Things to do · Minchinhampton
Woodchester Mansion
An unfinished Grade I house near Nympsfield, reached by minibus or a walk down a track, open Friday to Sunday from April to early November.
Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
A Grade I house that was never finished. Take the minibus from the car park or walk the three-quarters of a mile down the track; there is no phone signal, and the car park takes cash only.
- Good: Guided tours at 11.45am and 2.30pm on open days, when volunteers are available
- Good: Horseshoe bat colonies, watched on CCTV
- Worth knowing: Friday to Sunday and bank holidays only, April to 1 November
- Worth knowing: Car park £4 for non-members, cash only; no phone signal
- Worth knowing: Dogs only in café room 1, not on tours
- Worth knowing: Uneven floors; a film shows the upper floors for anyone who cannot manage stairs
About
Woodchester Mansion, below Nympsfield about 4 miles west of Minchinhampton, is a Grade I house that was never finished, in the valley of Woodchester Park. Stroud District Council owns it and the Woodchester Mansion Trust runs it, not the National Trust, though it is reached from the National Trust's Buckholt car park. Inside, children look out for the stone carvings of real animals, and the house holds breeding colonies of greater and lesser horseshoe bats, shown on CCTV on open days.
In 2026 it opens from 11am to 5pm, Friday to Sunday and on bank holidays, from Good Friday until 1 November, with last tickets at 4pm; most visitors spend 60 to 90 minutes inside. Tickets can be bought online or at the door. Guided tours run at 11.45am and 2.30pm when volunteers are available, and Henry's, from Henry's Bakehouse in Minchinhampton, runs the café on open days.
A free minibus runs on the hour from 11am from the foot of the steps at the Buckholt car park, off the B4066 at Coaley Peak, when volunteers are available, or you can walk three-quarters of a mile down an unpaved track. The car park costs £4 for non-members and takes cash only, since there is no phone signal. The walk round Woodchester Park to the boathouse is in the same park.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Fri 13, 11:00
| Mon | Opening | Café |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed | Closed |
| Friday | 11:00 to 17:00 | 11:00 to 17:00 |
| Saturday | 11:00 to 17:00 | 11:00 to 17:00 |
| Sunday | 11:00 to 17:00 | 11:00 to 17:00 |
Café: Henry's @ Woodchester, on open days and bank holidays.
2026 season: Good Friday (3 April) to 1 November, plus bank holidays. Last entry 4pm. Daily 23 October to 1 November for Halloween, 10.30am to 4.30pm, last entry 3.45pm. 2027 dates not yet out.
Facilities
- Buckholt car park (National Trust)£4 for non-members, cash only; 3/4 mile from the house
- Minibus from the car parkFree, on the hour from 11am, last run back 4.40pm, when volunteers are available; no wheelchair lift
- Henry's @ WoodchesterOpen days, 11am to 5pm
- DogsOn leads in café room 1; not on tours, except assistance dogs
The details
- Time to allow
- 60 to 90 minutes in the house
- Features
- Café · Guided tours · Parking
- Parking
- National Trust Buckholt car park at Woodchester Park, off the B4066 near Coaley Peak; £4 for non-members, cash only. Do not use the mansion's postcode in a satnav.
Photos
The mansion in its valley 
An eagle gargoyle 
Inside the unfinished house 
Tea outside
Location
Accessibility
- Assistance dogs welcome
Floors are uneven in places and the track from the car park is unpaved. A film of the upper two floors is shown at reception for anyone who cannot manage the stairs. Disabled visitors are asked to phone a few days ahead; an access guide is on the website.
Places to stay nearby
-
Woodchester Valley Vineyard stays
Self-catering · Nailsworth
Three barn suites for two, a two-bedroom farmhouse and a six-bedroom house among the vines at Woodchester Valley Vineyard, near Nailsworth.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
-
Owlpen Manor Cottages
Self-catering · Uley
Nine dog-friendly holiday cottages for two to eight, and a glamping camp, on the Owlpen Manor estate in a wooded valley a mile east of Uley.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
The Bell Inn, Selsley
Inn · Stroud
A chef-owned 17th-century inn, listed Grade II, with two bedrooms at Selsley, two miles from Stroud, with two AA Rosettes and dogs welcome throughout.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Nympsfield Long Barrow 1.5 km away
- Hetty Pegler's Tump (Uley Long Barrow) 2.4 km away
- Woodchester Valley Vineyard stays 2.9 km away
- Woodchester Valley Vineyard 2.9 km away
Sights nearby
-
Woodchester Park
Sight · Common or park · Nailsworth
A steep wooded valley west of Nailsworth, National Trust since 1994: a deer park walled by the Huntleys after a grant of 1564, with five lakes of the early nineteenth century, a boathouse of about 1820 and the unfinished Woodchester Mansion at its head.
-
Woodchester Park boathouse
Sight · Historic building · Nailsworth
The boathouse on Old Pond in Woodchester Park is a small rustic building of about 1820, probably by John Adey Repton for the first Earl Ducie, with a boat dock below and a timber oriel over the boat opening. Grade II; seen from the path over the dam.
-
All Saints' Church, Selsley
Sight · Church · Stroud and the Five Valleys
All Saints, Selsley is a Grade I church of 1862 by G F Bodley on the hillside above Stroud, with some of the first church glass made by Morris and Company: windows by Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Madox Brown and Philip Webb, among them a Creation rose window. Open in daylight.
-
Whitfield's Tump, Minchinhampton Common
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · Minchinhampton
Whitfield's Tump is a Neolithic long barrow on Minchinhampton Common, a low mound 26m long where early farmers buried their dead, named from the tradition that the preacher George Whitefield spoke from it in 1743. A scheduled monument on free National Trust land.