Things to do · Moreton-in-Marsh
Batsford Arboretum
A 60-acre arboretum on the Batsford estate near Moreton-in-Marsh, with a free visitor centre, café and garden centre, open every day and best in spring and autumn.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · Car-free · Family-friendly
An easy walk from Moreton station on a stile-free path, which makes it one of the best car-free days in the north Cotswolds. Come in spring or autumn for the trees.
- Good: Stile-free 4-mile walk from Moreton-in-Marsh
- Good: Visitors with a disability go free
- Good: Café, garden centre and gift shop free to visit
- Worth knowing: Dogs on short fixed leads only
- Worth knowing: Hillside site: about a quarter is suited to wheelchairs
- Worth knowing: May close at short notice in high winds
About
Batsford Arboretum covers 60 acres of hillside on the Batsford estate, about 2 miles west of Moreton-in-Marsh, close to St Mary's Church, Batsford. It opens Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5pm and on Sundays from 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm. Booking online is optional but cuts the queue on busy days, and the arboretum advises non-members to book ahead in the busy autumn season.
The visitor centre, with the Garden Terrace Café, a garden centre, a gift shop and a woodturner, is free. The café bakes its own cakes and serves breakfast and a daily lunch with meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan dishes. Dogs are welcome on a short fixed lead, though not on extending leads, and may come into the café. Picnics are not allowed in the arboretum, but there are picnic tables by the coach park and grass to sit on by the lower car parks. There is a play area for children. It may close at short notice in high winds.
The Cotswolds National Landscape's 4-mile walk from Moreton's war memorial passes Batsford, with no stiles, so it is easy to reach by train. The Moreton Show is held on the Batsford estate each September.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 9, 09:30
| Mon | Opening | Café |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Thursday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Friday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Saturday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Sunday | 10:00 to 17:00 | 09:30 to 17:00 |
Café: Garden Terrace Café: breakfast 9.30 to 11, lunch 12 to 2.30, last orders 4.30pm.
Last entry to the arboretum 4pm; cars must leave the car parks by 5.15pm.
Facilities
- Garden Terrace Café and garden centreFree to visit; seats 184 inside, with a terrace
- Dogs welcomeOn a short fixed lead; leads to borrow at admissions
- Tramper all-terrain scooter£3 for two hours; book on 01386 701441
- Accessible toiletsIn the visitor centre
- Car parkDisabled parking outside the visitor centre
- Play area
The details
- Features
- Café · Shop · Play area · Parking
- Parking
- Car parks at the visitor centre, with disabled parking immediately outside; cars must leave by 5.15pm.
- Without a car
- Moreton-in-Marsh station is about 2 miles away; the Cotswolds National Landscape's stile-free 4-mile walk from Moreton passes the arboretum.
Photos
Snowdrops in the arboretum 
A maple in autumn 
The Japanese bridge in frost 
Magnolias in spring
Location
Accessibility
- Step-free access
- Accessible toilet
- Parking within 50 metres
Visitor centre, shops and café on one level, with a ramp from the main car park. The arboretum is on a hillside; about 25% suits wheelchairs and scooters if you keep to the main tarmac drive. Tramper hire £3 for two hours (10am, 12 or 2pm).
Places to stay nearby
-
Moreton-in-Marsh Club Campsite
Camping · Moreton-in-Marsh
The Caravan and Motorhome Club's site on Bourton Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, open all year, with 184 touring pitches, ten pods and a dog walk.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
-
Old Farm, Dorn
Self-catering · Moreton-in-Marsh
A working regenerative farm at Dorn, about a mile from Moreton-in-Marsh, with a holiday let in its shearing shed, a studio and a ten-pitch campsite.
Verified Oct 2026
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The Swan Inn, Moreton
Inn · Moreton-in-Marsh
An inn with eight rooms in a Grade II listed nineteenth-century building on Moreton-in-Marsh's High Street, with pub food five days a week.
Verified Oct 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Cotswold Falconry Centre
- Bourton House Garden 1.1 km away
- The Horse and Groom 1.2 km away
- Moreton-in-Marsh Club Campsite 2.0 km away
Sights nearby
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Redesdale Hall, Moreton-in-Marsh
Sight · Historic building · Moreton-in-Marsh
Redesdale Hall is Moreton-in-Marsh's market hall of 1887, standing in the middle of the High Street: designed by Sir Ernest George for Bertie Mitford of Batsford, later Lord Redesdale, with an arched ground floor, a clock turret and a tall chimney. Listed Grade II.
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St Mary's Church, Batsford
Sight · Church · Moreton-in-Marsh
St Mary's is the estate church of Batsford, near Moreton-in-Marsh: rebuilt in 1861 and 1862 for the Mitford family in a neo-Norman style, with a spired tower, an apsidal chancel, Kempe glass and monuments to the Freemans and Mitfords. Grade II*.
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St Peter and St Paul, Blockley
Sight · Church · Blockley
St Peter and St Paul is Blockley's church by the square, founded about 800 by its own account: a late twelfth-century chancel, medieval brasses, Childe and Rushout monuments and a tower of 1725 to 1727 attributed to the Woodwards. Grade II*, open daily and Father Brown's church.
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Russell Spring, Blockley
Sight · Monument · Blockley
The Russell Spring is a small gabled niche on Blockley's High Street, inscribed "Water from the Living Rock God's Precious Gift to Man", built in the middle of the nineteenth century by men out of work in winter, in the wall below a raised walkway. Grade II; seen at any time.