Vieve Forward, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eat and drink · Coln St Aldwyns
Coln Community Stores
The village shop, café and post office on Main Street, Coln St Aldwyns, owned by local residents and the Countryside Alliance's best shop in the south west for 2026.
Walker-friendly
A village shop and café owned by the people who live here, and the region's award-winning shop for 2026.
- Good: Countryside Alliance South West best shop, 2026
- Good: Shop, café and post office in one
- Good: Garden with a covered gazebo
- Good: Open seven days, from 8am on weekdays
- Worth knowing: Café closes at 1pm at weekends
About
Coln Community Stores is the shop, café and post office on Main Street in Coln St Aldwyns. There has been a shop here since 1875; today it is a registered society owned by more than 250 local shareholders, with five paid staff and over 50 volunteers. It won the Countryside Alliance's South West award for best shop or post office in 2026.
The shop sells fruit and vegetables, bread and cakes, local meat and pies, deli food, groceries, local beers and ciders, newspapers and cards, with eggs, yoghurt and sourdough from nearby farms and bakers. The café serves hot paninis, sandwiches and wraps, pies and pasties, and home-made cakes, to eat in or take away; outside is a garden with parasols and a covered gazebo for wet days, and the café has toilets.
It suits walkers above all: the stores' website links to walks that start near the café, and our Coln St Aldwyns and Bibury walk starts in the village. The shop opens every day, from 8am on weekdays; the café closes at 3.30pm on weekdays and 1pm at weekends.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 9, 08:00
| Mon | Opening | Café |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 08:00 to 16:30 | 08:00 to 15:30 |
| Tuesday | 08:00 to 16:30 | 08:00 to 15:30 |
| Wednesday | 08:00 to 16:30 | 08:00 to 15:30 |
| Thursday | 08:00 to 16:30 | 08:00 to 15:30 |
| Friday | 08:00 to 16:30 | 08:00 to 15:30 |
| Saturday | 08:00 to 14:00 | 08:00 to 13:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00 to 14:00 | 09:00 to 13:00 |
The opening hours are the shop's. The post office counter opens 9.30am to 1.30pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturdays, and is closed on Sundays and bank holidays.
The details
- Food
- Café food
- Serving
- Lunch
- Features
- Café · Shop · Garden or terrace
- Awards
- Countryside Alliance Awards, South West: Best Shop/Post Office (2026)
- History
- Village shop since 1875; now owned by the community
Photos
The shop front Photo: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Location
Places to stay nearby
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The New Inn
Inn · Coln St Aldwyns
A 16th-century coaching inn with rooms in Coln St Aldwyns, reopened in 2020 by Baz and Fred, with a Garden Suite and food every day.
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Keepers Arms
Inn · Coln St Aldwyns
A family-run free house in Quenington with four adults-only bed and breakfast rooms above the pub, independent real ales and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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9 Arlington Row
Self-catering · Bibury
The National Trust's holiday cottage in Arlington Row, Bibury: a two-bedroom former weaver's cottage for three, with a wood burner and a private garden behind the famous terrace.
Verified Oct 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The New Inn 0.2 km away
- The Keepers Arms 1.0 km away
- Eleven Bibury 3.3 km away
- 9 Arlington Row 3.4 km away
Sights nearby
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Knights Hospitallers' Gateway, Quenington
Sight · Historic building · Cirencester and the Coln Valley
The fourteenth-century gatehouse of the preceptory the Knights Hospitallers founded at Quenington in about 1193, partly rebuilt in the early sixteenth century, beside St Swithin's church. Grade I; on private land, seen from Church Road.
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St John the Baptist, Coln St Aldwyns
Sight · Church · Coln St Aldwyns
Coln St Aldwyns' parish church: a late Norman doorway of chevrons, a demon carved over a blocked window, a two-tier chandelier of about 1767, and windows remembering the two John Kebles, father and son, who served here. Grade II*.
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St Swithin's Church, Quenington
Sight · Church · Cirencester and the Coln Valley
Quenington's Norman parish church in the Coln valley, recorded by 1100, with two richly carved Norman doorways: the Harrowing of Hell over the north door and, over the south, what may be the earliest carving of the Coronation of the Virgin. Grade I.
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St Mary's Church, Bibury
Sight · Church · Bibury
St Mary's in Bibury is a Saxon church grown over five centuries, with eleventh-century walling, Saxon stones in the chancel, carved capitals of the Oseney canons, the county's earliest stained glass and a Karl Parsons window of 1927. Grade I and open daily.