nick macneill, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do · Painswick
Prinknash Abbey
The home of a Benedictine community since 1928 on the wooded hillside at Cranham, between Painswick and Gloucester, with a monastery shop and café open daily, a chapel open for quiet prayer and footpaths across the estate.
A working monastery, not a museum: come for the café and shop, a quiet sit in the chapel or a walk on the estate paths. Free, and open every day.
- Good: Free to visit
- Good: Café and shop open daily, 10am to 4pm
- Good: Chapel open from 8am until after Vespers at 5.30pm
- Good: Free parking; café and shop fully wheelchair accessible
- Worth knowing: A working monastery: keep to the designated footpaths
- Worth knowing: The chapel is for quiet prayer; Mass daily at 8.30am
About
Prinknash Abbey is the home of a community of Roman Catholic Benedictine monks on the wooded hillside at Cranham, about 2.5 miles (4km) north of Painswick. The community began in the Church of England on the Isle of Dogs in 1896, settled on Caldey Island in 1906, became Roman Catholic in 1913 and came to Prinknash in December 1928. In the 1960s it built a large new abbey across the estate, then in 2008 moved back to the old house, Prinknash Park, where it had first lived.
The old house is far older than the community. The abbots of Gloucester built up their land here in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and in 1339 the Bishop of Worcester licensed the abbot to have Mass said in an oratory in the manor of Prinknash; the monks’ own history says some parts of the house are as old as that century, and that there was probably a hunting lodge here.
Visitors are welcome on the estate's designated footpaths, at the monastery shop and café, open daily from 10am to 4pm, and in the chapel, open for quiet prayer from 8am until after Vespers at 5.30pm. Mass is said every day at 8.30am. The abbey lists no admission charge and there is nothing to book. Parking is free, the café and shop are fully wheelchair accessible, and dogs are welcome in the café foyer, where there are water bowls and treats. Allow an hour, more with a walk; mornings before the café opens are the quietest time for the chapel.
The shop sells Prinknash incense, rosary beads and paintings. Painswick and its Rococo Garden are a short drive south.
Opening hours and season
| Monday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Saturday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Sunday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
Café and shop daily, 10am to 4pm. Chapel 8am until after Vespers at 5.30pm; Mass daily at 8.30am.
Facilities
- Monastery caféOpen daily, 10am to 4pm
- Monastery shopPrinknash incense, rosary beads and paintings
- ParkingFree for visitors
- AccessCafé and shop fully wheelchair accessible
- DogsWelcome in the café foyer, with water bowls and treats
The details
- Time to allow
- An hour, or longer with a walk
- Features
- Café · Shop · Parking
- History
- Benedictine community at Prinknash since December 1928
Photos
The walled garden Photo: Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
Prinknash Park Photo: don cload, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
East Court through the gate 
The fruit tunnel in autumn Photo: Chesmu, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
Location
Places to stay nearby
-
Shepherd Huts at the Butchers Arms
Glamping · Painswick
Two shepherd huts beside the Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, about two miles by road from Painswick, each with a king-size bed, shower room and kitchen.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
-
Woody's Cottage
Self-catering · Sheepscombe
A National Trust holiday cottage for four in the beechwoods half a mile from Sheepscombe, built in the 19th century for the Ebworth estate, with a garden room looking down the valley.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
St Anne's
B&B · Painswick
A three-room bed and breakfast in a former wool merchant's house on Gloucester Street, Painswick, suited to Cotswold Way walkers.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · Car-free
Verified Oct 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Painswick Golf Club Bar and Café 2.9 km away
- The Butchers Arms 3.5 km away
- Shepherd Huts at the Butchers Arms 3.5 km away
- Woody's Cottage 3.5 km away
Sights nearby
-
Painswick Beacon
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · Painswick
Painswick Beacon is a hill north of Painswick, about 280m high, crowned by a large Iron Age hill fort with triple ramparts. Royalist troops camped here in 1643. It is open common land on the Cotswold Way, shared with a golf course, with views over the Severn Vale.
-
Painswick Stream
Sight · River · Painswick
The Painswick Stream runs south in the valley below Painswick to the River Frome at Stroud. It drove the town's cloth trade: 25 mills stood in the parish in 1820. Footpaths follow it past Loveday's Mill, Skinners Mill and Kingsmill, old mills that are now homes.
-
Quaker Meeting House, Painswick
Sight · Historic building · Painswick
Painswick's Friends Meeting House is a plain stone meeting house of 1706 off Vicarage Street, built on land given by the Loveday family and still used by Quakers every Sunday. Its walled garden, an old burial ground, is open for quiet reflection. Grade II.
-
St Mary's Church, Painswick
Sight · Church · Painswick
St Mary's is Painswick's Grade I parish church, of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with a tall stone spire, set in a churchyard of clipped yews and carved table tombs that is on the national Register of Parks and Gardens. Open daily; the clipping is each September.