Things to do · Lechlade-on-Thames
Kelmscott Manor
William Morris's country home by the upper Thames near Lechlade, which he rented from 1871 until 1896, with its rooms, gardens and his grave nearby.
Walker-friendly · Family-friendly
Morris called it heaven on earth. Walk here along the Thames Path from Lechlade, and finish at his grave by Philip Webb in St George's churchyard. Check the days: it opens only Thursday to Saturday.
- Good: Gardens, shop and tearoom are free
- Good: Walk from Lechlade on the Thames Path, about 3 miles
- Good: Step-free ground floor, gardens, tearoom and shop
- Worth knowing: Thursday to Saturday, April to October only
- Worth knowing: No regular bus; the car park is 10 to 12 minutes' walk away
- Worth knowing: Not National Trust: members pay
About
Kelmscott Manor is a stone house by the upper Thames, about 3 miles east of Lechlade. William Morris took a joint lease on it with Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1871 and kept it until he died in 1896. The Society of Antiquaries of London has owned it since 1962, so it is not a National Trust house and members pay. The Thames Path from Lechlade passes Father Thames at St John's Lock on the way, and the manor has its own mooring for those who come by river. Read our story of Morris and the Cotswolds.
It opens from April to the end of October, Thursday to Saturday. The house is seen by timed ticket every 15 minutes from 10.30am, with last entry at 3.30pm; half the tickets are sold online and half on the day, so booking guarantees a slot. The gardens, meadows, shop and tearoom are free, open from 10.15am, and can be visited before or after your slot. The tearoom opens until 4.30pm and serves lunch from midday to 2pm, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices, though gluten-free food is not made in a gluten-free kitchen.
Families get information for children in most rooms of the house, games in the grounds and crafts in the Learning Barn. Dogs are welcome in the grounds on a lead, but not in the house or the walled garden. The car park is by St George's Church, where Morris is buried, a 10 to 12 minute walk from the house, with a shuttle for anyone who cannot walk it.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Thu 12, 10:15
| Mon | Opening | House | Café |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday | 10:15 to 17:00 | 10:30 to 16:30 | 10:15 to 16:30 |
| Friday | 10:15 to 17:00 | 10:30 to 16:30 | 10:15 to 16:30 |
| Saturday | 10:15 to 17:00 | 10:30 to 16:30 | 10:15 to 16:30 |
| Sunday | Closed | Closed | Closed |
House: Timed entry every 15 minutes; last admission 3.30pm.
Café: Lunch is served from 12 to 2pm; the tearoom opens on open days only. No table bookings.
Open April to the end of October. Closes for the winter on 31 October 2026 and reopens in April 2027.
Facilities
- TearoomFree to enter; 10.15am to 4.30pm, lunch 12 to 2, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices
- Gift shopFree to enter
- Car park by St George's churchFree; 10 to 12 minutes' walk, with an electric shuttle for those who need it
- Step-free ground floorTwo manual wheelchairs to borrow
- Accessible toiletNext to the Entrance Barn
- Dogs on leadsNot in the house or walled garden
The details
- Features
- Café · Shop · Garden or terrace · Picnic area · By the water · Parking
- Parking
- Free car park beside St George's Church, Kelmscott (GL7 3HG), 10 to 12 minutes' walk from the manor; locked at 5.30pm on open days.
- Without a car
- No direct bus except a limited summer Saturday service from Faringdon. The 77 (Cirencester to Highworth) stops at Lechlade, 3 miles away on the Thames Path, about four times a day, Monday to Saturday.
Photos
Kelmscott Manor from the air 
The china closet 
The garden front 
Inside the manor
Location
Accessibility
- Step-free access
- Accessible toilet
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Large print available
Step-free access to the ground floor, gardens, tearoom and shop; the upper floors are not accessible, and visitors who cannot reach them pay a concession. Blue Badge bays in the car park, about 644 metres away, with an electric shuttle. Large-print folder in the Old Kitchen.
Places to stay nearby
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Manor Farm B&B
B&B · Kelmscott
A late seventeenth-century farmhouse B&B with three en-suite rooms on a working farm in Kelmscott, with a shepherd's hut and a pod, each with its own wood-fired hot tub, in the meadow across the lane.
Family-friendly · Walker-friendly · Hot tubs
Verified Nov 2026
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The Plough, Kelmscott
Pubs · Kelmscott
Kelmscott's village pub, a listed stone inn dated 1690, a few minutes from Kelmscott Manor and the Thames Path, serving British pub classics, breakfast and Sunday roasts, with a garden and eight bedrooms.
Verified Oct 2026
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The New Inn Hotel
Hotel · Lechlade-on-Thames
A 17th-century coaching inn on the Market Place in Lechlade-on-Thames, with thirty rooms, a restaurant and bar, and weddings.
Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Manor Farm B&B
- The Plough, Kelmscott 0.1 km away
- Buscot Park 2.3 km away
- Cotswold Boat Hire, Buscot Lock 2.4 km away
Sights nearby
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River Thames at Lechlade
Sight · River · Lechlade-on-Thames
The young Thames at Lechlade, where the Coln and the Leach join it and the old Thames and Severn Canal met it at the Round House: long the head of the navigable river, with the Thames Path past Halfpenny Bridge to St John's Lock.
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St John the Baptist, Inglesham
Sight · Church · Lechlade-on-Thames
A tiny church by the Thames at Inglesham, south of Lechlade, saved from Victorian restoration by William Morris: box pews, medieval screens, seven layers of wall paintings and a late Saxon Madonna and Child. Grade I; Churches Conservation Trust, open daily.
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St Mary's Church, Buscot
Sight · Church · Lechlade-on-Thames
Buscot's small thirteenth-century church by the Thames below Lechlade, with a full set of Morris & Co. windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones from 1892 to 1924, a zigzag chancel arch and the Loveden monuments by Robert Cooke. Grade I.
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Father Thames and St John's Lock
Sight · Monument · Lechlade-on-Thames
Raffaelle Monti's reclining river god, modelled in cement for the Crystal Palace in 1854, beside St John's Lock below Lechlade, the first lock on the Thames. He lay at the river's source from 1958 until vandals drove him here in 1974. Grade II.