphitheatre and Earl Bathurst's park.
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BiburyA village on the River Coln with a row of medieval cottages that draws up to 20,000 visitors on a peak weekend, by press estimates. Come early or late, and walk on down the river.