Michael Dibb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kingham
An Oxfordshire village in the Evenlode valley with a station on the line from London, two dining pubs, and Daylesford's farm shop two miles down the road.
- Nearest station
- Kingham, about a mile south-west of the village on Station Road, on GWR's Cotswold Line from London Paddington
- Parking
- The station car park (OX7 6UP) has 140 spaces, charged, with no accessible bays; the village has no car park, so park with care on the streets round the green
- Best time
- Any season by train; late spring and summer for the Evenlode walks
- When it's busy
- The August bank holiday weekend of the Big Feastival, when the station, the roads and every room for miles are taken; summer weekends at Daylesford
- Toilets
- At the station, during its opening hours, including an accessible and a Changing Places toilet; none in the village
- Dogs
- Welcome in the bars of the Kingham Plough, the Wild Rabbit and the King's Head at Bledington. Two of the Plough's six rooms, in the annexe, take dogs; the King's Head has no dogs in its bedrooms
About Kingham
Kingham is a village of about 950 people in the Evenlode valley in West Oxfordshire, about 4½ miles south-west of Chipping Norton and 5½ miles south-east of Stow-on-the-Wold, just over the Gloucestershire border. Its station on the Cotswold Line makes it one of the few Cotswold villages you can reach by train from London, and that, with two dining pubs and Daylesford's farm shop 2 miles down the road, is why people come. Country Life called it England's favourite village in 2004.
What to see
The church, the green and the station are the three things to see, and none takes long. St Andrew's, at the south-west end of the village, is listed Grade II*. Its west tower is mid-fourteenth century, its chancel was rebuilt in 1688, and the south aisle and porch were added in 1852 to 1853. Inside are an Easter Sepulchre, a thirteenth-century font and a brass to Katherine James, who died in 1588, the rector's first wife. It is open during the day from April to October and holds the village's archive display. Next door is the old rectory of 1688, a classical house with a hipped roof.
Church Street and West Street run parallel from the church up to the green, 500m away. On the green are a stone well house built for Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1887 and the war memorial put up in 2000. The station, a mile south-west on Station Road, opened in 1855 as the junction for the Chipping Norton branch and was renamed Kingham in 1909; the branch closed in the 1960s, the main line never did.
A day from the train
Kingham works as a day out without a car, which few Cotswold villages do. From the station, walk the mile up Station Road into the village and start at the Kingham Plough, which opens at 8.30am every day; it serves breakfast to non-residents when it has room, so book a table ahead. Look into St Andrew's, then take the 4.4-mile loop by the Evenlode across Daylesford's fields, and break it at Daylesford Farm for lunch at the Old Spot, which serves walk-ins from 11am to 4pm. The flat walk back over the railway brings you to the village for a drink before the train. Walkers on AllTrails reported fields under water and flooded paths towards the railway from November 2025 to January 2026, so keep it for late spring to autumn, or wear wellingtons.
Walks from Kingham
Two of our walks start here and a third is a short drive away. The car-free circular from Kingham station is 3.5 miles (6km) and two to three hours, along the Evenlode into Gloucestershire and over the hill to Bledington's green and the King's Head, with stiles and a boggy patch. Kingham, Daylesford and the Evenlode is 4.4 miles (7.1km) and flat, about an hour and a half. From Adlestrop, 3 miles north, the 5-mile walk through Daylesford to Lower Oddington reaches the Fox, though it has a stretch of the A436 we would rather it did not.
Food and drink
Kingham eats well for a village of its size. The Kingham Plough, on the green, opens daily from 8.30am to 11pm and has six rooms, two of them, in the annexe, dog-friendly; dogs are welcome in the bar too. The Wild Rabbit on Church Street, one of the Daylesford Stays pubs, holds three AA Rosettes for its dining room. It opens daily from midday, but the kitchen serves full lunch and dinner only from Wednesday to Sunday (dinner 6.30pm to 9pm), with light bites on Monday and Tuesday. For all the rooms round the village, see where to stay in Kingham.
Two miles away is Daylesford Farm and its farm shop, open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm and on Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Its three restaurants, the Trough among them, each hold a Michelin Green Star. Further out, the Chequers at Churchill is the pub for dogs and children, and the Fox at Oddington is another of the Daylesford Stays pubs with rooms. Our guide to food and drink in the Cotswolds has the Trough and the rest.
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When to come
Any season works, because the train runs all year, but the walks are for late spring to autumn: the Evenlode meadows flood in winter. The one weekend to avoid, unless you are going to it, is the August bank holiday, when the Big Feastival takes over Alex James's farm outside the village (27 to 29 August in 2027). The station, the lanes and the rooms for miles around are at their busiest of the year, so come the weekend before or after. Daylesford is at its busiest on summer weekends; the farm shop at 8am on a weekday is a different place. Kingham is the first stop in our guide to the Cotswolds without a car.
Last verified 1 November 2026 by our editors
Part of
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The Windrush and Evenlode valleys on the Oxfordshire side of the hills: Burford's High Street, Kingham on the railway, Witney's blankets and Woodstock at Blenheim's gates.
Things to do in Kingham
Historic houses and heritage · Moreton-in-Marsh
Chastleton House
A Jacobean house near Moreton-in-Marsh, built on the estate Robert Catesby sold in 1602, where rules for croquet were written.
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Diddly Squat Farm Shop
Farm shops and delis · Charlbury
Jeremy Clarkson's farm shop on the Chipping Norton road near Chadlington, opened in 2020 and made famous by Clarkson's Farm, open Tuesday to Sunday outside its winter break, with a café and lambing barn seating.
Verified Nov 2026
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Durham House Antiques
Antiques and vintage · Stow-on-the-Wold
An antiques centre on Sheep Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, where about 30 dealers share four large showrooms of furniture, paintings, silver, glass, jewellery and books, open every day.
Rainy days
Verified Oct 2026
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Red Rag Gallery
Museums and galleries · Stow-on-the-Wold
A gallery of contemporary British painting, sculpture and prints on Church Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, with more than 200 original works on two floors and changing exhibitions, open every day.
Rainy days
Verified Oct 2026
Where to stay in Kingham
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The Wild Rabbit
Inn · Kingham
A Daylesford pub with rooms and cottages in a 17th-century house at Kingham, with three AA Rosettes and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday.
Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
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The Kingham Plough
Inn · Kingham
A pub with six rooms and a cottage on the green at Kingham, open daily from 8.30am, with dogs and families welcome.
Car-free · Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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Daylesford Stays cottages
Self-catering · Kingham
Self-catering cottages in Daylesford village and on Daylesford's organic farm near Kingham, all within two miles of the farm shop, and all of them dog-friendly.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Fox at Oddington
Inn · Kingham
A Daylesford pub with rooms at Lower Oddington, with the four-bedroom Coachman's House opposite for self-catering groups of up to eight.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Feathered Nest Inn
Inn · Kingham
An inn with four rooms and a cottage at Nether Westcote near Kingham, in a building that began 350 years ago as a malt house.
Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
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The Swan, Ascott-under-Wychwood
Inn · Kingham
A 16th-century pub with eleven rooms at Ascott-under-Wychwood, about four miles south-east of Kingham, with dogs welcome in every bedroom.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Oct 2026
Where to eat and drink in Kingham
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Daylesford Farm
Farm shops and delis · Kingham
The farm shop, restaurant and café at Daylesford near Kingham, open every day, with the Trough holding a Green Michelin star.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Chequers, Churchill
Pubs · Kingham
A Lionhearth Group gastropub on Church Road in Churchill, about 2 miles from Kingham, with an open fire, a garden terrace, two private dining rooms and dogs and children welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Hare, Milton-under-Wychwood
Pubs · Shipton, Milton and Ascott-under-Wychwood
A pub and dining room on the High Street in Milton-under-Wychwood with a kitchen led by Matt Dare and a passion for seafood landed daily in Devon and Cornwall, open every day from 11am.
Verified Nov 2026
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The Fox Inn, Broadwell
Pubs · Stow-on-the-Wold
A Donnington Brewery village pub overlooking the green at Broadwell, just north-east of Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Peter Creed and Tom Noest, with seasonal pub food, game and offal, and food all day on Sundays.
Verified Nov 2026
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The Old Butchers
Restaurants · Stow-on-the-Wold
A restaurant in a former butcher's shop on Park Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Pete and Louise Robinson since 2005 and listed by Michelin.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Old Bakery Tearoom
Cafes and tearooms · Stow-on-the-Wold
A tearoom in Fountain Court off Digbeth Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, run by Jackie and Alan since 2005, where all the food is made on the premises and dogs come in.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Walks in and around Kingham
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Kingham station and Bledington
Walk · Starts in Kingham · 3 hrs · Circular
A 3.5-mile (6km) car-free circular walk from Kingham station, easy and two to three hours with stiles and a boggy patch: along the River Evenlode into Gloucestershire, over the old railway and past a pond, then to Bledington's green and the King's Head, and back by the river.
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Salford and the Rollright Stones
Walk · Starts in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds · 2 hrs, 30 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 5-mile (8km) circular walk from the green at Salford, moderate and about two and a half hours, with stiles: up bridleways and field paths to the Whispering Knights, the King Stone and the King's Men stone circle, then down through Little Rollright and back.
Sights in and around Kingham
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River Evenlode
Sight · River · Kingham
The Evenlode is the river of the valley below Kingham, rising in the Cotswold limestone and flowing south-east to the Thames; near Kingham it runs beside the Cotswold Line past Bledington and Daylesford and for a stretch marks the Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire boundary.
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St Andrew's Church, Kingham
Sight · Church · Kingham
Kingham's ironstone church of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with a pinnacled tower, a nave roof dated 1774, an Elizabethan brass in the Easter Sepulchre and the old rectory of 1688 next door. Grade II*.
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St Nicholas's Church, Lower Oddington
Sight · Church · Stow-on-the-Wold
A Grade I church in the woods at Lower Oddington, near Stow-on-the-Wold, left almost unaltered when a new church was built in 1852. Its north wall carries a huge fourteenth-century Doom, hidden under whitewash until 1913. Open daily; no electricity.
Stories about Kingham
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Bluebell woods in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 10 minute read
The best bluebell woods in the Cotswolds, from Westonbirt's Silk Wood and Lynches Wood below Dover's Hill to Standish Wood, Frith Wood, Siccaridge Wood and Foxholes: when they flower, who looks after each wood, where to park, the dog rule and the walk that goes through it.
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Clarkson's Farm: visiting Diddly Squat and the Farmer's Dog
Story · Guides · 7 minute read
Where Clarkson's Farm is made, what you can and cannot see at Diddly Squat Farm Shop near Chadlington and at the Farmer's Dog near Burford, and how to visit without the worst of the queues.
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Cotswold food and drink: farm shops, breweries, distilleries and markets
Story · Guides · 10 minute read
What the Cotswolds make and where to buy it: Cotswold lamb, the Gloucester cheeses, Donnington and Uley beer, whisky from Stourton, wine from Woodchester Valley, the farm shops, the markets at Stroud, Moreton and Cirencester, and the tastings worth booking.
Getting to Kingham
- By train
- Kingham is on GWR's Cotswold Line from London Paddington, about 80 minutes away; the station is a mile south-west of the village, off the B4450.
- By car
- On the B4450 between Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Norton, 5 miles from each. From the A40 at Burford, 8 miles north by the A361 and the B4450.
- Parking
- The station car park has 140 spaces and charges. There is no car park in the village; park with care on the streets round the green.
- By bus
- No regular bus serves the station. The village's buses are the Villager community bus routes to Chipping Norton, Stow, Burford and Witney; check the Villager timetable first.
Access
The station has some step-free access, but platform 2 is reached only by a footbridge with steps. The village streets are level; the walk in from the station is a mile along Station Road.
| Daylesford Farm | 2.5 mi |
|---|---|
| Chipping Norton | 5.6 mi |
| Stow-on-the-Wold | 5.6 mi |
| Burford | 8.1 mi |
| Bourton-on-the-Water | 9.3 mi |
| Moreton-in-Marsh | 9.9 mi |
Places near Kingham
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Stow-on-the-WoldA hilltop market town on the Fosse Way, more than 230m up, with a broad Square, a church that held 1,600 prisoners after the last battle of the Civil War, and a horse fair.
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Moreton-in-MarshA market town on the Fosse Way with a station on the line from London, so the easiest place to start a car-free Cotswold trip, with Batsford Arboretum close by.
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BurfordA wool and coaching town whose High Street runs downhill to a medieval bridge over the Windrush, with a Grade I church where the Levellers were held in 1649.
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BledingtonA Gloucestershire village on the county boundary with a wide green, a brook running through it, a Grade I church with glass of 1470, a 16th-century inn on the green, and Kingham station a short walk away across the Evenlode.