Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cherington
A small village on the plateau north-east of Tetbury, round a green where three roads meet, with a Grade I Norman church, a Georgian manor seen from the lane and a lake in the valley below where snowdrops fill the woods in February.
- Nearest station
- Kemble, about 7 miles by road, then a taxi; the 620 bus stops in Avening, 1.5 miles away
- Parking
- No car park. Park with care by the green without blocking gateways or the lanes
- Best time
- Late January and February, for the snowdrops in the woods by the lake
- When it's busy
- Never crowded. The Cherington Show, the village flower show, takes a Sunday afternoon in late July (26 July in 2026; the 2027 date had not been published when we checked).
- Dogs
- On a lead on the lanes and the field and woodland paths to the lake
About Cherington
Cherington is a small village on the high ground about 4 miles north-east of Tetbury, home to about 110 people in the village and its farms. It is built round a little green where three roads meet, with the church and the manor at its west end, and on its north side the land falls steeply into a wooded valley where the Avening stream opens into a lake. There is no pub and no reason to come except the church, the view and the walk.
What to see
St Nicholas' church, next to the manor, is listed Grade I. The nave keeps the shape of the twelfth-century church, with a carved Norman tympanum and a window head in its north wall and a Norman font; the chancel was rebuilt in the mid thirteenth century, and the transept and tower were added in the fourteenth century, when the church was possibly consecrated, in 1315. A second, richer tympanum, said to have come from the south wall, is at Cherington Park.
Cherington Park, the Georgian manor beside the church, was built in 1740 for John Neale and is listed Grade II, as are its stables and coach house. It is a private house: see it from the lane. Its lake below the village was dug in the mid eighteenth century, probably as part of the same improvements, and later offered boating and fishing.
Walks
The walk is from Avening, 1.5 miles west. Avening Parish Council's Walk 7, from a set first compiled by the Avening Society in 1980, takes about an hour and a half from Avening's playing field in Rectory Lane by Steps Lane and Hampton Fields, down past a small lake at the entrance to Aston Farm, where you may see a heron or a kingfisher, and along the valley to Cherington Lake. One path goes through the woods by the water, down to a weir and across stepping stones; the other keeps to the lanes and climbs steeply into Cherington. Through late January and February the woods round the lake are full of snowdrops.
Tetbury is about 5 miles by road and a long morning on foot across open country; there is no waymarked path between them, so carry an Ordnance Survey map.
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Food and drink and when to come
The Yew Tree, the inn that opened above the valley in the mid twentieth century, closed in the late 1980s and is now a private house, Yew Tree House, so the nearest pub is the Bell at Avening, which serves Indian food. Tetbury has the full choice. Come for the snowdrops in February, or for the village's flower show, the Cherington Show, in late July. Avening's Pig Face Day falls in mid-September in odd-numbered years.
Last verified 1 November 2026 by our editors
Part of
The South Cotswolds
The southern wolds as they fall towards Bath and Wiltshire: Tetbury's Market House, Castle Combe's street by the By Brook, Malmesbury's abbey and Lacock beyond the edge.
Things to do in Cherington
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
Rodmarton Manor
An Arts and Crafts house built from 1909 to 1929 by Ernest Barnsley and local craftsmen, with an eight-acre garden of outdoor rooms, open in summer.
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Chavenage House
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
An Elizabethan manor near Tetbury, finished by 1576 and home of the Lowsley-Williams family since 1891, known on screen as Trenwith in Poldark. Visits by reservation only, and few in 2026 because of filming.
Verified Nov 2026
Where to stay in Cherington
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Burnt Ash Farm
Glamping · Minchinhampton
A small family-run stables a mile east of Minchinhampton with shepherd huts in an orchard and a small campsite for five caravans or motorhomes.
Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Trouble House
Restaurants · Tetbury
A bar, restaurant and B&B on the London Road outside Tetbury, family and dog friendly, which says it has been serving since 1754.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
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Wild View
Self-catering · Minchinhampton
A two-bedroom lodge for four in three acres of meadow at the end of a lane below Minchinhampton, with an outdoor bath, a fire pit and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Where to eat and drink in Cherington
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The Bell Inn, Avening
Pubs · Avening
The village pub on Avening High Street, a Cotswold inn that also serves Indian food in its restaurant and as a takeaway, open from mid-afternoon.
Verified Oct 2026
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The Crown Inn, Minchinhampton
Pubs · Minchinhampton
A Young's pub in the old coaching inn on Minchinhampton's High Street, opposite the Market House, with a hidden garden, Sunday roasts and a monthly quiz.
Verified Nov 2026
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Lavender Bakehouse and Coffee Shop
Cafes and tearooms · Chalford
A café and bakery on London Road, Chalford, by the Thames and Severn canal, open every day from 10am to 4pm for breakfast, lunch, cakes baked on the premises and afternoon tea.
Verified Oct 2026
Walks in and around Cherington
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Tetbury and Ashley
Walk · Starts in Tetbury · 3 hrs · Circular
A 6.5-mile (10.5km) moderate circular walk of about three hours from Tetbury's Goods Shed, with stiles: along the old railway line, over the fields to Ashley and its Norman church, and back on the Monarch's Way past a brick pillbox, walking towards the town's spire.
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Tetbury town walk
Walk · Starts in Tetbury · 45 mins · Circular
A 1.7-mile (2.7km) easy loop round Tetbury from the Old Railyard car park, about 45 minutes on paved paths: St Saviour's and the old police court, the packhorse bridge at Cutwell, Bath Bridge, St Mary's, the Market House and back along the old railway to the Goods Shed.
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Rodborough Common and the fort
Walk · Starts in Stroud and the Five Valleys · 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 2-mile (3.4km) circular walk on Rodborough Common above Stroud, easy, nearly level and about 45 minutes: up to the battlemented folly of Rodborough Fort, down the open western edge, and back past the Bear and an ice-cream stop. Grassy, and grazed by cattle.
Sights in and around Cherington
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The Long Stone, Minchinhampton
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · Minchinhampton
The Long Stone is a prehistoric standing stone in farmland south-east of Minchinhampton: a slab of oolite 2.1m high, pierced by holes that give it its local name, the Holey Stone. Tradition says children were passed through them as a cure for rickets. A scheduled monument.
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Market House, Minchinhampton
Sight · Historic building · Minchinhampton
Minchinhampton's Market House was built in 1698 by the lord of the manor, Philip Sheppard, for the wool and yarn trade: an open arcade on stone piers with a hall above. Listed Grade II*, it still holds a country market on Wednesday mornings.
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Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton
Sight · Church · Minchinhampton
Holy Trinity is Minchinhampton's Grade I parish church, known for its fourteenth-century tower whose spire was cut short in 1563 and crowned with a stone coronet, a south transept lit by a great rose window, and the grave of the astronomer James Bradley.
Getting to Cherington
- By car
- Off the A433 Tetbury to Cirencester road, about 5 miles from Tetbury by road; or from Avening, 1.5 miles west on the road from Nailsworth.
- Parking
- There is no car park. Park with care by the green without blocking the lanes or field gateways.
- By bus
- No regular bus comes into Cherington. Stagecoach West's 620 between Stroud and Bath stops in Avening, 1.5 miles away, Monday to Saturday.
- By train
- Kemble, on the line from London Paddington, is about 7 miles by road; take a taxi.
Access
The lanes from Avening are quiet and mostly surfaced. The woodland path by the lake has stiles, a weir and stepping stones, and the lane up into the village from the lake is steep.
| Avening | 1.2 mi |
|---|---|
| Tetbury | 5 mi |
| Minchinhampton | 3.7 mi |
| Nailsworth | 4.3 mi |
| Stroud | 8.1 mi |
| Cirencester | 9.9 mi |
Places near Cherington
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AveningA village in a steep valley between Nailsworth and Tetbury, with a Grade I church its legend says a queen built in penance, a pig's head carried in procession every other September, and Gatcombe Park on the hill above.
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TetburyA wool market town with a Market House on stone pillars, a Georgian Gothic church, Highgrove's gardens nearby and Westonbirt Arboretum 3 miles away.
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MinchinhamptonA small hilltop town above Stroud with a Market House of 1698, a church with a crown instead of a spire, and a great open common owned by the National Trust, where grazing cattle wander across the roads.
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NailsworthA small valley town 4 miles south of Stroud with old cloth mills, independent shops and some of the best food in the Cotswolds, a 1952 clock tower, a level railway path to Stroud and the commons on the hill above.